Avaliação do desperdício de alimentos em um restaurante do instituto federal do Piauí

Abstract

Hunger and food waste are two major problems faced around the world. The large amount of food wasted annually is enough to feed two billion people and this directly affects the food security of current and future generations. Brazil is considered the eighth largest economy in the world and also one of the countries that wastes the most food. In this context, Food and Nutrition Units (UAN), whose purpose is to offer balanced and balanced meals, are considered the sectors that contribute most to food waste. This is due to several factors such as incorrect planning, eating habits of diners and lack of staff training. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate waste through the accumulated leftovers of food served during lunch at the Institutional Restaurant of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Piauí, São Raimundo Nonato campus. For this, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out over seven non-consecutive days. Data collection was done by weighing ready-made foods, leftovers and leftover food. The results show that the percentage of dirty leftovers varies according to the day and the average percentage is (4.93%) a value above the recommended value (3%). In relation to the food residue index, the values found are above (10%) and are considered bad. And the amount of discarded food would feed 449 people. Therefore, awareness campaigns for diners and employees in order to reduce these rates are extremely necessary.