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Controlling Food wastage in colleges
Food wastage is a rising issue in the United States . This problem emanates from the aspect that Americans do not spend much money on food compared to other parts of the world. Hence, these individuals do not feel guilty while disposing of their food even without having valid reasons (Saber and Linda 2).  Some foods thrown away tend to be safe for consumption, although US citizens hold that such products are spoilt since they lack sufficient understanding concerning food safety. However, college students are ranked being the leading group in wasting food in America, and this issue is still connected with the improper management of dining halls in different learning institutions (Zappala 4). For example, the Food Recovery Network denotes that the campus dining halls contribute wastage of 22 million pounds of food annually. The colleges management is responsible for establishing an effective mechanism for determining the amount of food to be cooked for a specific number of learners (Zappala 5). However, the colleges leadership does not have a suitable tactic for ascertaining that excess safe food is preserved or donated to the food bank. The increasing wastage of food in colleges results from the incapability of students to make equitable purchases of food and poor management in dining halls (Zappala 9). The problem should be solved through interventions like the use of advanced technology to control food manufacturing, processing, and distribution into the school and starting initiatives for controlling food waste.
Evidence about Food Wastage in Colleges
College students have higher chances of wasting more food than other people in the United States. These learners are normally busy, and they use most of their savings on buying food, ending up having surplus edible products that they are unable to finish before they expire or get spoilt. The students also experience hardships while adjusting their schedules with the meal plan on campuses (Zang et al. 3). This confusion results from ineffective communication between those supervising activities in dining halls and the learners. For instance, the management in dining areas is reluctant. They do not monitor the students behavior to eliminate instances where some pick food that they cannot finish (Zappala 9).  Besides, the study conducted in the colleges indicated that students have been wasting a huge amount of food. For example, the results from this research show that students waste above fifty-seven grams for each tray (Evans and Nagele 179). The management in learning institutions has failed to educate the students about the importance of preventing food wastage.
Moreover, the university and school programs for meals and cafeterias are responsible for substantial food wastage in American colleges. The Los Angeles Unified School District is confirmed to be the second-largest learning institution that wastes much food worth $100,000 daily. This food wastage amounts to $18 million annually, demonstrating that preventing such behaviors will help the learning institutions save much money that can be put into other meaningful uses (Evans and Robin 32). The higher learning institutions still generate between 4% and 10% of the pre-consumer food waste compared to the percentage value of the purchased food.  This figure is always equivalent to the pre-consumer waste, indicating that 8% to 15% of the food end up to be waste products due to colleges lacking suitable methods of determining the estimated number of students in their institutions and preparing food aligning to such numbers (Evans and Robin 32).  The colleges management appears to be indisposed to know the number of students depending on their meals. Thus, they are unable to control food wastage in these institutions.
Researchers denote that food entails the largest percentage of waste in landfills.  This statement reveals that the colleges do not have appropriate plans for implementing zero-waste directives and ascertaining that they make the environment clean.  The increasing level of food waste shows that the leadership in colleges does not have an idea for reducing food wastage, starting from sourcing the food products, cooking the volume needed for a certain period to minimizing the generated food waste. For instance, the management in these learning institutions could have established a program for putting the remaining to other beneficial uses like feeding the animals. Besides, these officials could have utilized an anaerobic digester to facilitate the decomposition of food waste and apply it on farms to produce more food rather than burning it or disposing of it in landfills.  The quote, University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) has started composting from vendors on campus (Zappala 7), shows that the learning institutions and the students are not collaborating toward finding the solution for stopping the increasing food wastage (Zappala 7). The college administration is seen in UNL focusing largely on establishing a program for disposing of waste food rather than enlightening the students about the importance of taking the food they cannot finish to prevent the accumulation of leftovers.
