Plate Waste Prevention in Child Nutrition Programs

Information on plate waste including strategies, best practices, and resources for sponsors participating in Child Nutrition Programs (CNP).

Overview

In the United States, food loss and waste is about 30 percent of the food supply at retail and consumer levels. Americans waste enough food every day to fill a 90,000 seat football stadium. Approximately one-third of all food is wasted at the retail and consumer levels. While the amount of food wasted in CNPs has not increased during recent years, there are many ways that everyone can help reduce, recover, and recycle food before it goes to waste and teach students about the impact it has on the environment and in their community.

Strategies

There are three main challenges identified in efforts to reduce food waste in schools:

Accommodating student taste preferences and unfamiliarity with menu items
Helping students deal with early meal schedules and insufficient time to eat
Redistributing uneaten, intact items

Successful strategies for minimizing plate waste that help address these challenges are as follows:

Challenge 1: Accommodating student taste preferences and unfamiliarity with menu items

Obtain feedback on new menu items
Implement the offer versus serve option across all applicable CNPs
Provide more choices
Serve foods with familiar flavors
Serve ready-to-eat fruit
Invite school staff and teachers to eat meals with students
Use kid tested menus

Challenge 2: Helping students deal with early meal schedules and insufficient time to eat

Encourage principals to schedule recess before lunch
Encourage students to keep food items for snacks
Offer grab-and-go items
Serve Breakfast in the Classroom

Challenge 3: Redistributing uneaten, intact items

Offer share tables
Donate intact items to eligible local food banks or charitable organizations

Best Practices

Below are some best practices to consider for minimizing plate waste in your program(s):

Buy what you need. Use production records and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Buying Guide web page to help you reduce leftover food.
Consider food sharing. Partner with your local health department to implement safe practices that encourage kids to leave unwanted food on share tables.
Market your meals. Highlight new foods on your menus and serving lines. Consider holding taste tests and recipe competitions or creating a student advisory committee to provide feedback on food acceptability and recipe names. Check out the Team Nutrition Popular Events Booklet web page for resources.
Create a Smarter Lunchroom. Offer a grab-and-go line for kids who want to get through the line faster so they have more time to eat. Use serving utensils that help kids take reasonable portions. Get more ideas on the Dairy Council of California's Smarter Lunchrooms of California web page.
Check food acceptability. How do students feel about the foods being served? Is the fresh fruit ripe? Is the milk cold? Find out through student surveys or by doing your own check of what is offered.
Give kids a choice. Participate in the offer versus serve option, which allows students to decline some of the food offered in a reimbursable lunch or breakfast. Or, consider a salad or produce bar to give children more choices among a variety of fruits and veggies.
Cut fruit into smaller pieces. Whole fruit is more likely to be thrown away. Orange slices and apple quarters are easier and faster for kids to eat.
Schedule recess before lunch. It can reduce plate waste by as much as 30 percent.
Give kids time to eat. Extending the lunch period from 20 to 30 minutes can help reduce waste by nearly one-third.
Donate safe food. Partner with your health department and local hunger relief organizations to donate safe and wholesome food. See the USDA policy memo Guidance on the Food Donation Program in Child Nutrition Programs .

Join the U.S. Food Waste Challenge. Sign up today so your school is recognized on the USDA Office of the Chief Economist web page

Contacts

For questions regarding the content of this web page, please contact the School Nutrition Program (SNP) Unit at SNPInfo@cde.ca.gov or the Summer Nutrition Programs and Grants Unit at SFSP@cde.ca.gov.

Resources

The following links provide resources used for minimizing plate waste:

Questions: Nutrition Services Division | SNPINFO@cde.ca.gov | 800-952-5609

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, February 04, 2026