economics project

1. Indian Intitute of Space Science and Technology
Thiruvananthapuram
B.Tech. Economics Project
A study report on
Analysis and Optimization of Food Wastage in IIST
Submitted by
B.Tech. in Aerospace 2015 Batch
Group Number: 10
October of 2016
Department of Humanities
i

2. Indian Intitute of Space Science and Technology
Thiruvananthapuram
B.Tech. Economics Project
A study report on
Analysis and Optimization of Food Wastage in IIST
Submitted by
B.Tech. in Aerospace 2015 Batch
Group Number: 10
By
Chundru Madhu Swapnika
Nayan Rawat
Naveen Jangir
Akash Kanaujiya
Uttam Jodawat
October of 2016
Department of Humanities
ii

3. Declaration
This project report titled “Analysis and Optimization of Food Wastage in IIST”
is a presentation of our original research work. Wherever contributions of oth-
ers are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due respect to
the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions.
Date: 22th
October, 2016.
Name Signature
1. Chundru Madhu Swapnika ....................
2. Nayan Rawat .....................
3. Naveen Jangir .....................
4. Akash Kanaujiya .....................
5. Uttam Jodawat .....................
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4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the
training of the mind to think.
Albert Einstein
In the present world, there is a high competition in which, those who are
willing to move forward inspite of all hurdles, succeed. A Project, in this aspect
serves as a bridge between theoretical and practical working. Hence we take
this oppurtunity to express our deep sense of gratitude to Dr.Shaijumon C.S.
for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement.
We are extremely thankful to Mr. K. P. Vinod Kaimal for being patient with
us and helping us with whatever we needed.
We also use this oppurtunity to express our heartfelt thanks to all the people
who participated in the survey and gave their valuable suggestions.
Last but not least, we would like to thank all those people out there who
helped us complete this project on time.
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5. ABSTRACT
As the title suggests, this report aims to analyse all the factors responsible
for the difference between food supply and consumption in IIST, thus leading to
its wastage.Further it explores all the ways possible to optimize the wastage of
food. This is done by conducting a survey in the premises of the college. The
surveys done include the likes and dislikes of the students for various dishes
provided and the days that students likely choose other than mess for eating
food. Further we have gathered all the opinions and suggestions given by the
students regarding food provided by the mess and about its wastage . We
then arrived at suitable conclusions from our findings. We also mentioned the
ways possible to optimize food wastage. Thus, we tested the validity of our
hypotheses.
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6. Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Area of study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Topic of study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Importance of the Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Objective of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 Plan of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.6 Methodology of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.7 Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.8 Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Literature Review 10
3 Opinions 28
4 Survey 32
5 Opinion Poll 38
6 Statistics 46
7 Analysis 48
8 Suggestive measures 52
9 Conclusion 55
10 Appendix 57
11 Bibliography 59
11.1 List of Internet sources with internet adresses . . . . . . . . . . . 59
11.2 List of books with author and publishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
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7. List of Figures
2.1 Total agricultural production (FBS) vs. food wastage volumes . . 12
2.2 Food wastage volumes, at world level by phase of the food sup-
ply chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3 Contribution of each region to food wastage and carbon footprint 13
2.4 A picture showing damagaed sacks at a storage facility. . . . . . 15
2.5 A picture showing a child eating from garbage. . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.1 Figure showing the preferences chosen for Breakfast . . . . . . . 35
4.2 Figure showing the preferences chosen for Lunch . . . . . . . . 35
4.3 Figure showing the preferences chosen for snacks . . . . . . . . 36
4.4 Figure showing the preferences chosen for Dinner . . . . . . . . 36
4.5 Figure showing the preferences chosen for Non-veg food . . . . 37
5.1 Poll on the extension of breakfast timings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.2 Poll on the oil present in puri and vada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.3 Poll on the removal of mixed pickles from the menu . . . . . . . . 39
5.4 Poll on chnge of lunch menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.5 Poll on the requirement of more fruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.6 Poll on the replacement of chapathy in the afternoon . . . . . . . 41
5.7 Poll on the usage of variety of vegetables to make curry . . . . . 41
5.8 Poll on the improvement of sambhar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.9 Poll on the availability of coffee and milk during snacks . . . . . 42
5.10 Poll on the quantity of snacks available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.11 Poll on the quality of noodles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.12 Poll on the quality of curd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.13 Poll on the quality of curry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.14 Poll on the individual wastage of food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
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8. List of Tables
4.1 Preferences selected for Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2 Preferences selected for Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3 Preferences selected for Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.4 Preferences selected for Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.5 Preferences selected for Non-vegetarians . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6.1 Statistics of food wastage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.1 Approved Bulk list with quantity and rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
10.1 Major Ratings given by students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
viii

9. Chapter 1
Introduction
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need,
but not every man’s greed.
Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 Area of study
Ever since the earth was inhabited, humans and other life forms
have depended on things that exist freely in nature to survive.
Natural resources like air, water, land etc. are all connected in
a way. Therefore if one is taken away, it will affect the supply or
quality of all others. Research says that:
The world economy uses around 60 billion tonnes of resources
each year to produce the goods and services which we all con-
sume. On the average, a person in Europe consumes about 36kg
of resources per day; a person in North America consumes about
90kg per day, a person in Asia consumes about 14kg and a per-
son in Africa consumes about 10kg of resources per day. 1
Factors like over population, pollution, deforestation pose a threat
to the natural resources. But now-a-days in addition to this the
1http://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/overconsumption.pdf
1