Ways of Reducing Food Wastage in Colleges
Several methods can be utilized for eliminating food wastage in higher learning institutions. For instance, new technologies can play a vital role in reducing a big percentage of food wastage in cafeterias and dining halls in the United States.  Lean Path is among the best software applied in the University of California Berkeley (UC-Berkeley) to monitor the dining services. It helps determine the factors contributing to food waste. Embracing this innovation will help the officials in dealing with the food make accurate timing concerning the students present in a given period and the number of serving lines required. The quote, Use of this software at UC-Berkeley has already resulted in a forty-three percent reduction in food waste, saving more than 1,000 pounds of food and $1,600 per week (Evans and Robin 33), proves that the colleges must embrace technology to deal with the increasing cases of food wastage. This software can also offer technical assistance and updated guidance vital for establishing meal programs that enable the college staff to minimize wasting food. For example, Lean Path will guarantee that the dining halls do not have excess trays, and this practice will reduce food waste by 25% to 30% on each student. The patrons in these learning institutions should make effective plans for eliminating trays to ascertain that they do not have excess food during diners, guaranteeing that students keep breakfast or lunch foodstuffs and eat them later in the day. This method is crucial for ascertaining that students do not waste food during mealtimes (Evans and Robin 33). The students and college management should work collaboratively to prevent food and keep the surrounding environment clean.
Furthermore, all the stakeholders in the colleges should operate cooperatively in preventing food wastage. For instance, the learners should train themselves always to collect food, which they are sure they can finish without struggling to reduce the number of their leftovers (Saber and Silka.2).  The schools management is required to lay out essential plans for interacting with institutions such as the organics recyclers and food-waste reduction network groups to ascertain that the remaining food is used in other means that can enable the colleges to generate revenue (Evans and Robin 191). The application of this tactic will provide the colleges with platforms to account for the amount of the waste food collected daily, making it easy to identify the major factors acting as a barrier to preventing cooking excessive foods. The college administrators should still join forces with the student government to establish a composting initiative like Project Compost adopted in the University of California to enlighten learners about the importance of conserving the surrounding (Evans and Robin 203). More fundamentally, the campaigns for raising awareness regarding the effects of food waste will make students realize that they are misusing available resources and pressure them to change their behaviors, particularly in the dining halls (Zappala 9). Using the suitable guidelines will help prevent or reduce food wastage without causing conflict between the students and the management or leaders in colleges.
Additionally, up-cycled food is a crucial solution for eliminating food wastage compared to other tactics such as composting and feeding animals. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States indicates that this method will help promote sustainability since it will enable the college officials to minimize the amount of food prepared daily,  reducing the level of leftovers at a higher percentage (Saber and Linda 3). The quote, many consumers can see the advantages of upcycled foods and perceive these foods to be very beneficial to the environment (Zhang et al.1), portray that most people consider using up-cycled foods tactic since it will ascertain that institutions do not incur unnecessary costs while finding ways of using the waste food (Zhang et al.1). The application of up-cycled foods is essential for conserving the environment and minimizing food wastage.
Indeed, the poor behaviors of the college learners and the college administration increase the possibilities of food wastage in school. For instance, most of the learners buy excess food without proper plans for storage. On the other hand, colleges do not have a proper cooking plan that establishes a balance between the food cooked and the number of the students. As a result, there is always food left in the college cafeteria or in the students hostels. In the management of the food wastage in the colleges, the management should establish proper communication plans with the learners, establish systems that monitor the student eating behavior and work collaboratively in reducing food wastage in the colleges.

Works cited
Evans, Alexandra I., and Robin M. Nagele. “A Lot to Digest: Advancing Food Waste Policy in the United States.” Natural Resources Journal vol.58, no.1, 2018, pp.177-214. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3993&context=nrj
Saber, Deborah A., and Linda Silka. “Food Waste as a Classic Problem that Calls for Interdisciplinary Solutions: A Case Study Illustration.” Journal of Social Issues vol.76, no.1, 2020, 1-9.  https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12372   
Zappala, Macrae. “How are University’s Handling Dining Hall Food Waste-UNL Study.” 2019. pp.1-33. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1253&context=envstudtheses
Zhang, Jintao, et al. “Addressing Food Waste: How to Position Upcycled Foods to Different Generations.” Journal of Consumer Behaviour vol.20, no.2, 2021, pp. 1-9. doi.org/10.1002/cb.1844  YOU JUST HSVE TO SDD 2 NEW PAGES

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