Mom and Dad were Right – We Shouldn’t Waste Food

So many people waste food. I’m guilty of it too.

It’s not a trivial thing. Consider this, about 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted each year around the world – four times the amount needed to feed the more than 800 million people who are malnourished, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Food waste accounts for about 8 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, which means food waste’s contributions to global warming is almost equal to global road transport emissions, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Our properties around the world are seeing the same trend. Food waste accounts for more than 60 percent of the waste in our average hotel that has a restaurant. And we operate more than 10,000 restaurants around the world.

We recognized the impact of food waste on the environment years ago. In 2017, we were the first hotel company to set a food waste reduction goal -- 50 percent by 2025. It was abundantly clear then and still is that the travel industry has an impact on the environment. We have a responsibility – and plans -- to continually improve the way we operate our hotels and contribute to the communities in which we live and work. We want it, and our leisure and corporate customers want it as well.

Where do we start with food waste? It’s complicated and in many ways more difficult than our earlier sustainability initiatives around reducing the use of plastic straws and small toiletry bottles.

To assist our 7,200 properties around the world on this journey, we’ve developed a food waste baseline for all of our hotels and provided them with guidance through four key steps:

• Step 1: Using low-tech and high-tech means, separate waste and measure what’s being wasted so we can understand the problem and where to make changes.
• Step 2: Find places to donate food.
• Step 3: Work with local farms to donate inedible food to feed animals.
• Step 4: Where possible, incorporate composting and other methods to divert from landfills.

Reduce waste at the source

We can’t tackle this issue without first shifting our mindset and cultural norms about hotel restaurant dining. The best way to reduce waste is at the source. It’s difficult because the very definition of hospitality is a friendly and generous reception of guests. Our guests are accustomed to certain portion sizes and multiple selections. That’s often the appeal of the hotel or restaurant experience. Moving forward, we have to consider change. We should produce enough, but not more than enough.

Many of our properties are experimenting with new restaurant designs, moving away in some situations from the large buffet in favor of stations for personal customization options, for example. While we’ve always monitored menu metrics to keep track of what our guests are eating, we’re now more focused than ever.

A number of our hotels use Leanpath, a digital food-waste tracking technology and software system that can weigh, track and photograph food waste and present weekly email reports, allowing hotels to analyze the sources and environmental impact of waste. The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, in Arlington Virginia, has been using Leanpath’s tracking technology since 2016. After a Leanpath analysis, the hotel’s restaurant realized they had high levels of fish waste. Staff adjusted their purchasing and cut fish waste in half. When Leanpath analytics showed breakfast pastries were a high waste item, the staff created a bread pudding recipe that repurposed leftovers. That became a popular new menu item that also cut food waste. Since starting the program, they’ve reduced food waste by 54 percent, preventing 61,000 pounds of food waste from hitting a landfill.

Food donations

Inevitably, there will be food left on the serving platter. Food banks have traditionally been a resource and many of our hotels are engaged in local partnerships for that purpose. The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, for example, has partnered with the Tarahum Charity Foundation since 2016. The hotel donated more than 84,000 pounds of food to the foundation in 2018.

Technology is making food donations easier. There are now a number of companies, such as Food Donation Connection, which hotels can utilize to find interested local recipients. Some of the companies make the process easy by providing drivers to collect the food from the hotels.

Animal feeding

In some parts of the world, there are opportunities to donate food scraps to farms to feed animals. Animal feed production requires significant amounts of land, water and energy, which takes away from food sources that could be used to feed people. A number of our hotels have developed valuable relationships with farmers in their areas to assist in animal feeding. One of our properties in the Philippines donates leftover vegetable scraps to a pig farmer and then purchases the pigs for use on their menu.

Composting

If food waste can’t be reduced at the source or donated, composting is the next option. Many of our hotels have been composting for years, including the Westin Chicago River North, which increased its landfill diversion rate from 13 percent to 47 percent in one year after it began composting organic waste. The hotel used color-coded signs and floor markers throughout the kitchen area to guide associates in properly diverting waste to the loading dock. Posters were also used to illustrate real-life examples of compostable material versus recyclable material.

We may never completely eliminate food waste. But awareness, planning and behavioral changes, coupled with community partnerships and diversion methods like composting are big steps in a larger effort to minimize our environmental impact. Every time I see a small buffet or just one dessert offered after dinner, I’ll be mindful to take what I want and eat what I take, just like mom and dad said.