The removal of cafeteria trays from dining halls is a growing trend across college campuses, but it only attacks a symptom of a bigger problem: buffet-style dining halls.
Those who advocate getting rid of cafeteria trays see it as a step toward water conservation. Georgia Tech, according to The Associated Press, has saved 3,000 gallons of water per day by getting rid of the cafeteria trays.
But getting rid of the trays won't necessarily get rid of a student's appetite. Ohio University, for example, has a meal plan that is measured in card swipes, not exact dollars, so a trip through the dining hall is an all-you-can-eat buffet each and every time.
This leads students to be frivolous with their food choices, as they can grab as much food as they please without worrying about wasting it at the end of the meal. This is not only because of the buffet-style atmosphere, but because meal swipes are lost at the end of the week if not used by the student.
Students would feel less pressure to spend their meal swipes if they could purchase items a-la-carte with dollars. Some colleges have a meal plan where a student puts a certain amount of money in their dining account, and the money carries over between semesters, quarters and school years.
While Bobcat Cash is available for students, it needs to be purchased in addition to a meal plan. If meal plans allowed students to purchase items individually at reasonable prices (not selling a grilled cheese for $5), then students would be more likely to consume less food and therefore create less waste.
OU is finally in possession of a composting machine, which is good news for the food that normally goes to waste, but being able to reuse the waste is not as efficient as reducing the food waste in the first place. If students were to consume less food, then less food would have to be prepared; this means fewer dishes would have to be washed and less energy would be used to cook the meals.-
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Cathy Wilson
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