Background of the Problem

Student’s Name

Instructor’s Name

Course Title

Date

Background of the Problem

For some time now, foodstuff surplus in the United States eatery industry has augmented significantly. Most of the researchers have put more attention on food discarded in households. Still, research on eatery food waste is missing, although the restaurant business is very significant to the United States financial sector. It is the biggest independent sector firm with a probable 12 million workers, which is equal to 8% of the United States employees (Leo et al, 430). It happens that up to 15% of sustenance bought by eateries does not reach the consumer because of excess food at several phases of the food chain. For many years, food waste has attracted the concern of the media, scholars, officials, and others, mainly because of its far-reaching impact on the environment and economy (Erin, 714). It is essential to come up with baseline strategies to be implemented to reduce food waste.

The purpose of this proposal paper is to explore and come up with strategies that restaurant owners can put into practice to lessen food waste and upsurge profit. The research of this proposal comprised of five independent restaurants that give no more than $300,000 in yearly income with a total of fifteen workers. The insinuations for positive social change include job creation, an increase in profits, and ecological enhancement for the American urban area’s occupants.   

Research question

The primary research question for this proposal was as follows: Which solutions can be proposed and implemented to reduce food waste management and, as a result, increase profit to the restaurant firm?

Interview Questions

I interviewed a number of restaurant workers and owners in order to discover the approaches to use to reduce food waste. I gave the following semi-structured interview questions to the restaurant owners:

Which food leftover reduction techniques do you use in this eatery to increase profits?

What money, time, and other resources do you give to foodstuff surplus reduction strategies that aids reduce wastage?

What challenges do you face when you practice food waste reduction policies to enhance productivity?

What strategies have you used to retrieve edible food that would otherwise go to waste and hand out it to those impoverished, and in what ways do such strategies affect productivity?

What commercial actions do you take part in that show your support and commitment to reduce food waste and increase returns?

What other information can you give to help me comprehend the strategies you use to reduce food waste?

Please describe and clarify your views on any new foodstuff waste reduction approaches that you propose to use in the coming days to increase productivity.

What is one thing about food waste that you wish everyone knew or understood?

What are some foods initiatives that you would like to see embraced?

The interview queries were designed to examine knowledge, attitudes, awareness, perceptions, and practice of staff and owners in food businesses on wasted food. Surveys and related journals inspired the questions I presented to them in the form of in-person interviews. The majority of them comprehended the environmental effect of waste in common, although others regarded their actions as insignificant if the government doesn’t take enough initiatives. Water, waste disposal, and energy were areas where chefs and managers saw their business as having an environmental effect.  

Proposed Strategies

I asked several respondents how much it concerned them to throw food because it was not eaten. Most of them gave me feedback that bothered them to throw food because it was not consumed. One of the staff said that throwing a lot of damaged expired food or prepared food is not their decision, so there is nothing to be concerned about, so he does not reason wasting food is problematic. He supposed it is essential and that it is a matter of clients’ food safety and foodborne illness. According to the respondents’ feedback, I can propose that the restaurant audit the waste. The best way to prevent additional waste of food is to recognize how it’s being produced. Managers and chefs can profit from analyzing their kitchen’s habits. I believe that a better understanding, smarter, and new practices to eliminate waste can be made.  

When I asked about the money and time allocated to food waste, most of the staff responded that a lot of time and money was spent dealing with food wastage. I can propose that it will be essential to donate surplus food to reduce food waste. On the other hand, instead of throwing away the restaurant food’s remaining parts, it will be useful to find a way to incorporate them into other dishes. For instance, I suggest using the skins and stalks of vegetables and fruits to create a new side or puree for a dish. Other strategies I propose to handle food waste are regulating the temperatures of the food, organizing the fridge, restaurants should avoid buying overstock, practicing stock rotation regularly, and paying attention to use-by dates. 

Reflection

I have learned many things from the interview I did with the staff and owners of the restaurants. Apart from that, the book “American Wasteland” has also taught me a lot. From my experience and the several things I have learned, I can now implement these strategies to reduce waste and implement ways to reduce them. I realize that it will take more than one individual to make a change of the magnitude. The only method the change will take is if the whole kitchen staff is on board with the initiative. Restaurant managers need to hold a staff meeting to educate the team on the importance of saving food. Once everyone understands the essence, the efforts to reduce food waste will be more successful   

Works Cited

Sakaguchi, Leo, Nina Pak, and Matthew D. Potts. “Tackling the issue of food waste in restaurants: Options for measurement method, reduction and behavioral change.” Journal of Cleaner Production 180 (2018): 430-436.

Stöckli, Sabrina, Michael Dorn, and Stefan Liechti. “Normative prompts reduce consumer food waste in restaurants.” Waste management 77 (2018): 532-536.

Peot, Erin. “American wasteland: How America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it).” Community Development 48.5 (2017): 713-714.