Food waste is a major problem in the United States, with over 100 billion pounds of food ending up in the landfill every year. According to Feeding America, that’s equal to $408 billion. Long-term care communities don’t have as severe an impact on food waste, but the statistics aren’t great. One study shows that over 55% of food is wasted in long-term care facilities.
During a typical day in a long-term care community, dozens of residents, visitors, and staff use the kitchen’s resources. Regardless of their role in the dining area, each person that doesn’t eat everything on their plate, throw all their trash away, or find a way to use all the ingredients for the meal contributes in some small way to food waste.
Recognizing every individual in the life cycle of a meal is a vital step toward improving your plan to reduce food waste. When everyone knows how they can contribute, it fosters a sense of responsibility among community members – encouraging them to participate in whatever capacity they can.
As a leader among staff, you can start by initiating change from the top – but don’t forget you have a budget to consider. Since maintaining culinary sustainability often comes at a higher price than traditional food management methods, it’s necessary to figure out ways to cut costs without cutting corners. Take a few of our suggestions below to implement in your community.
Better Training, Less Food Waste
What’s one of the best things you can do to start reducing food waste? Educate your staff! The more knowledgeable employees are about safety and sanitation best practices (and updated guidelines) the less likely they are to waste food unnecessarily. This information also helps you maintain F-tag compliance, an essential part of running a healthy and thriving community. With these tips, you can have confidence that your staff will make decisions that enhance residents’ dining quality and reduce food waste.
First, remember the big three: spoiled, spillage, and sufficiency. These are three of the most common contributors to food waste. A few simple adjustments to your sanitation routine and training instructions will fix them:
- Spoiled – Always have staff check the expiration date on any perishable food, using the ones that will expire soonest first. This lessens the amount of spoiled food left in the back of the refrigerator.
- Spillage – Make sure staff are trained on how to properly carry trays and handle food to reduce how much food is lost from spilling, dropping, or improper preparation.
- Sufficiency – Review the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s f-tag guidelines to see if your sanitation and safety practices are sufficient and that you have enough dietary staff and support personnel. It’s also a good idea to regularly review staff training to see if it addresses everything it needs to.
Next, be sure always to be mindful of portion size. Studies show that older adults eat less than any other age group due to changes in digestion, hormone fluctuation, and decreased senses (i.e., smell, taste, vision). Instead of serving a heaping plate full of food, give each resident a reasonable amount that they can finish. Remember, you can always bring out additional helpings but can’t take back what they didn’t eat.
You might be thinking, “But wouldn’t investing in more, higher–quality training be an expense?” Yes, but it’s an investment that saves you money in the long run. With a food service management company like Culinary Services Group, you’ll have access to our training and experts in food safety and waste reduction – plus the ability to select a plan that fits with your resident’s needs and your budget.
Building Menus that Won’t Break the Bank
Making a menu should be easy, right? It is if you regularly talk to your residents and in-house dietary staff about preferences and health needs! Host a town hall meeting and collect suggestions from residents about new menu items, old favorites, and anything they’re not crazy about. Use this feedback to tailor what foods you serve to accurately reflect what your residents need and want, reducing the amount of uneaten food that goes to waste.
The same goes for snacks too. According to recent research, less than 20% of older adults (55+) eat a snack every day. However, having a quick bite between meals helps regulate blood sugar and energy throughout the day. All that’s to say, snacking is a very important part of a dining program but can easily contribute to food waste. To cut costs and avoid throwing out food, stay away from expensive brands and buy private-label, ready-made snacks, or better yet, serve easy, healthy snacks from the kitchen.
Without a food service management company, you’re often limited by prebuilt menus that offer few choices on their menu. That’s what sets us apart from the traditional way meals are served to older adults in long-term care – we offer a diverse and culturally considerate selection of foods, encourage person-centered diets, and can create customized menus.
Increase Sustainability and Saving Costs with Culinary Services Group
Just like in our daily lives, long-term care administrators like yourself face the challenge of what meals to serve their residents all while balancing their budget and decreasing their environmental footprint. Despite this frequently frustrating task, it’s nothing you can’t handle with the appropriate resources. By engaging your entire staff, everyone can work together to participate in implementing budget-friendly changes to your dining program that reduce food waste.
But who can you turn to for this? At Culinary Services Group, we are committed to helping you tackle food waste one plate at a time. Schedule a consultation with a member of our sales team to learn how you can use our food service management program in your long-term care community.
