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In response to economic distress, schools are increasingly serving as providers and distributors of social service resources. However, even when schools offer resources that respond to needs, they struggle to attain high levels of uptake. We examine the family-level correlates of participation in school-sponsored resources during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and find that uptake increases with economic need. In addition, net of need, families who report maintaining communication with parents of their children’s classmates take up more resources; and take-up of key meal and digital technology resources is associated with higher levels of take-up of other resources. These findings contribute to efforts to reposition schools as social service hubs by highlighting promising practices to improve resource uptake.
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This content will become publicly available on December 27, 2025
School and meal characteristics associated with plate waste in K-12 cafeterias in the United States
Food wasted in primary and secondary education institutions creates nutritional losses, financial inefficiencies, and environmental degradation. While there is some evidence of how particular interventions within schools may influence the amount of waste created, there is little recent information about typical levels of food waste generated in U.S. primary and secondary schools and how waste correlates with school and meal characteristics. We analyze data reported by more than 100 schools from 24 states as part of the World Wildlife Fund’s Food Waste Warriors project and identify how plate and beverage waste from school lunches are associated with school and meal service characteristics. We find schools that permit students to choose their own amount of milk report 76% less milk waste than those reliant upon individual milk cartons while schools that implement at least one non-curricular intervention (e.g., a table where students can share unopened food) report significantly less produce waste than other schools. We confirm several patterns observed or hypothesized in the literature, including more waste generated by younger students and during the earliest and shortest lunch periods. We document several novel associations including more plate waste at smaller schools, during winter months and in the Northeast region. We find several nuanced patterns of waste related to the prevalence of free and reduced meal service and whether all meal elements are offered versus served. While this study cannot support rigorous evaluation of intervention effectiveness, it provides insights into school and program characteristics that may pose challenges for schools interested in reducing student plate waste.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2115405
- PAR ID:
- 10637710
- Editor(s):
- Trujillo, Carlos Andres
- Publisher / Repository:
- PLOS One
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- PLOS ONE
- Volume:
- 19
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 1932-6203
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e0299043
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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