10. wastage of the resources have also started being a threat. But
before we dive deeper into this topic, it is important to know what
exactly waste means.
According to the Basel Convention of 1989, “’Wastes’ are sub-
stance or objects, which are disposed of or are intended to be
disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of
national law”. 2
Wastage of resources often leads to problems not only envi-
ronmentally but also socially and economically. For a developing
country like India, this is a serious threat. Hence, optimization of
wastage is important and is a major concern for the growth of the
economy. This project considers this aspect of study.
Resources like water are wasted each and every minute by one
or the other person across the world. This may be in several
forms, for instance, washing clothes in the river, excessive use of
water for chores like bathing, brushing and all other house activi-
ties. This excessive misuse of resources will prove to be a bane
for the future generations. For the survival of mankind it is not
only necessary to renew the resources but also make sure they
are not wasted. This is the only way the development of a country
is possible in each and every aspect.
1.2 Topic of study
The scope of this project is to analyze the factors responsible
for the wastage of food resources in IIST.The definition of “Food
Wastage” as said by FAO is mentioned here:
2www.basel.int
2

11. Food loss refers to a decrease in mass (dry matter) or nutri-
tional value (quality) of food that was originally intended for human
consumption.
Food waste refers to food appropriate for human consumption
being discarded, whether or not after it is kept beyond its expiry
date or left to spoil.
Food wastage refers to any food lost by deterioration or waste.
Thus, the term wastage encompasses both “food loss and food
waste”.
We further research on the various ways that are available and
in the scope of the college to optimize the food wastage. We
also provide a few suggestions on the process of waste disposal
in IIST. Based on the hypotheses selected, suitable surveys and
opinion polls are taken. From these surveys and polls a general
conclusion is drawn. Further necessary graphs and figures have
been added to make the matter of this project more easily under-
standable.
1.3 Importance of the Topic
The importance of this topic comes from the fact that food is one
of the primary necessity of life. And its wastage might lead to var-
ied problems not only environmentally, socially but also econom-
ically. While certain people are wasting the food given to them,
certain other people are dying due to starvation and malnutrition.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO) growth standard,
the percentage of malnourished and severely malnourished chil-
dren in Kerala is 36.92% and 0.08% respectively as on March
2011.
3

12. FAO estimates that avoidable food waste in the US alone, yearly
exceeds a staggering 55 million metric tonnes, nearly 29% of an-
nual production.
As much as 1,94,502 metric tonnes of food grain worth crores
of rupees was wasted in India due to various reasons between
2005 and March 2013.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, up
to 40% of the food produced in India is wasted. About 21 million
tonnes of wheat are wasted in India and 50% of all food across
the world meets the same fate and never reaches the needy. In
fact, according to the agriculture ministry, Rs. 50,000 crore worth
of food produced is wasted every year in the country.
India ranks 63 among 88 countries in Global Hunger Index.The
number of hungry people in India has increased by 65 million
more than the population of France. According to a survey by
Bhook (an organization working towards reducing hunger) in 2013,
20 crore Indians sleep hungry on any given night. About 7 million
children died in 2012 because of hunger/malnutrition.
25% of fresh water used to produce food is ultimately wasted,
even as millions of people still dont have access to drinking water.
The Saumitra Chaudhuri Committee, constituted by the Plan-
ning Commission in 2012, has estimated the countrys cold stor-
age requirement as 61.3 million tonne as against the present ca-
pacity of around 29 million tonne which ultimately leads to wastage
of food.
4

13. All the above facts explain the importance of analysing the fac-
tors behind the wastage and trying to optimize it. The optimization
of food wastage in IIST will not lead to the complete abolishment
of the wastage problems in the world but it might prove to be a
start for the cause. Knowing the factors, one can always make
sure to provide alternative ways to reduce the wastage. It is not
only in terms of ethical way, the eradication of this problem is nec-
essary but also because it leads to economic problems in the col-
lege. Being a government college IIST should be a role-model for
the other private colleges in Kerala. Also the funds issued to the
college should be used judiciously so that the college develops
in every way possible. A wastage for something unwanted might
reult in losing something wanted.
1.4 Objective of the Study
The objective of this study is to come up with an altogether
new form of food menu in IIST which tries to take into account
atleast the majority of the suggestions given by the students with-
out any degradation of its nutritional value. Also it tries to explain
that dumping the wastage into bio-gas plants or sending it away
to farms is not the only solution available. There are further more
solutions for this problem and any one of them can be considered.
The project just presents an overview of the state of situation and
does not by any means demand for the suggestions to be en-
forced.
1.5 Plan of the Study
Official data on the production of food and its wastage is ob-
tained fron the canteen office. In accordance with, a survey is
taken which helps in verifying whether the factors are responsible
5

