TY - JOUR
T1 - A Systems Examination of Food Packaging and Other Single-Use Item Waste in School Nutrition Programs
AU - Palmer, Shelly
AU - Herritt, Cameron
AU - Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie
AU - Stylianou, Katerina S.
AU - Prescott, Melissa Pflugh
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based on work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture , US Department of Agriculture , under award no. 2017-67012-28197 . Any opinions, findings, or recommendations in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture.
Funding Information:
This material is based on work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture, under award no. 2017-67012-28197. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture. The authors would like to thank all of the school nutrition and sustainability staff who participated in these interviews and the undergraduate and graduate students at Colorado State University who assisted with data collection and entry.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - Objective: Identify types of food packaging used in school nutrition programs and competing priorities, barriers, and facilitators for sustainable packaging waste use and recovery. Design: Qualitative interviews (n = 20) and structured kitchen observations were conducted. Setting: Data were collected from 3 school districts in Northern Colorado. Participants: Three nutrition program directors, 14 kitchen managers, and 3 sustainability staff. Phenomenon of Interest: Barriers and facilitators for sustainable food packaging waste practices among school nutrition programs. Analysis: Interviews were recorded and transcribed, followed by inductive content analysis to identify themes. Results: Commonly used food packaging included cardboard, aluminum, paper, plastic, and styrofoam. Four competing priorities were identified as impacting school nutrition programs’ ability to reduce or recover food packaging: serving line speed, labor, food quality, and cost. One key barrier was that school staff had difficulty understanding the total system impact of their food packaging use and recovery decisions. Conclusions and Implications: Food packaging is commonly used in school nutrition programs, and participants felt that its use offered key benefits, such as facilitating faster serving lines. More research is needed to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of packaging waste reduction and recovery in school nutrition programs.
AB - Objective: Identify types of food packaging used in school nutrition programs and competing priorities, barriers, and facilitators for sustainable packaging waste use and recovery. Design: Qualitative interviews (n = 20) and structured kitchen observations were conducted. Setting: Data were collected from 3 school districts in Northern Colorado. Participants: Three nutrition program directors, 14 kitchen managers, and 3 sustainability staff. Phenomenon of Interest: Barriers and facilitators for sustainable food packaging waste practices among school nutrition programs. Analysis: Interviews were recorded and transcribed, followed by inductive content analysis to identify themes. Results: Commonly used food packaging included cardboard, aluminum, paper, plastic, and styrofoam. Four competing priorities were identified as impacting school nutrition programs’ ability to reduce or recover food packaging: serving line speed, labor, food quality, and cost. One key barrier was that school staff had difficulty understanding the total system impact of their food packaging use and recovery decisions. Conclusions and Implications: Food packaging is commonly used in school nutrition programs, and participants felt that its use offered key benefits, such as facilitating faster serving lines. More research is needed to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of packaging waste reduction and recovery in school nutrition programs.
KW - food packaging
KW - recycling
KW - school nutrition
KW - systems
KW - waste management
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jneb.2021.01.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jneb.2021.01.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 33966762
AN - SCOPUS:85105687709
SN - 1499-4046
VL - 53
SP - 380
EP - 388
JO - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
JF - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
IS - 5
ER -