Food Waste Audit in Selected Hostels of Rajasthan University, Jaipur, India

Abstract

“Food waste” refers to items that are fit for human consumption but thrown away by the consumer, it is one of the most significant problems faced globally, that contributes to social, environmental, and economic problems. It leads to higher rates of food insecurity, causes atmospheric pollution, results in a lot of capital wasted on inputs. Throwing away food can also mean that resources such as water and energy it used to produce it have been wasted. In the University and college hostels contribute to food wastage in a humongous scale on daily basis. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the Food Waste Index Report 2021. It revealed that 17% of all food available at consumer level (11% in households, 5% in food service and 2% in retail) was wasted in 2019 and around 690 million people had to go hungry. The two main objectives of study were To assess the food waste produced by girls hostel and develop a strategy on institutional food waste management. Locale of the study was two out of seven girls hostels of Rajasthan University namely Mahi and Savitri hostel were selected randomly with the help of random number table. Total number of respondents were 500. Observation method was used to collect data on daily basis by the researchers. In which 41 days of food was audited from Mahi Girls Hostel and 29 days from Savitri Girls Hostel. The study revealed that the majority of leftover from thali in the breakfast of mahi hostel 61.00 per cent as well as Savitri hostel 75.90 per cent in the range of 1.0 to 3.0 kg. Whereas the study also concluded that the majority of leftover from thali in the lunch of mahi hostel 39.00 per cent and from Savitri hostel 89.70 per cent in the range of 3.1 to 6.0 kg and 1.0 to 3.0 kg respectively. In the context of dinner majority of leftover from thali in mahi hostel 46.3 per cent and Savitri hostel 51.70 per cent in the range of 3.1 to 6.0 kg was found on the basis of the results. It can be concluded that a lot of food is wasted in each hostel per day. It is a serious issue but less talked about. To combat this problem, we can make both the staff and the students aware about the issues and also make them realize the outcomes of food wastage.