14. or not. Also opinions and suggestions of the students are taken
in order to form a new plan for food menu. The data obtained
from the canteen office helps in the verification of the hypotheses
provided with the help of suitable assumptions.
1.6 Methodology of the Study
A set of 100 students were taken for the survey. Care is taken
that these 100 number include the students from all the years
present and also from different states.The same group of students
are considered for the opinion poll also. A series of questions
were asked and this is done by preparing a questionnaire before-
hand. 35% of the set consisted of girls and rest all were boys.
The survey consisted of the students rating the dish provided
on a scale of 1 to 10 and also ticking the days when they would
likely prefer eating outside. This provides in understanding how
the tastes and better alternatives of the students would serve as
factors. Further opinion polls on time schedule, the taste of the
food and regarding the suggestions for the improvement of food.
General suggestions given by the students are also considered.
The opinion poll consisted of the following questions:
1. What is your opinion regarding the time schedule for break-
fast, lunch,dinner and snacks?
2. How frequent do you dump the food in your plate in the bins?
3. What is your opinion on the food provided in IIST?
4. Do you think any of the dishes provided needed to be re-
placed?
The survey took into consideration the dishes provided during
breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. Columns were provided for
the students to rate the dish. The next part is consisted of the
6

15. days in a week against mess, cafeteria, paratha shop and city.
The rating is on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the leat liked and 10
being very good.
Few assumptions were made during this study. They include:
1. The person who dislikes a certain dish, if in case turns up,
wastes atleastt some of it.
2. The food is cooked with the assumption that every dish pro-
vided will be taken atleast in some quantity.
The assumptions provided above are taken out of logic. The
first one appeared to be logically correct when the survey is con-
sidered. The second one is considered because of the logic be-
hind it that people tend to taste food that is not cooked in their
places out of mere curiosity.
From the data obtained from the canteen mess, analysis was
done to find the whether the factors are indeed responsible or
not. This is done by plotting graphs and using pie-charts to qual-
itatively argue the responsibility of these factors.At the end, con-
clusions were drawn to prove the validity of hypotheses.
1.7 Hypotheses
Two hypotheses were considered. They are:
1. The supply of food and its consumption are not in equilibrium
due to factors like taste of individual, time schedule of mess,
the quality of food, potential of the students, better alterna-
tives and other factors.
7

16. 2. The disposal of waste food or left-over food into bio-gas or
to the farms is not the only solution to treat this problem effi-
ciently.
It is known though the food is liked by everyone, some of it, say
a minimum quantity will be wasted. But the reasons behind this
wastage are quite interesting if one digs deeper into it. This hy-
potheses takes, what maybe the major factors, into account. The
several major factors pertaining to this wastage are as mentioned
in the hypotheses. The other factors include all sorts of minor
reasons which lead to wastage of food.
There are several ways to reduce the food wastage. But, not
all of those might be in the scope of this college economically.But,
it is also certain that the above mentioned ways are not the most
efficient solutions possible on a large scale. Therefore it is neces-
sary to check whether the hypotheses would prove to be right in
a relatively small economy like IIST.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
The official data obtained from the mess is for a span of one
week. The days considered do not necessarily consist of all wide
range of possibilities possible. But, it may be said that the devia-
tion obtained by considering all the days of a semester would not
be sufficiently great since, a normal week, where five of the days
are the usual working days and two of them are weekends are
considered for this project.
Another limitation would be the number of students taken for
this project. Although the total population is not considered, keep-
ing in mind the aim of this project, which is the qualitative analysis
of the validity of the above mentioned factors, it is considered that
8

17. the deviation would not be sufficiently large to jeopardize the re-
sults.
9

18. Chapter 2
Literature Review
Willful waste brings woeful want.
Thomas Fuller
As mentioned in the introduction, this project comes under the
scope of “Wastage of resources”. It is certain that some or the
other idea comes into mind when this topic is heard, but then,
people tend to grasp the importance of reducing the wastage of
resources when they see it quantitatively. So, certain articles
aare mentioned to help gain a better understanding. A start in
this process is done by looking into the summary report on “Food
Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources” by FAO.
Food and Agricultural Organization. Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org:http://www.fao.org/nr/sustainability/food-loss-and-
waste/en/
Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources -
A Summary Report
Posted by Food and Agricultural Organization
FAO estimates that each year, approximately one-third of all food
10

19. produced for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted.
This food wastage represents a missed opportunity to improve
global food security,but also to mitigate environmental impacts
and resources use from food chains.The global volume of food
wastage is estimated to be 1.6 Gtonnes of primary product equiv-
alents,while the total wastage for the edible part of food is 1.3
Gtonnes. This amount can be weighed against total agricultural
production (for food and non-food uses), which is about 6 Gtonnes.
Without accounting for GHG emissions from land use change,
the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated
to 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 equivalent: as such, food wastage ranks
as the third top emitter after USA and China.Produced but un-
eaten food vainly occupies almost 1.4 billion hectares of land;this
represents close to 30% of the worlds agricultural land area.
The loss of land, water and biodiversity, as well as the negative
impacts of climate change, represent huge costs to society that
are yet to be quantified. The direct economic cost of food wastage
of agricultural products (excluding fish and seafood),based on pro-
ducer prices only, is about USD 750 billion, equivalent to the GDP
of Switzerland. Hence food wastage reduction would not only
avoid pressure on scarce natural resources but also decrease the
need to raise food production by 60% in order to meet the 2050
population demand.
Agricultural production, at 33%, is responsible for the greatest
amount of total food wastage volumes. Upstream wastage vol-
umes, including production,post-harvest handling and storage,represent
54% of total wastage, while downstream wastage volumes, includ-
ing processing,distribution and consumption, is 46%. Thus,on av-
erage,food wastage is balanced between the upstream and down-
stream of the supply chain. Refer Figure 2.2.
11

