Every plate counts: An analysis of waste in an era of food insecurity

Background:

UCLA’s dining program is consistently ranked #1 in the nation, but at what cost? At the end of each dining period, large quantities of perfectly edible food are discarded. In a world where almost 10% of the population is food insecure, this procedure is not only wasteful, it’s insulting. While UCLA has taken action to mitigate the environmental hazards of their waste production, they remain complicit in the hunger crisis by failing to establish a meaningful system for food recovery.

Food Waste at UCLA:

In 2022, 45% of UCLA’s waste stream was linked to food with over a million pounds of food waste produced each year. California’s Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) mandates strategies for reducing organic waste in landfills, including a 75% reduction from the level of statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level (36 million tons of organic waste).

Abiding by this piece of legislation, 49.34% of UCLA’s waste was successfully diverted from the landfill and sent to compost through their centralized waste collection system. However, of the reported 3200 tons of waste, 50.66% remains unaccounted for. Additionally, while composting is environmentally preferable to landfilling, it does little to address the ethical implications of discarding edible food.

This disconnect is further reflected in UCLA’s dining policies. The university prides itself on its diverse selection and buffet style dining halls, yet it enforces a strict policy prohibiting food from being taken out of the dining hall. This remains stern even at the end of the dining period, when surplus food is ultimately thrown away anyways.

The issue isn’t monetary, it’s moral. UCLA has the resources to redirect surplus food to shelters serving unhoused individuals, to students without meal plans, or simply to students still present in dining halls who were unable to finish their meals before closing. Despite this, the university remains apathetic.

Senate Bill 1383 recently established an additional goal to recover at least 20% of the edible food destined for landfills and redirect it to those in need by 2025. The time is now. In a state where over 5.5 million tons of food waste are disposed of every year, no person should go hungry.

Bruin Dine to Avoid Institutional Accountability:

In their attempt to adhere to these standards, UCLA relies on student volunteer-led organizations like Bruin Dine. By implementing fee increases to support BruinDine food recovery events, the university avoids taking institutional accountability for drafting a plan or hiring paid employees to lead these initiatives themselves. The events occur three times a week from 10-11 p.m. in the Student Activities Center (SAC), neglecting the substantial amount of food that is discarded during the remaining dining periods throughout the week. UCLA once again prioritizes profit over progress.

UCLA Food Trucks

UCLA also demonstrates inconsistency in their commitment to diversity and student wellness. In recent weeks, the UC has made gradual steps towards phasing out food trucks from their dining selection. This disproportionately impacts students living on campus and small businesses simultaneously. Students engaged in extracurriculars or work often do not return to the hill until 9 p.m, when most dining operations have closed. For this reason, food trucks have become an increasingly convenient and swipe-efficient option for many students on campus. Meanwhile, the cuts to food trucks harm the small businesses that make a large portion of their profit from the audience generated by UCLA’s student body. The decision is mutually harmful to UCLA students and the diversity they once claimed integral to the institution.

Lack of Alternatives to Meal Plans for Students

Additionally, college students balance classes, part-time jobs, extracurriculars, and social obligations, making it difficult to find time to grocery shop and prepare meals. Campus meal plans can alleviate the burden of meal preparation, but it often comes at significant costs that are difficult to justify. At UCLA, a 19 Premier meal plan costs $6,878. Compared to the annual cost of preparing meals through grocery shopping, this creates a difference of roughly $3000. 

Despite this significant cost disparity, many students continue to choose meal plans because they are the most accessible option, particularly because UCLA dorms lack adequate kitchen facilities, limiting students’ ability to prepare their own meals even if they wanted to. As a result, students are effectively forced to adopt expensive meal plans for the sake of convenience, often at the expense of their financial security.

Concluding Thought

Until the university prioritizes food recovery, its top dining ranking comes at the expense of both social responsibility and human dignity. As students we must demand that UCLA take direct accountability for its wasteful practices and student neglect and refuse to give them credibility for student-led initiatives.