Equipment
Commercial grade, high volume kitchen equipment can be an expensive proposition, but there is payoff in the amount of energy that can be saved. Read more about equipment efficiency, sustainable cleaners and transportation in this section.
The Sustainable Lunchrooms case study covers: food and procurement, equipment (current page), student engagement, and certificates and resources.
Equipment
Commercial grade, high volume kitchen equipment can be an expensive proposition, but there is payoff in the amount of energy that can be saved. Read more about equipment efficiency, sustainable cleaners and transportation in this section.
The Sustainable Lunchrooms case study covers: food and procurement, equipment (current page), student engagement, and certificates and resources.
Food Waste: Back of the House
In order to reduce food waste within the department, the kitchens first need to understand what amount and type of waste was being created in daily operations.
Piggybacking on the district’s partnership with Eco-Cycle’s Green Star Schools program, BVSD’s School Food Project targeted food waste as a department priority in 2017. After receiving a grant from Boulder County’s Resource Conservation Division’s Zero Waste funding program, the district installed Leanpath machines in each of BVSD’s three regional production kitchens.
Food Waste: Back of the House
In order to reduce food waste within the department, the kitchens first need to understand what amount and type of waste was being created in daily operations.
Piggybacking on the district’s partnership with Eco-Cycle’s Green Star Schools program, BVSD’s School Food Project targeted food waste as a department priority in 2017. After receiving a grant from Boulder County’s Resource Conservation Division’s Zero Waste funding program, the district installed Leanpath machines in each of BVSD’s three regional production kitchens.
Using the Leanpath Spark system in cafeterias is one of BVSD’s newest food waste reduction strategies. At the end of a meal period, students scrape their plates into a large compost bin, like they would in any BVSD Green Star School. However, schools with Spark systems have a large floor scale underneath the compost bin to weigh every piece of organic waste generated in the cafeteria. Each transaction is recorded, generating a report much like those in production kitchens. Real-time data is also displayed in school cafeterias and translated into kid-friendly statistics and equivalents, such as amount of meals lost, swimming pools of water wasted, and number of cars on the road.
Having only piloted the program as a passive communication display, and having noticed a 30% reduction in post-consumer food waste, the School Food Project is working toward the introduction of a food waste toolkit with additional classroom and practice-based learning opportunities for teachers and students to implement using data generated in their own schools.
Leanpath has been invaluable to reducing food waste across BVSD Food Services but does come with a high price tag that may be too costly for some districts. As an alternative, schools can occasionally run their own food audits to collect data on what is being wasted during meal times. While they require planning, these “manual” audits offer a hands-on opportunity for students to learn about waste reduction. This comprehensive Guide to Conducting Student Food Waste Audits offers step by step directions and sample tracking sheets.
Sustainable Cleaners
Sustainable cleaners in a school environment can pose a challenge.
With a high-risk population and the responsibility to ensure the safety of students in schools, it is not possible to use homemade, sustainable options like water and vinegar.
Sustainable Cleaners
Sustainable cleaners in a school environment can pose a challenge.
With a high-risk population and the responsibility to ensure the safety of students in schools, it is not possible to use homemade, sustainable options like water and vinegar.
Equipment Efficiency
With the increased emphasis on green school buildings, food service operations are highly encouraged to focus on energy efficiency and the financial impact of storing, preparing, cooking, and serving hundreds to thousands of meals each day.
BVSD prioritizes the purchase of Energy Star certified equipment to increase energy efficiency by 20% over traditional products. However, beyond the quality of the equipment, there are many best practices that any food services operation can implement to decrease energy costs and support a more sustainable operation:
Equipment Efficiency
With the increased emphasis on green school buildings, food service operations are highly encouraged to focus on energy efficiency and the financial impact of storing, preparing, cooking, and serving hundreds to thousands of meals each day.
BVSD prioritizes the purchase of Energy Star certified equipment to increase energy efficiency by 20% over traditional products. However, beyond the quality of the equipment, there are many best practices that any food services operation can implement to decrease energy costs and support a more sustainable operation:
Transportation
With nearly 14,000 meals to move from 3 regional production kitchens to 54 school-based satellite kitchens, transportation coordination and delivery logistics are essential functions of BVSD’s operation.
Spanning 500 square-miles, BVSD Food Services currently operates out of production kitchens regionally located throughout the district and one central warehouse. Each day, a team of six drivers starts at the central warehouse. In refrigerated trucks with cold storage curtains, drivers follow a set route, delivering scratch-cooked food to schools and picking up clean, used sheet pans and hotel pans to return to the production kitchens. BVSD has established a driving schedule and route to cut down on inefficient side trips and ensure predictable pick-up and delivery from the regional kitchens and warehouse to the school sites. Each truck is equipped with a GPS tracking system to support location and speed verification.
In addition to driving geographically efficient routes, delivery trucks are properly maintained to ensure they’re running efficiently. Preventative maintenance also helps avoid costly surprises. If a breakdown occurs with food on board, the loss can result in out of temperature food. This not only disrupts labor and the flow of operations, but leaves the district with a large amount of food waste and students without meals.
Transportation
With nearly 14,000 meals to move from 3 regional production kitchens to 54 school-based satellite kitchens, transportation coordination and delivery logistics are essential functions of BVSD’s operation.
Spanning 500 square-miles, BVSD Food Services currently operates out of production kitchens regionally located throughout the district and one central warehouse. Each day, a team of six drivers starts at the central warehouse. In refrigerated trucks with cold storage curtains, drivers follow a set route, delivering scratch-cooked food to schools and picking up clean, used sheet pans and hotel pans to return to the production kitchens. BVSD has established a driving schedule and route to cut down on inefficient side trips and ensure predictable pick-up and delivery from the regional kitchens and warehouse to the school sites. Each truck is equipped with a GPS tracking system to support location and speed verification.
In addition to driving geographically efficient routes, delivery trucks are properly maintained to ensure they’re running efficiently. Preventative maintenance also helps avoid costly surprises. If a breakdown occurs with food on board, the loss can result in out of temperature food. This not only disrupts labor and the flow of operations, but leaves the district with a large amount of food waste and students without meals.
