N.C. State Stewards, a group supported by the University Sustainability Office, conducted a study Sept. 3–4 to find out how much food the average student wastes. Within only two hours, 732 people at Fountain Dining Hall produced 138 pounds of food waste — an average of three ounces per person. 

University Dining already has several programs in place to help reduce our food waste. Throughout the semester, University Dining employees occasionally “recognize students who turn their plates in ‘clean’ as members of the Clean Plate Club with a button and small prize,” according to the N.C. State Recycles website. Additionally, University Dining has been composting food waste in dining halls since fall 2010. 

We commend these efforts, as they have proven to be effective — the three ounces of waste per person demonstrates a decrease in food waste from February 2012 when the average waste per person was 3.73 ounces. 

Still, three ounces adds to about 5.6 pounds of food waste per person every month, and that’s only accounting for one meal. We think the University can become more sustainable by expanding its composting program to The Atrium and Talley Student Center as well.  

But even if the University does implement more programs to increase our sustainability, the responsibility of reducing waste falls on us as the students. Many students seem to think they will get the most out of their meal plan if they fill their plates with as much food as possible, but when they end up throwing away half of their food, they are only costing the University more money. This will eventually result in students having to pay more for their meal plans to make up for the food loss. We can reduce our waste by only taking as much food as we know we can eat on our first trip through the buffet line. After all, anyone who is still hungry can always go back for more!