20. Figure 2.1: Total agricultural production (FBS) vs. food wastage volumes
12

21. One of the consequences of food wastage is the carbon foot-
print, that is, the amount of CO2 released by the material or in-
dividual or community. According to FAO, the food supply chain
produces about 3.3 billion tons of carbon a year. Figure 2.4 shows
how the carbon emission from the food wastage varies with re-
gions. Note that variations are due to different mixes of commodi-
ties that are lost or wasted in each region.From the figure, one
can infer that carbon intensity is higher in North America because
the share of meat in wastage is higher(9 percent and 5 percent of
regional food wastage,respectively).
The above mentioned facts and figures show the vast amount
of wastage happening around the world. It is said that the food
wastage is actually growing every year due to increase in popu-
lation. If this continues, then the world will no longer be a safe
habitat to live in.
Figure 2.3: Contribution of each region to food wastage and carbon footprint
According to a report by the National Resources Defence Coun-
cil (NRDC), India and China cause a loss of 1.3 billion tonnes of
food wastage every year. In terms of overall food waste agri-
13

22. cultural produce, poultry and milk India ranks seventh, with the
Russian Federation at the top of the list.
Further a recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Manage-
ment, Kolkata, revealed that only 10% of foods get cold storage
facility in India, this factor, accompanied by inappropriate supply
chain management, has resulted in India becoming a significant
contributor towards food wastage.
The following articles about the food wastage in India give a
crystal clear view of the wastage in India.
Deccan Herald. (Saturday 29 October 2016). Retrieved from
http://www.deccanherald.com/: http://www.deccanherald.com/india-
wastes
India wastes Rs 44,000 cr worth food every year.
Posted on Saturday 29 October 2016, 6:49 PM IST.
Despite millions of Indians going to bed on a hungry stomach,
the country is letting food worth a whopping Rs 44,000 crore go
waste each year due to lack of adequate storage infrastructure.
While the wasted fruits and vegetables alone was estimated at
Rs 13,300 crore, other food products like rice, wheat, serials and
meat are also allowed to perish without consumption.
14

23. Figure 2.4: A picture showing damagaed sacks at a storage facility.
The minister claimed that the government has taken many steps
to encourage creation of additional storage capacity and compli-
mented states that had taken more interest in efficient food stor-
age. Despite these, he insisted that requirement for cold stor-
age remains very high.The Saumitra Chaudhuri Committee, con-
stituted by the Planning Commission in 2012, has estimated the
countrys cold storage requirement as 61.3 million tonne as against
the present capacity of around 29 million tonne.
Food Minister K V Thomas told Deccan Herald that nearly 30%
of the country’s fruits and vegetables perish due to lack of cold-
storage facilities, while thousands of tons of food-grain rot in ill-
equipped warehouses. Between 15 and 20% of cooked food
15

24. at weddings, parties or restaurants is wasted as well. Though
Thomas mooted the idea of introducing guest control system in
marriages to prevent wastage of food, it failed to take off due to
accusation from several quarters. India produces around 250 mil-
lion tonne of foodgrain in a year, but its annual consumption re-
mains far lower at 220 million to 225 million tonne. The country
has failed to take advantage of the higher production levels as it is
reported that more than 250 million people go to bed hungry each
day.
Yet an another article shows the effect of food wastage on the
economy of India.
The Hindu. (February 12, 2014). Retrieved from
http://www.thehindu.com/: http://www.thehindu.com//news/national/fci-
admits-194-lakh-mt-foodgrain-wasted-between-200513.
FCI admits 1.94 lakh MT foodgrain wasted between 2005-13.
Posted on February 12, 2014, 17:00 IST.
As much as 1,94,502 metric tonnes of food grain worth crores
of rupees was wasted in India due to various reasons between
2005 and March 2013. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has
given this information in reply to an RTI query sought by a city-
based activist Om Prakash Sharma. He had filed an RTI query
last month and sought information about the food grain wastage
in India, which he got on Tuesday.
The reply provided details of the region-wise and commodity
wise stock accrued as non issuable (damaged) for each of the
years separately for the 23 regions in the country. The damaged
stock which stood at 95,075 MT in 2005-06 came down to 3,148
MT in 2012-13. The wastage was at 25,353 MT in 2006-07, 4,426
16

