Idee"SustainaBite" - Optimized School Meals

There is huge potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in food services in educational institutions worldwide through more sustainable procurement of food. Within most universities’ Food Services Department, a large amount of food is produced in the dining halls every day. Although many universities already have some sustainability initiatives, such as implementing reusable to-go containers and composting food waste, our proposal is targeted toward the source: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing costs, while meeting all nutrient recommendations. Inspired by a recent school trip to Sweden and their innovative approaches to sustainable schools, we propose to employ a similar strategy. A recent Swedish study used linear programming to develop a greenhouse gas emissions-reduced, nutritionally adequate, and affordable four-week lunch menu. This menu was optimized for minimum deviation from the current food supply to maximize acceptability and was evaluated for its impact on food waste, consumption, and satisfaction through a pre-post design using interrupted time series analysis. Our proposal involves implementing a pre-post design with interrupted time series analysis within every university to develop an optimized food list using linear programming, tailored to each university’s dining halls. The team involved in this project will include dining hall and food services staff, the head chef, a professional meal planner, an Excel specialist, and a research team. We will begin by analyzing and collecting data from campus dining halls to create a baseline food list containing greenhouse gas emissions values, prices, amounts, and nutrient content of all foods over four weeks. The food services department will provide information on all purchased foods and drinks during this period. Using this baseline, we will create an optimized food list utilizing linear programming to minimize deviation, ensuring nutritional adequacy and reduced climate impact. We will develop four optimized models using the CBC Solver algorithm in Excel's OpenSolver add-in, each optimizing different aspects of the food list: greenhouse gas emissions, total cost, and deviation from the observed food supply. Each model will be refined to balance greenhouse gas emissions reduction with similarity to the current food supply, nutritional adequacy, and affordability. The budget will primarily cover the hiring of necessary professionals, such as the meal planner and Excel specialist. Savings from reduced food costs (up to 11%) will further support the initiative. The project will start with a smaller dining hall within each university to refine the process before expanding campus-wide. Our proposal aims to systematically reduce the environmental impacts of school meals through optimization methods, continuous quality monitoring, and ensuring nutritional requirements, acceptability, and affordability. This initiative will address several United Nations sustainable development goals, raise awareness, and promote sustainable eating within the school community, fostering a more informed and mindful culture regarding food security and its environmental impact.

As an architecture student, I am also deeply passionate about sustainable design, a commitment that has led me to pursue accreditation as a LEED AP BD+C and ID+C.