Presenter(s)

Maria Elizabeth Plevris

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Description

Food composting has many benefits including addressing food waste at institutions such as hospitals. As for example, the healthcare system is responsible for 11.7 tons of waste that enters the landfills each year, some of which is due to food waste such as expired food and an overproduction of food. The food service department at Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton, Ohio wanted to develop a system to address food waste. Therefore, the University of Dayton collaborated with Dayton Children’s food service and dietary department to develop and implement a composting system utilizing a local composting company- Compost Dayton. The focus was on composting raw, pre-consumer produce trimmings that had not left the culinary kitchen. The process of development and implementation included: research on proper education and training techniques for the staff, creating a Higher Learning Commission (HLC) module for the staff to complete prior to training, a hands-on, in person training session, and weekly audits of the composting bin. Challenges that emerged included: maintaining proper health codes for the hospital and the composting company, along with obtaining support and adherence from the dietary staff. In conclusion, through the use of proper education and training, Dayton Children’s Hospital’s implementation of composting can help decrease food waste.

Publication Date

4-24-2019

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Rebecca C. Potter

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Dayton Children's Hospital Composting Initiative

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