The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that up to 40% of food in the United States is disposed of before being consumed while 1 in 8 Americans struggle to get enough to eat. This wasted food also contributes to environmental degradation, pollution, and overuse of precious resources.
This is why the University works to reduce food waste in on-campus dining facilities through a variety of strategies including better meal planning and preparation, and food donation. Additionally, we weigh food waste across the University in order to identify how much is being wasted and to continually improve our efforts.
The Twin Cities, Duluth, and Morris campus all compost food waste. Food waste can be standardized by the number of consumers per campus or by full time equivalent (FTE) students, faculty, and staff. See data below for the Twin Cities and Duluth. Note, Morris does not weigh food waste but all organics are sent to be Stevens County to be composted. Over 1 million pounds have been diverted from the landfill so far.
Food waste tracking on Twin Cities and Duluth campuses:
2024-2025
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2024-2025 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2024-2025 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 48,353 | FTE Students | - |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 18,057 | FTE Staff & Faculty | - |
| Total FTE | 66,410 | Total FTE | - |
| Total Food Waste* in Metric Tons | 526.6 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 78.3 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0079 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | - |
* Twin Cities: The pounds of food waste is the total compost collected in buildings that host dining halls/kitchens (11 in total). This is a much more accurate depiction of food waste generated than pre-consumer food waste because it includes edible and inedible food waste.
2023-2024
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2023-2024 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2023-2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 46,856 | FTE Students | 8,650 |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 17,823.1 | FTE Staff & Faculty | 1,436.3 |
| Total FTE | 64,679.1 | Total FTE | 10,086.3 |
| Total Food Waste* in Metric Tons | 522.8 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 76.8 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0080 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0076 |
* Twin Cities: The pounds of food waste is the total compost collected in buildings that host dining halls/kitchens (11 in total). This is a much more accurate depiction of food waste generated than pre-consumer food waste because it includes edible and inedible food waste.
2022-2023
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2022-2023 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2022-2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 46,735 | FTE Students | 8,908 |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 17,023 | FTE Staff & Faculty | 1,402 |
| Total FTE | 63,758 | Total FTE | 10,310 |
| Total Food Waste* in Metric Tons | 518.5 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 63.8 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0110 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0071 |
* Twin Cities: The pounds of food waste is the total compost collected in buildings that host dining halls/kitchens (11 in total). This is a much more accurate depiction of food waste generated than pre-consumer food waste because it includes edible and inedible food waste.
2021-2022
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2021-2022 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2021-2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 46,339 | FTE Students | 9,166 |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 16,518 | FTE Staff & Faculty | 1,407 |
| Total FTE | 62,857 | Total FTE | 10,573 |
| Total Food Waste* in Metric Tons | 424.051 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 72.454 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0067 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.0068 |
* Twin Cities: The pounds of food waste is the total compost collected in buildings that host dining halls/kitchens (11 in total). This is a much more accurate depiction of food waste generated than pre-consumer food waste because it includes edible and inedible food waste.
2020-2021
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2022-2023 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2022-2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 39,451 | FTE Students | 9,569 |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 17,531 | FTE Staff & Faculty | 1,421 |
| Total FTE | 56,982 | Total FTE | 9,220 |
| Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 259.888 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 59.2 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.004 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.006 |
2019-2020
| Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2019-2020 | Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2019-2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FTE Students | 38,832 | FTE Students | 10,505 |
| FTE Staff & Faculty | 20,218 | FTE Staff & Faculty | 1,543 |
| Total FTE | 59,050 | Total FTE | 12,048 |
| Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 358 | Total Food Waste in Metric Tons | 39 |
| Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.006 | Metric Tons of Food Waste per FTE | 0.003 |