Thursday, July 17, 2008

Food Waste Log- Day 2

Today there was minimal waste, so I have almost nothing to complain about. It might be because I talked to the general manager and to the head chef, who both did not seem to know how much we were throwing out. Wow. I noticed in one year what they haven't noticed in 10+. Talk about only seeing what you want to see.
So todays waste:
Breakfast:
1 shotgun scrambled eggs (4 lbs {it was a 2" pan})
2 full pans hashbrowns (6 lbs ea)
Lunch:
1 Shotgun spanish rice (8 lbs)
about 10 lbs fresh fruits and vegetables from the salad bar
Catering:
1 shotgun Meatloaf (5 lbs)
1 shotgun chicken alfredo (6 lbs)
1 shotgun mashed potatoes (7 lbs)

So today we only tossed 42 lbs of food in the garbage, but we didn't even serve dinner, where most of our waste comes from. Remember, this is only completely edible food that has been in the warmer to wait to be served, but just hasn't been eaten. It's wrapped in plastic and cooked, just like any extra pan of food you have at a party and keep in your oven.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Food Waste Log- Day 1

Well, today was interesting, to say the least. I work for a portion of the catering company Bon Appetit, and being a company that serves a buffet to several hundred (kids at camp) at once, of course there is going to be some food wastage.
But it's more than that. It's poor management. I swear I can do a better job.

First of all, there is food in the freezer that has been in there over a year. That includes a very large, very disgusting box of salmon that has been already (partially) used in March, when it was already gross and inedible.

Second, the food sometimes goes in the freezer (1) comes out to be thawed, goes back in the freezer cause head chef changed his mind (2) comes out again a few weeks later, and goes back to the freezer another (3) time. Gross.

Third, is the massive amount of wasted food. This is going to be a running tally of how much food is wasted each day. I'll say a shotgun (3 meatloaf pans laid out like a hot dog, about 5-6" wide, 6" tall, and 2 feet long, weighs about 5 pounds. A full pan (double the width) weighs approximately 12-14 pounds, depending on what's in it. Mashed potatoes=heavy. Pancakes=light.

So breakfast waste:
6 shotguns eggs (8lbs ea)
1 full pan pancake (2lbs)
2 full pans potato squares (equivalent to hashbrowns, but just potatoes in squares) (6lbs ea)

Lunch Waste was minimal:
1/2 full pan grilled cheese sandwich (about 15 sandwich halves) (2lbs)
3 shotguns vegetables (2lbs ea)
1/2 shotgun Turkey rotini (3lbs)

Dinner waste was almost exhorbant:
3 shotguns baby carrots (5lbs ea)
4 full pans of potatoes Au Gratin (10 lbs ea)

That's it for today, but using the wierd weight calculation, it's about, lemme see, I'll even account for light veggies and pancakes.


About 125 lbs of food in the garbage. joy. I wish I could afford to throw that away every day. Considering rice is about the cheapest thing in the world to buy, and it's at 1.99 a pound, that's about (being cheap) $250 in the can. I'm lucky if I make that in a week.