More than 1,100 pounds of food are thrown away weekly on the second floor of Shafer Court Dining Center, Market 810, where students, guests, faculty and staff can eat as much food as they want.
“Take all you want, eat all you take,” is a new motto issued by VCU dining services to help reduce the amount of food wasted in Market 810.
Pam Neff, resident manager of ARAMARK, said the motto is a friendly reminder.
“Guests may take all they want, but we simply ask not to waste food,” Neff said.
ARAMARK is the food supplier for VCU. Each day, the university receives a new shipment of food that feeds over 5,000 students. ARAMARK serves more than 400 academic institutes, including Old Dominion University and the College of William and Mary.
Neff said the university’s budget for food is in line with other schools.
Students spend a lengthy amount of time in Market 810, Neff said, because of its buffet-style food service. The facility has an award-winning design setup as a marketplace with mini-restaurants.
Sophomore JoBarie Townsend said wasted food is not unusual at all-you-can-eat cafeterias.
“It’s commonly a tradition at a buffet-style place that no one cares to eat all their food,” Townsend said.
“Students need to do a better job making selections instead of taking everything all at once.”
-Pam Neff
Some students try to obey the Shafer motto and throw away as little as possible.
Freshman Ja’Nel Edens said the fancy food presentations don’t tempt her to take more than she can eat.
“Most of the time I do eat all my food,” Edens said. “I try to take as much food as I am going to eat.”
Another reason food is thrown away on such a large scale, Neff said, is because students tend to take all the food they want at one time to avoid taking multiple trips in the crowded facility.
“Students need to do a better job making selections instead of taking everything all at once,” Neff said. “Students tend to fill up on food from the servers, and then, by the time they can get to all the food on their tray, it is cold.”
While the cafeteria could have its employees serve students smaller portions, Neff said, guests prefer to serve themselves. Students do not like having their meals, for which they pay anywhere from $1,185 to $1,600 a semester, rationed for them, she said.
“I wouldn’t like that (rationed food),” Edens said, “because we are already used to getting our own food.”