Carle Foundation Hospital reFresh Eatery and North Star Café team members are cutting back on food waste, spending less money and improving the environment one pan at a time.
Carle Health Food and Nutrition Services has embraced a food waste reduction program using Leanpath technology to weigh, classify and place a dollar value on food waste. Goals are to buy and prepare food that customers want, meaning better use of resources and less food trucked to the landfill.
Just six months into the program, food waste at Carle Foundation Hospital has reduced by 37%, with a dollar value of $32,653.37 saved, Kevin Steffes, director of Food and Nutrition Services with Carle Health, said. In addition, 4,643.76 gallons of gasoline were conserved because less food needed to be trucked to the landfill, he said. That’s reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“The food and nutrition team budgeted just under $18,000 to implement the (Leanpath) platform over three years,” Steffes said. “We have already recouped the investment in the first six months of waste tracking.”
“It’s exciting to celebrate the rapid accomplishments of the Food and Nutrition Services’ team with food waste reduction because it represents a win for Carle Health and highlights how a holistic approach to sustainability and environmental stewardship can result in overall operational savings,” Anthony Corso, RA, AICP, sustainability and energy manager for Carle Health, said.
In the United States, about 31% of the food supply is wasted, according to the USDA. It translates to 133 billion pounds, valued at $161 billion, a year.
“Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impacts it can have for food security, the environment and climate change,” Steffes said. “Reducing food loss and waste could benefit them, their families and the world.”
Steffes said the initial goal at Carle Foundation Hospital was simply to generate less wasted food.
Enter Leanpath, which has worked with commercial kitchens on food waste prevention solutions for 20 years. Among Leanpath’s customers are restaurants, hospitals, universities, hotels, cruise lines and corporate dining facilities.
Under the Carle Health sustainability initiative, Food and Nutrition Services partnered with Leanpath. Food and Nutrition Services began using the Leanpath platform in May 2024 with team member training and establishing the baseline for food wasted at reFresh Eatery and North Star Café at Carle Foundation Hospital. The Leanpath program officially began at Carle Foundation Hospital on June 1, 2024.
Here’s how the process works, as explained by Tutti Selimi, Food Service retail operations manager; Cindy York, Food Service lead for retail at the reFresh Eatery; and Devin Sherrill, retail coordinator for the reFresh Eatery.
After each shift, any food left over that can’t be reused is placed on the Leanpath scale and weighed. On a touch screen, a team member enters it as food waste and marks the food category and why it’s being discarded.
Leanpath technology then calculates how much that waste would cost, how much it would cost over a year and the environmental impact.
Over time, Food Services has adjusted its food purchases based on what it’s discarded. For example, the team is learning that certain types of produce don’t sell when certain entrees are served so it’s adjusting purchases accordingly.
“We have had great conversations between the cooks and retail so we can match what we prepare with what sells,” Sherrill said.
“This has been a good idea,” York said. “In some cases, we’ve been making less food.”
“We’ve been able to utilize information, so there’s not as much waste at the end of the day,” Selimi said. “I’d rather be out of something than have to throw something away.”
“It makes us aware of how the little things add up over time,” she said.
For example, in reFresh Eatery, Food Services had presented full pans of produce in the salad bar, Steffes said. “Now, we begin to display less as we move to the end of the week with the knowledge that we may not be able to repurpose the product left at the end of the week, and it would head to the landfill.”
At North Star Café, “we were wasting a lot of fresh bread,” he said. “We have changed our ordering processes to make the orders more just-in-time and better reflect what we’re using.”
Staff time is saved because team members aren’t preparing food that isn’t consumed.
Food waste currently goes to the landfill. Eventually, some food may be donated or composted, Steffes said.
Steffes said, “Ultimately, I think we have the opportunity to expand the Leanpath waste tracking partnership to additional sites in the system.”
Corso said the food waste reduction program fits with Carle Health sustainability and energy projects. He hopes the program can be expanded to other Carle Health hospitals.
“It’s an ongoing conversation,” Corso said. “We are committed to finding sustainable solutions throughout Carle Health.”
