The Owl Cafe and bookstore have policies in place to limit food waste on campus, but there is no record of how much is being thrown out.
Eric Magallon, Enterprise Services manager at Citrus College, said in an email “Not much is thrown out because of batch cooking throughout the day until items sell out, and portion control.”
Pacific Dining is the vendor that provides food services on campus, “Pacific Dining works diligently to reduce food waste,” Magallon said.
Magallon said food is not measured at the end of the day, so there is no way to know how much is being disposed of.
Maribel Rojas a supervisor at the Owl Cafe said that food is only allowed to be out for two hours before needs to be disposed of. “The only thing that we would throw away, is like a few slices left over.”
Rojas said that on occasion, and with permission they are able to take leftovers for themselves.
Expired food items are returned to vendors for credit, and pastries not sold by the end of the week are donated to the veterans center Magallon said.
Jeff Eichler environmental health and safety programs supervisor said there are no new plans in the terms of food waste reduction.
“So right now we would need to be reliant on the resources of our current waste hauler who at this point in time doesn’t have any program going on,” Eichler said.
Eichler said in 2012 the campus attempted to compost some food waste, but said that it takes more time and work than most people realize to get it done right.
“But, if it’s done incorrectly, like the ratios are off, which these guys we take these heaping loads of lettuce, you know trim the lettuce, carrot tops or whatever other vegetable matter that their creating there and just keep on cramming it in there, it’s just gonna turn into a big gooey mess, and sure enough that’s what happened,” Eichler said.
At the moment all trash, unless it is put into the new recycle bins, is thrown out. In the past some people have taken some of the reusable plant waste off of the schools hands. Eichler said a man would take several buckets full of vegetable waste to farm soldier flies.
At this time there is no policy in place preventing individuals from taking food waste off of the school’s hands.
Eichler said, “I would welcome anyone to take advantage of that waste stream, for sure.”
Eichler believes it takes more than just making policies, “It’s takes cooperation and interest and knowledge and the will to want to help, otherwise it’s the out of sight out of mind …,” Eichler said.
Leftover cooking oil is the only confirmed food item to be set aside for recycling at this time.