25. MT in 2007-08, and 20,114 MT in 2008-09, the report said. It also
said that of the damaged stock, around 84% (1,63,576 MT) was
rice and 14% wheat (26,543 MT).
Punjab with a total damage stock of 98,200 MT recorded 50% of
the total damages, while Maharashtra recorded a total of 20,067
MT of damaged stock, accounting for 10% of the total loss, the
report added.
The above articles shows the government’s inability to control
the food wastage. It further shows the irresponsibility of citizens
towards the development of the country. These contributes not
only to the down-fall of the economy but also makes the standard
of living of the poorer sections diminish.
Laws have been passed against wastage of food by Supreme
Court of India. The following article provides the information about
the law passed.
Tarun Jain. (September 5, 2010). Retrieved from
http://www.legalsperspective.blogspot.in/: http://legalsperspective.
blogspot.in//no-food-waste-by-rotting.
No Food Waste by Rotting: Supreme Court.
Posted on September 5, 2010.
Don’t waste food by making it rot in the godown; better give it
to the poor who don’t get a daily meal. This advice, even though
quiet logical and sensible, has to come from no one less than
the Supreme Court of the country in order for the Government to
shake the slumber and think over it. Justive Dalveer Bhandari and
17

26. Justive Deepak Verma last week had to put the order in specific
terms to ensure that the Government takes the directions seri-
ously and not sit over it as a mere suggestion to the executive.
The Bench specifically noted that “about 50,000 M.T. of wheat
have already been deteriorated and is not fit for human consump-
tion” and not just that but also that “several lakhs of Metric Tonnes
of wheat which has been procured has not been properly pre-
served”.
Justice Wadhwa, in the report of State of Orissa has mentioned
that the system of storage agency is one of the main thrust of di-
version of PDS food-grains. This system should end forth-with.
The State Corporation has adequate storage facilities and suffi-
cient reserves. Some of the godowns which are owned by the
Corporation have let out to storage agents. The Panchayat Raj
Department has six godowns of 15 M.T. Capacity and 300 godowns
of 1000 M.T. Capacity. The Panchayat Raj Department and also
the Urban Development Department may have more godowns if
required. This suggestion may also be considered by Union of
India and they must respond to it on the next date of hearing. Ac-
cording to the report of the Food Commissioner, lakhs of bogus
cards are in circulation. According to a recent report of Times of
India, more than 2,50,000 bogus cards are in circulation in the
State of Orissa alone. By a newspaper advertisement, a warn-
ing be issued asking all the bogus card holders to surrender the
bogus cards forthwith, in any event, within two weeks of the date
of advertisement, otherwise criminal prosecution may be initiated
against the bogus card holders.
It is necessary that we strive to develop a culture of zero toler-
ance corruption. If urgent steps are not taken, the ultimate effect
will be on the poorest citizen who is deprived of legitimate enti-
tlement for food-grains. We must ensure that every poor person
18

27. is provided with two square meals per day. Right now, one can
only hope that the Government will take note of the order and do
what is necessary to ensure that food is, atleast, not wasted in
this country.
Speaking of consequences, one that comes instantly to mind is
malnutrition and starvation. Statistics of malnutrition and hunger
in India describe the situation faced by the below poverty line peo-
ple. As already said, no citizen, mainly a child should be subjected
to malnutrition. The following article speaks about the malnutrition
and starvation in India and in kerala particularly.
Nazar Valiyedath. (November 4, 2015). Mathrubhumi. Re-
trieved from
http://english.mathrubhumi.com/:http://english.mathrubhumi.com/
news/kerala/tribal-kids-consuming-waste.
Tribal kids consuming waste: Probe ordered.
Posted on November 4, 2015, 6:47 PM IST.
Despite the Central and state governments spending crores for
the development of the community, Mathrubhumi had reported
that the tribal kids were visiting the waste management centre
in search of food.
According to the article, Minister P K Jayalakshmi has ordered
the District Scheduled Caste Development Department to conduct
an enquiry into the reports of tribal children consuming waste.
19

28. Figure 2.5: A picture showing a child eating from garbage.
This is one more example of the government officers irresponsi-
bility. Even though it is said that huge funds weere being released,
the situation does not seem to develop. It is time that people start
asking the government about the disappearance of the funds.
This article gives a view about the malnutrition prevalent in Kerala.
G.Prabhakaran. (April 29, 2013). The Hindu. Retrieved from
http://www.thehindu.com/: http://www.thehindu.com//news/nat
-ional/kerala/malnutrition-puts-state-in-dock.
Malnutrition puts State in the dock.
Posted on April 29, 2013, 02:51 IST.
Keralas claim to robust health indices has received a jolt with
a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India
saying that as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) growth
standard, the percentage of malnourished and severely malnour-
ished children in Kerala is 36.92% and 0.08% respectively as on
March 2011. It said that of the Rs.50,587 crore spent on the ICDS
scheme during 2006-2011, only Rs.30,861 crore (61%) was spent
for providing nutrition.
20

