New regs causing more food waste in Idaho school

Nov. 19—Nearly half the pineapple served to the students at one Boise, Idaho, elementary school during one lunch period on one day this fall went uneaten. But at Grace Jordan Elementary–where one kid’s trash is the district’s science project – at least it didn’t go to waste.

Boise assigned an intern to weigh all the fruit it served and then collect and weigh all the fruit kids tossed out at two different schools on three different days.

The results from the district’s plate-waste study showed kids didn’t want to eat nearly half of all the fruit the district required them to take. Grace Jordan wastes an estimated 36 more pounds of fruit every day this year than it did in 2010. But the new data also shows Grace Jordan kids eat 22 more pounds of fruit every day than they did in 2010.