What's Left on The Plate? : A Data-Driven Look at Food Waste Culture

Chisom Ndy-Orji et al.
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:10:00 PDT

Our SLX project will work to analyze food waste inside and outside of IMSA. Food waste fuels global malnutrition by throwing away food instead of giving it to those who need it; also releasing methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere during decomposition, it contributes to climate change. In addition to the two aforementioned effects, food waste increases the amount of land and water used in the production of food, thereby further increasing its climate access. The current degree of food waste in most developing countries is completely incompatible with the UN-SDG goal #12 of Sustainable Consumptions and Production Patterns. At UN SDG-conscious organizations like IMSA, food waste should be a topic of special interest. As such, this newspaper article will cover the ability to reduce food waste, using IMSA as a scale of comparison, by running surveys on students as to see how much food they perceivedly throw away, both at school and at home. To do so, we will interview Lexington employees to find a more accurate estimate of food waste both in the production process, and in general. We aim to use the amount of food waste we discover to advocate for reducing the prevalence of specific food items that prove to be undesirable. Additionally, we will have used this data and external data on food waste to gain a better idea of the amount of food people waste. That information

will help to inform people of the amount, and damage of that waste, encouraging them to waste less. The article itself works to inform both members of the IMSA community, and the general public of the quantity & harms of food waste, as well as methods to reduce it. In doing so, we hope to reduce IMSA’s overall food waste, serve as a model for the community, reduce our climate impact, help responsible consumption, and even reduce hunger.