29. When studies were done on the children living in coastal vil-
lage and non-coastal village in Kerala, it was found that both the
communities suffer growth retardation. As mentioned in the re-
search paper Nutrition Status of Children in Kerala. S.Rajasree.
C.R.Soman the deficit in the weight of the body ranged from 3
kg for non-coastal children to over 5 kg for the coastal children at
the age of 5 years. Further it was found out that the malnutrition
status in the coastal part was worse.
Continuing with the literature, it is time we move onto our topic
of consideration.As our study is restricted to our college, it is time
that the wastage in colleges are explored. We therefore present
the following article showing the food statistics in a reputed col-
lege. The statistics show that in the realm of this wastage even
colleges and educational institutions play a major role.
Yogita Rao. (November 27, 2015). The Times of India.
Retrieved from
http://www.thetimesofindia.com/: http://www.thetimesofindia.com//
city/mumbai/IIT-B-students-waste-around-950-kg-of-food-every-day.
’IIT-B students waste around 950 kg of food every day.
Posted on November 27, 2015, 11.14 PM IST.
Over 950 kg of food is wasted on an average in a day at IIT-
Bombay, stated a report by the students’ magazine. The students,
through an NGO, found the amount wasted at the institute daily
can feed 300 children. The report mainly blamed the wastage on
“miscalculated estimates by caterers” and “students’ hopefulness
for tasty food which more often than not turns out to be tasteless”.
21

30. Data compiled by the institute from 2011, which students quoted
in the report, states the institute wasted 952 kg of food daily on
an average. After 2011, most hostel messes were privatised, so
wastage should have gone down. But with addition of two new
hostels, it remains almost the same. The report added the ’it’s not
my problem’ attitude of students was responsible for the wastage.
It is usually thought that education brings great wisdom. But
this article proves otherwise. When a uneducated person wastes
food, it can be thought of as the ignorance of that person. But
when the same thing happens with the so called youth, it is hard
to digest. India is first in terms of the number of youth in the world,
but the above article shows that this position is just for namesake.
A college student has various reasons not to turn up for mess.
But the reason we normally hear is “The food is not tasty”. It
should be kept in mind that “not tasty” does not imply that the
quality of the food is bad. It is just that that person did not like it.
It is also an other known fact that the present generation choose
fast food over home made food. Hence it is necessary to show
some facts about the canteens and the ill effects they have.
August 1, 2013. India Today. Retrieved from
http://www.indiatoday.in/: http://www.indiatoday.in//story/kerala-co
-llege-students-fall-ill-after-eating-canteen-food.
Kerala college students fall ill after eating canteen food.
Posted on August 1, 2013, 14:23 IST.
Food safety officials said the students of LBS Institute of Tech-
nology for Women started vomiting and developed nausea after
22

31. eating lunch at the canteen.Thirty-one college students of LBS
Institute of Technology for Women were admitted to the hospital
on Thursday after they ate food at their college canteen.The offi-
cials inspected the canteen and ordered a temporary closure as it
was found functioning under unhygienic conditions.
This shows the danger of eating food outside. It is a fashion
these days to eat junk food and fast food. They claim that they
are tasty, but less they know about the hygienic conditions in that
place. A variety of ingredients are added to make the food tasty
and that is what matters. This fashinable attitude has lead to
health problems like obesity, acidity, stones in the kidney at a very
early age.
The University grants Comission, popularly known as UGC, has
issued that the college canteens should follow certain rules and
regulations. The following article gives a quick view regarding this
matter.
October 27, 2016. The Times of India. Retrieved from
http://www.thetimesofindia.com/: http://www.thetimesofindia.com//
city/goa/College-canteens-must-meet-food-safety-rules-UGC/.
College canteens must meet food safety rules: UGC.
Posted on October 27, 2016, 03:01 IST.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a new
circular to state universities, asking them to ensure that canteen,
messes and other food establishments in affiliated colleges meet
the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The
requirement of the Act includes that the college canteens and
23

32. messes hold a valid license. Universities have also been asked to
conduct training for food handlers in the college canteens in asso-
ciation with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on
the importance of serving safe and wholesome food to students
in colleges.
In 2012, when inspectors of directorate of food and drugs ad-
ministration raided 10 college canteens, they found that neither
the canteens nor the kitchens had the desired hygiene standards
and most operated without the mandatory food safety licence.
In 2015, when raids were done by Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) on some prominent bakeries, it was
found that they are using banned food colours in their food prod-
ucts.Raids revealed that these bakeries were adding monosodium
glutamate (MSG) in bakery products beyond permitted levels. Am-
monium chloride was seized from certain bakeries. It was sus-
pected to have been added to food products for longer shelf life.
The chemical is not permitted for use in food articles and is harm-
ful to health.
The recent news of Maggi making to the headlines because of
containing lead beyond permitted levels is yet another example.
When the body stays fit, so will the mind. The mention of the
above articles does not in any way protest against food other than
home made one. They are provided only with the view that not all
the food available out there is good for health. That the so called
tasty food need not be a quality one.
Having spent the past one year in this college, we could say with
certainity that the food provided in the mess does have quality,
better than what is available outside. It might not be tasty in its
24

