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When does food become too much?

Food Wastage in the Hotel Industry

Business Response To Climate Change

Food left is food waste. Choose wisely, Eat happily.
— Sonali patil.

As delicious as food can be, it could also be a torment on the environment. Who would’ve that that something so edible could cause a demise to the environment when not consumed entirely? Well, you’re in for a treat, no pun intended. Food wastage is a widely acknowledged issue in the United States, however, what exactly has been done to eliminate the unnecessary wastage of meals that have either not been consumed or expired before they even got the chance of exposure? As controversial, as the topic is, how often has food wastage within hotel facilities been discussed. After some extensive research, I have found that nearly 40% of food wastage is caused by institutions such as hotels.

The hotel industry is a business within its own. They have complete power over marketing their plight to try to reduce food wastage within their facilities. Furthermore, social media is a great method of outreach towards a select target. Nowadays, it is not that difficult to deliver a message across, the globe and it has been made even easier thanks to the help of social media influencers. Social media influencers may use their platform to NOT only promote the different hotels to its audiences which could range from any age, as well as demographics. Nevertheless, the post could attract potential clients while alerting them on being honest on their food intakes and limit wasting so much food unnecessarily.

Businesses such as IDEO which is a consulting firm has partnered with some firms to navigate through unnecessary food wastage by offering more conservative servings. IDEO has proposed to create not only healthy, but smaller portions of meals to offer to hotels. They have analyzed the meals that are mainly wasted such as bread and consulted hotels into creating more savory meals with bread in order to deduce wastage or simply removing it off its menu offerings.

Moreover, this technique could be practiced by hotels even without professional assistance from firms such as IDEO by analyzing the kinds of foods that are mostly wasted and minimize its servings to avoid increasing wastage. Although hotels tend to be strict on ensuring meals are deduced within the day and if nothing is consumed, leftovers must go to waste because of safety concerns. Nevertheless, hotels could look into constructing meals that are centered around leftover meals or simply donate to the homeless, which seems like the most humane practice to me.

Hotels tend to have a fear of overstocking because there is uncertainty in the business climate. There could be a season whereby clients could come in larger numbers compared to others and therefore, stocking for future use is highly part of operations within a hotel. However, overstocking has eventually led to more spoiled food. Analyzing forecasts and ordering accordingly is crucial to an immense reduction in food wastage as the food is being efficiently used. One of the biggest game changers for hotels could be the introduction of doggy bags. Remember that meal you oh-so-loved at that specific hotel, but you were not able to take it home. Imagine if you could? The introduction of doggy bags could allow consumers to not only have an option of carry out, which hotels rarely offer, but reduces unnecessary food wastage in hotels.

As consumers, we are just as responsible as any firm offering services. It is vital to analyze the ingredients in the menu and ensure there aren’t any items that could potentially cause allergies. This procedure, ensure not only the hotel but you, are not wasting any meals that could eventually end up in a landfill and lead to an increase in carbon emission on the environment.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Common waste is not so common.

Time for the big questions. Where does wasted food and what new developments have been put into action? Firstly, I think one thing is for sure, but two things are for certain – everyone loves food. Food tends to bring communities together and enables people to engage with one another. However, like previously mentioned at times we indulge without thinking on the consequences of the leftovers. Just like every man-made production there has been some repercussion, which we very blatantly experience, such as climate change. The discarding of wasted food plays an even important role on the well-being of the environment. How often do you think ‘Wow, I wonder where that piece of chocolate I tossed out went?’ Rarely, right? This is exactly what majority of hotels do, as well, once food is thrown out, they feel it is beyond their control and do not feel the need to deal with any repercussions outside their facility. Food waste always ends up in the trash and from the trash they are transported to landfills. This wastage generates methane which is a greenhouse gas. Methane has been proven to have far more negative effects on the environment as compared to carbon dioxide. Why so? Methane leads to global warming because it absorbs the sun’s heat and it remains trapped in the environment causing an overheated climate. To some people, this may be a minor issue, however, what hotels and others fail to realize is that an increase in methane affects food production, and this can have a great impact on their business. For example, with the rise in heat may cause animals to seek new ecosystems because their current one is destroyed. For example, fish may seek a new area because water is drying up too quickly. Eventually, the hotels would not only lose customers, but may seek for conniving alternatives to attain food.

On the bright side, due to innovation, there are new developments that can be put into action. One of the ways hotels could investigate reducing food wastage is enabling their employees to see the value of each item being wasted. With the visibility of data, employees can weigh each item and record the data on a software. An advanced software installed in hotel systems would allows employees and managers to know the quantity of carbon emission each item possesses and the cost price of the food. At times, food is ordered in bulk and workers at the hotels are not able to see how costly it may cost to produce on item or how much it costs at the marketplace, so being offered an opportunity to see the price may allow them to reflect on their proceeding action. Secondly, foods could be separated into different bins. Instead of having plastic bottles, wine bottles, bread or leftover mac and cheese all thrown in one bin. It could be placed in recyclable bins with labels. For example, the plastic bottles can be thrown in the plastic section, the bread could be placed in organic section. This would allow hotels to analyze their waste and it would bring about the idea of composting. Rather than wasting food, the hotels would be replacing lost food by growing more. Food appropriate for compost could be sent to farms, whereby it could be used as a fertilizer on soils to grow new food. Concluding as customers, we too have the duty to follow suit and place each waste in its appropriate section. Yes, we cannot change the world overnight, but when we work together as a community, it almost certainly feels like we can.

Sources:

https://www.traveller.com.au/hotels-and-food-waste-what-happens-to-breakfast-buffet-leftovers-h1m3lq

Food for thought.

What happens next?

About Me

Within this blog, I shall be discussing the infamous wastage of food that occurs in hotels. This blog shall also analyze practices that have been done to alleviate the quantity of food being wasted, as well as, the external input being offered by firms.

Why does sustainability matter?

Increased resource efficiency
Meeting consumer demand and marketing advantage

One of my goals with this blog is to allow people to think more frequently about the quantity of food they are able to consume. Sometimes, it is easy to grab more than you can eat because the food may appear appetizing, however, it has been proven time and time again that eating in smaller portions rather than larger ones tend to result in an ’empty plate’.

According to biologicaldiversity.org, about 40 % of food is wasted in the United States. Thus, leading to an increase in carbon imprint on the environment. Not only does such actions impact the wildlife and ecosystems, it eventually reflects back on humans once global warming surfaces.