Food Waste

Compost organics food waste

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:

 

Twin Cities Campus for Academic Year 2021-2022:

Duluth Campus for Academic Year 2021-2022:

Previous Years:

Expand all

2020-2021

food waste
Duluth Campus Food Waste

2019-2020