33. own way, but the problems faced by the students in other colleges
are atleast not prevalent here. Providing quality food, free of cost,
on the funds provided by government is something to appreciate.
Before concluding the literature review, an article is presented
on the initiative taken by a certain college in optimizing the food
wastage.
Swathi Chandra. (August 13, 2013). The Times of India.
Retrieved from
http://www.thetimesofindia.com/: http://www.thetimesofindia.com/
/city/c/articleshow/21809181.
BHU students come up with ’Save Food’ initiative.
Posted on August 13, 2013, 11.15 PM IST.
Showing their concern over the food wasted as left over in plates
which could otherwise be used as meal for millions of people, the
IITians at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) have come up with a
’Save Food’ initiative.Under this initiative, the students, through
their newly formed ’Green Club’ of the institute, will calculate the
quantity of food wasted in the hostel mess of the institute every
day after lunch and dinner.
The statistics collected, henceforth till October 21, (along with
flowcharts, diagrams and charts) will be displayed by the club in
the campus on October 22 during the commemoration of Green
Day by the club. The statistics prepared by the students will also
include the number of under privileged people who could satisfy
their hunger from the amount of food that was wasted,“ the mem-
bers informed.
25

34. According to the members, the aim behind this initiative was to
decrease the amount of food wasted by students. ”Our main focus
is on the food leftover in the already eaten platter. The untouched
food left in the mess is eaten by the people of mess but the food
left in the plates goes wasted and is served to cattle near the
campus. We are also making posters urging students to not waste
the food by taking only the amount of food that they would eat. The
do’s and don’ts regarding food wastage will be communicated to
each students in the institute hostel,“ said the members.
It is not for sure that above said method will reduce the food
wastage in a significant amount. But it might be the foundation for
something huge. It is important to bring awareness to students
about this food wastage. When awareness is brought people do
feel guilty when they dump their food.
All the literature mentioned so far gives information about the
wastage of resources. In the present world, with such a high pop-
ulation, it is necessary to use the reources efficiently and pro-
ductively. The economic growth of a country depends on the ef-
ficiency with which we use the resources. As mentioned in the
textbook for Economics, Economics is defined as
”The study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valu-
able goods and services and distribute them among different indi-
viduals“.
Given unlimited wants, it is important that an economy makes
the best use of its limited resources. Hence our study on this
project has its own pupose both economically and ethically.
This kind of study might have been conducted in other colleges
too. But our study has a significat difference from the others. It is
26

35. said that when you earn, you know the pain behind spending lav-
ishly. This applies for the other colleges.The studies done might
be about the qualitative return of whatever they are spending. IIST
provides everything free of cost. The government provides funds
to the college. So speaking logically, it is the work of the govern-
ment to ensure whether the funds are used judiciuosly or not. But
our motive is different from this point. We plan to provide the stu-
dents with a new alternative so that the wastage can be reduced
to some extent. This we are doing with the help of suggestions,
surveys,opinion polls, informal interviews etc. This way we are
trying to help use the money lost because of wastage in some
other necessary field. It is not that, that the contribution from this
field will help in the construction of new hostels. But that some
or other minor fields which are lagging behind due to insufficient
funds can be fulfilled.
27

36. Chapter 3
Opinions
Feel what it’s like to truly starve, and I guarentee that you’ll
forever think twice before wasting food.
Criss Jami
An informal interview is taken to know the opinions of the stu-
dents about food. A set of 20 girls were taken with 5 students
comprising from each year. Equal priority is given for both vege-
tarians and non-vegetarians. Equal priority is considered for North
Indians and South Indians also. In the same way, a set of 20 boys
were taken. The following list shows the opinions given by differ-
ent students.
The majority of the opinions are as follows:
1. I don’t like to skip breakfast. But sometimes I skip lunch and
dinner. This happens on thursdays mostly. I find that the food
sometimes is not cooked properly.
2. The breakfast time should be prolonged atleast upto 8.45 AM
during working days and 9.30 AM during weekends. Some-
times I do come early but there will be a lot of queue due to
which I have to skip my breakfast.
28

37. 3. Milk should be provided in the evenings also. During exams,
breakfast timing should be extended upto 8.45 AM. Vada
should be replaced with some other snacks. I usually try to
complete whatever food is in my plate.
4. Rawa kesari should be replaced. Dal is watery. Food should
be made more spicy. I dump the food in the bins if I dont like
it after tasting it.
5. I am cool with the time schedule. Although I think it would be
great if fruits are provided atleast thrice a week. I dump the
food which is left off in my plate after I am full.
6. I became bored with the food they are providing on the north-
indian side. Kerala food is much more better. They have to
increase the number of people to atleast to 150. Curd tastes
sour most of the times. I seldom dump food in the bin.
7. Lunch should contain more varieties. Sambhar should be re-
placed. I wake up late in the mornings. So I usually skip
breakfast during working days and have something in my
room only.
8. I do not see any other vegetables other than cauliflower, potato,
ladies-finger in the curries. They need to provide other veg-
etables also. Jilebi does not taste good.I do not take into my
plate the items which I don’t like.
9. Leafy vegetables are not at all seen. The butter milk they give
tastes spicy. I don’t take into my plate the food I don’t like.
10. Paneer curry can be done better. The chappathy they provide
in the afternoons is hard to eat. I dump the food when it does
not taste good.
11. Carrots are not provided these days. Raitha also tastes sour
some days. And this is why I might have to dump food.
29

