Reducing Waste

August 30th, 2022

Reducing Waste

IN OUR KITCHENS

By prioritizing sustainable environmental practices in our operations, we hope to serve as an example for other businesses and a resource for individuals.

 

In June of this year we were honored to receive the StopWaste 2022 Efficiency Award: Excellence in Food Waste Prevention.

This award was presented during the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board meeting.⁠

They acknowledged Just Fare for the following achievements:⁠

  • We used tracking data (Leanpath) to reduce our food waste from overproduction by 96%⁠ (Aug ‘19-Apr ‘22)

  • We prevented 4.5 tons of food waste, resulting in approximately $35,000 savings⁠ (Aug ‘19-Apr ‘22)

  • We prepared over 400,000 meals for donation via Just Fare Community Kitchen to date⁠

  • We cultivate a work culture where preventing waste is a shared value

StopWaste recognized other local organizations as well for similar awards: Local Ecology Agriculture Fremont, Daily Bowl & Daylights Foods, Altamont Creek Elementary School, Zeiss Innovation Center California.

We are motivated by this recognition of our efforts to reduce food waste and run an efficient kitchen. Making the operational decisions required to reduce food waste in a busy kitchen can feel like additional work, especially if the systems, processes and spaces are not optimized for it (more from our Design team on this later). But reducing waste, both in and out of the kitchen, is something we are committed to do. And even better, we’ve created a habit embraced by our team that is a meaningful part of our workplace culture. (Read more about our commitment to erase food waste here.)

Queue the Leanpath Champ.

For some time now our team has celebrated reducing waste in the kitchen by selecting a Leanpath Champ - the person that reduced the most waste using our waste reduction tool, Leanpath - every week. This has become a tradition for our team and brings some levity and joy to our monthly All-Hands meetings. This is one way that reducing waste in our kitchens has become a beloved part of our workplace culture. And now, being honored by the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board and StopWaste is another - as the plaque hangs prominently on our wall for all to see.

What is your relationship with reducing waste like at home?

We have found that, by making sustainable environmental practices an integral part of our business and something we talk about regularly, it motivates not just our business to do better, but ourselves as individuals, too. In a recent all-hands meeting, our Operations Manager, Kiyomi, shared a presentation on recycling. This included tips to use while at work and also at home. This sparked a conversation among us, and our Design Director, Caetie, shared an eye-opening article on “wishcycling” - see linked article below.

Buying groceries in bulk (and for our Workplace clients, serving bulk Snacks & Drinks) is another great way to reduce waste. Buying in bulk at the grocery store allows you to purchase exactly how much you will use (reduces food waste), in reusable containers/bags (reduces packaging waste), and has the added bonus of a more affordable price tag. National Bulk Food Week takes place next month, from October 16th through the 22nd - if you get started shopping now you’ll be a bulk foods expert by then!

There are many small habits and tools we can adopt to reduce our waste.

We’ve compiled a short list of useful resources on the topic, if any of these resonate with you, let us know.

Thank you StopWaste and board members, Leanpath, and most of all - every person in our kitchen doing their best to reduce waste. May we all do our part to reduce waste, in whatever way we can, each and every day.

Thanks for reading,

💚 Just Fare

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