Carle Health Food and Nutrition Services has embraced a food waste reduction program using Leanpath technology to weigh, classify and place a dollar value on food waste. Goals are to buy and prepare food that customers want, meaning better use of resources and less food trucked to the landfill.
Just six months into the program, food waste at Carle Foundation Hospital has reduced by 37%, with a dollar value of $32,653.37 saved, Kevin Steffes, director of Food and Nutrition Services with Carle Health, said. In addition, 4,643.76 gallons of gasoline were conserved because less food needed to be trucked to the landfill, he said. That’s reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“The food and nutrition team budgeted just under $18,000 to implement the (Leanpath) platform over three years,” Steffes said. “We have already recouped the investment in the first six months of waste tracking.”
“It’s exciting to celebrate the rapid accomplishments of the Food and Nutrition Services’ team with food waste reduction because it represents a win for Carle Health and highlights how a holistic approach to sustainability and environmental stewardship can result in overall operational savings,” Anthony Corso, RA, AICP, sustainability and energy manager for Carle Health, said.
In the United States, about 31% of the food supply is wasted, according to the USDA. It translates to 133 billion pounds, valued at $161 billion, a year.
“Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impacts it can have for food security, the environment and climate change,” Steffes said. “Reducing food loss and waste could benefit them, their families and the world.”
Steffes said the initial goal at Carle Foundation Hospital was simply to generate less wasted food.
Enter Leanpath, which has worked with commercial kitchens on food waste prevention solutions for 20 years. Among Leanpath’s customers are restaurants, hospitals, universities, hotels, cruise lines and corporate dining facilities.
Under the Carle Health sustainability initiative, Food and Nutrition Services partnered with Leanpath. Food and Nutrition Services began using the Leanpath platform in May 2024 with team member training and establishing the baseline for food wasted at reFresh Eatery and North Star Café at Carle Foundation Hospital. The Leanpath program officially began at Carle Foundation Hospital on June 1, 2024.
Here’s how the process works, as explained by Tutti Selimi, Food Service retail operations manager; Cindy York, Food Service lead for retail at the reFresh Eatery; and Devin Sherrill, retail coordinator for the reFresh Eatery.
After each shift, any food left over that can’t be reused is placed on the Leanpath scale and weighed. On a touch screen, a team member enters it as food waste and marks the food category and why it’s being discarded.
Leanpath technology then calculates how much that waste would cost, how much it would cost over a year and the environmental impact.
Over time, Food Services has adjusted its food purchases based on what it’s discarded. For example, the team is learning that certain types of produce don’t sell when certain entrees are served so it’s adjusting purchases accordingly.
“We have had great conversations between the cooks and retail so we can match what we prepare with what sells,” Sherrill said.
“This has been a good idea,” York said. “In some cases, we’ve been making less food.”
“We’ve been able to utilize information, so there’s not as much waste at the end of the day,” Selimi said. “I’d rather be out of something than have to throw something away.”
“It makes us aware of how the little things add up over time,” she said.
For example, in reFresh Eatery, Food Services had presented full pans of produce in the salad bar, Steffes said. “Now, we begin to display less as we move to the end of the week with the knowledge that we may not be able to repurpose the product left at the end of the week, and it would head to the landfill.”
At North Star Café, “we were wasting a lot of fresh bread,” he said. “We have changed our ordering processes to make the orders more just-in-time and better reflect what we’re using.”
Staff time is saved because team members aren’t preparing food that isn’t consumed.
Food waste currently goes to the landfill. Eventually, some food may be donated or composted, Steffes said.
Steffes said, “Ultimately, I think we have the opportunity to expand the Leanpath waste tracking partnership to additional sites in the system.”
Corso said the food waste reduction program fits with Carle Health sustainability and energy projects. He hopes the program can be expanded to other Carle Health hospitals.
“It’s an ongoing conversation,” Corso said. “We are committed to finding sustainable solutions throughout Carle Health.”
Categories: Redefining Healthcare
Tags: food, hospital, Leanpath, nutrition, reduction, sustainability, technology, waste