ABSTRACT
This journal was created to raise students' awareness to reduce the amount of food waste within the school canteen. This journal is focused on finding effective ways to find answers to the problem of food waste in school canteens so far. On practical measures taken in school that implement Adiwiyata's Program in cafeteria to minimize food wastage and promote sustainable practices.
INTRODUCTIONS
Food waste is a problem caused by food packaging or the food itself. It is still an important issue for schools to think of ways to reduce the amount of food waste that comes from the school canteen or snacks from outside the school. Various things have been done to prevent the accumulation of food waste such as the 3R method which has been carried out in many schools in Indonesia, especially those participating in the Adiwiyata program. In this case, as a writer, I have experience in preventing food waste within the school scope because I used to go to a school that implemented the Adiwiyata program. According to my observations, this program helps to reduce the impact of food waste in school canteens and to increase students' awareness to reduce the amount of waste in schools.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The issue of food waste has become a political priority in many developed countries (van Herpen et al., 2019). Statistics show that a total of 68,000 tonnes is generated by primary schools in England and 28,000 tonnes by secondary schools, giving a total food waste weight of 96,000 tonnes annually (WRAP, 2020). Existing literature attributes the cause of food waste in schools to broad categories defined as: food-related (palatability and accessibility); child-related (taste preferences and satiation) and programme-related (duration, food service policies and coordination) (Blondin et al., 2015). Many interventions were offered to address food waste in school, including: food education (teaching children about food nutrition and waste), food-related interventions (improving food palatability and presentation), canteen interventions (measuring and readjusting portion size or weight) and programme-related interventions (giving more time to lunch, scheduling recess before lunch). However, children's voice is often dismissed from the discussions (Reynolds, 2018).
METHOD
This observation was done by comparing schools that implemented the Adiwiyata system and those that did not. Visibly, schools that implement the Adiwiyata system in the canteen show a slightly significant difference, which is seen from the excessive amount of waste either from food wrappers or leftovers from the food itself. Apart from comparisons and observations, Writers also asked about the effectiveness of this program with school canteen managers who were slightly helped by the waste problem at school. The students can also use reusable food boxes for the long term.
Here is an example of implementation for students to reduce food waste in the school canteen :
1. Food and drinks without plastic packaging: Customize by choosing packaged foods and beverages in the canteen, such as traditional foods or snack foods, and using glasses or cups for drinking.
2. Using reusable food boxes: Choosing washable and reusable food boxes, such as those provided by the canteen.