Food Waste in School Lunches in Hanoi Urban, a Weighing-Based Empirical Study

Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) is a pressing issue in many countries. In developed countries, school FLW has received much attention, because it is directly linked to children’s nutrition. But in low-and middle-income countries, FLW has not been considered as a priority yet. In Vietnam, there are no statistics on the issue. In the paper, we present an empirical study which investigates and measures FLW from school meals in urban Hanoi. Loss and waste are understood as portions of distributed food, discarded or unconsumed during school lunches. Surveys have been conducted at 8 school kitchens over a total period of 8 weeks. At each kitchen, the team recorded and measured parameters of food distributions and FLW at different stages. Participants to the study are children at primary and secondary schools, randomly selected by classes from grades 1 to 9. In terms of findings, the FLW quantity is estimated at 118 grams of food per individual at lunch on average, equivalent to 29% of the total cooked and served food-equivalence (excluding added water and/or species). Vegetables had the highest wastage rate, while that of meat was the lowest. We also found that FLW rate is sensitive to whether children are in primary or secondary school, to age, and to the menu’s composition. By developing a protocol of FLW collect and analysis in Hanoi, adapted for Vietnam food, we produced for the first time in Vietnam a dataset and values, which are the basis for policy recommendations.