Far too much food ends up in household waste in domestic hospitals: up to 25,000 tons per year! That should change. A chef from the LKH Graz-Süd is a pioneer.
The United Against Waste initiative calculates that the 25,000 tons of food thrown away each year in Austrian hospitals could feed the 25,000 inhabitants of the city of Leoben for up to a year and a half. This wasted resource is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of approximately 80,000 flights from Graz to Munich and back.
The figures are based on evaluations of 44 hospitals seeking to reduce the rate of loss through food waste monitoring. It was exactly 42 percent when the Styrian hospital company Kages had the share of wasted food checked for the first time in 2019. A shock to all involved and an unbelievable waste!
A million meals a year
At the LKH Graz II Süd, the central kitchen manager Walter Mayer made it his personal task to reduce the discard percentage. Each year, his canteen kitchen prepares a million meals for “guests” (as Mayer calls the LKH patients) and employees.
“We have refined recipes, optimized processes, revised portions. Sometimes we buy two bowls of cranberries and cook them,” he explains on Wednesday during a tour of the 2,800 square meter kitchen. The efforts were successful: in the LKH-Süd only 20 percent of the food ends up in the garbage! in the top 5 of all reviewed hospital kitchens in Austria.
Reducing the discard rate further
The location should now serve as a blueprint: Kages aims to reduce the disposable rate in all its hospitals from the current 37 percent to 30 by the end of 2023.
Chef Mayer also has good advice for everyday life at home: “Make weekly meal plans and only buy what you need. Freeze leftovers or use them to make a tasty Gröstl the next day.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
