MS Elizabeth Matthew
1Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospital Group (FSFHG), Murdoch, Australia
Biography:
Elizabeth Matthew is a Senior Food Service dietitian with over 15 years’ experience working in food service in hospital metro, rural and aged care. She has led the Food rescue and reuse project across two hospital sites and has completed the Edith Cowan University Carbon literacy course. She is passionate about making hospital food services more efficient, nutritious and sustainable.
Abstract:
Food waste in Australia has significant environmental and economic consequence, with hospitals being a major contributor to this waste. There is a clear need for sustainable practices targeting waste reduction whilst optimising patient nutrition. A single day audit found that 1873 unopened single serve portions of shelf stable items were returned to the kitchen equating to ~$200000 per year in food waste costs.
Our project aimed to investigate the feasibility of a food rescue and reuse program where unopened single serve portions of shelf stable items on patient trays were either donated to local charity organisations or re-used in our hospital system.
A working group was formed with key stakeholders including infection prevention and control, hospital food service dietitian, consumer liaison and patient support services. The first task was to identify which food items were safe for donating to local charities. The process for collection of unopened shelf stable items was piloted and then rolled out over a 9 month period with an average 770kg/month donated. The second phase was carried out to obtain approval and then implement reuse of food items within the hospital food service system. Since the project has been implemented, there has been a reduction in supply ordering of portion-controlled food items by 54%.
The implementation of a structured process guided by clear protocols for donating or reusing portion-controlled food items within the hospital food service system reduces food waste. Our initiative has shown significant benefits for the environment, local communities, and hospital food service systems.