38. 12. The dal they provide on sundays does not have any taste.
Bhindi fry is also not nice. It should be replaced. Pickles do
not taste good. I often dump the food because some or the
other curry is left untouched.
13. kerala parathas should be given twice a week. I hate coming
to lunches. Mostly I prefer to eat outside for lunch. Kofta
curry should be replaced.
14. Sometimes the idli tastes bad. Instead of butter, jam should
be there everyday. Sometimes I take food with the idea of
eating them, but at the end I cross my potential and I will be
dumping them.
15. When i take kerala food, I usually don’t eat the curries they
provide initially. And they serve too much sometimes. Once I
cross my potential, I will dump them.
16. I like the custard they provide. Payasam should be provided
twice a week. Fruits other than banana should be provided
on sundays alternatively.
17. The sweets they provided last year taste much better than the
ones they give now. In snacks, mysore bhaji has to replaced.
And there’s just too much oil in vada.
18. Thursday menu should be changed. Other than that I am fine
with the food they provide other days. I usually dump the food
left after I am full.
19. The curry they provide on sunday should be provided twice a
week. Chappathy should be much more softer.
20. Gulab jamun is not cooked properly sometimes. Laddu should
be replaced.
21. Banana chips should be prrovided in the snacks.Sunday dosa
is not at all good.
30

39. 22. On holidays, the mess timings should be extended.Pineapple
should not be there in the sweets. Food menu for lunch
should be changed.
23. Vegetarian special also contains only cauliflower. The pa-
neer curry they provide in this category should be replaced.
Noodles are watery most of the times. Salads should be
changed.
24. Coffee should be provided during snacks also. Sambhar
should contain more vegetables. I dont like dumping food.
I take into plate what I want only.
25. If carrots are not provided regularly, atleast they should be
made into a curry or added into one. Pickles are not good.
Curries taste sweet sometimes.
The opinions listed above were considered for making a pie-
chart. Opinions expressed ranged widely. Some of the students
were also found to be pretty good with the food they get. But a lot
of them agreed to dumping the food due to various reasons like
those expressed above.
31

40. Chapter 4
Survey
A survey is conducted to find out the likes and dislikes of the
students regarding the food provided in the mess. A set of 60 stu-
dents are taken for this purpose. 40 of them were non-vegetarians
and 20 of them were vegetarians. Students from all the years and
all the states are considered to get diversified views.
Students who undertook the survey are asked to rate the food
items provided in the mess on a scale of 1 to 10 which then is
made into three parts for the survey. Food products which were
rated between 1 to 5 were considered to be disliked by them.
While those equal to 5 and between 5 to 7 were considered to
be average in their taste and given the category of no opinion.
Ratings which are equal to 7 and greater are considered to be
liked by those rated.
Students were asked to mention the frequency of their eating
food outside otherr than mess. It is found that 80% of the people
prefer to eat food in the mess. While the rest complained about
the lunch, breakfast, dinner not being good on certain days and
hence choosed food other than the one provided in mess. Al-
though there are other reasons like waking up late in the morn-
ings, some unforeseen urgent work etc. But the statistics are
32

41. not completely up to their mark because only 60 students were
considered and there might certainly be a large deviation in this
aspect.
But since this project focuses mainly on the qualitative analysis
of wastage, the above result was accepted with the view that it
explains some of the factors mentioned before.Preferences of the
students for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner and non-veg items
were taken. The following tables provide the lists of the food items
considered in each category.
S.No Breakfast
1 Idli
2 Dosa
3 Pav Bhaji
4 Poori
5 Aloo Paratha
6 Bread-Butter
7 Bread-Jam
8 Noodles
9 Milk
10 Coffee
Table 4.1: Preferences selected for Breakfast
S.No Lunch
1 Sambhar
2 Dal
3 Rasam
4 Butter milk
5 Chapathy
6 Salad
7 Bhindi fry
8 Rawa kesari
9 Raitha
Table 4.2: Preferences selected for Lunch
33

42. S.No Snacks
1 Tea
2 Burger
3 Bhel puri
4 Veg puff
5 Chilli/Banana pakoda
6 Samosa
7 Vada
8 Mysore bhaji
Table 4.3: Preferences selected for Snacks
S.No Dinner
1 Aloo fry
2 Paneer butter massala
3 Rasam
4 Curd
5 Egg curry
6 Chole batore
7 Masala rice
8 Kofta curry
Table 4.4: Preferences selected for Dinner
S.No Non-veg
1 Boiled egg
2 Butter chicken
3 Omlete
4 Fish fry
5 Egg curry
6 Scrambled egg
Table 4.5: Preferences selected for Non-vegetarians
The following pictorial representations gives the list of food that
are most liked and least liked by the students who undertook the
survey.
34

43. Figure 4.1: Figure showing the preferences chosen for Breakfast
Figure 4.2: Figure showing the preferences chosen for Lunch
35

44. Figure 4.3: Figure showing the preferences chosen for snacks
Figure 4.4: Figure showing the preferences chosen for Dinner
36

45. Figure 4.5: Figure showing the preferences chosen for Non-veg food
37

46. Chapter 5
Opinion Poll
Figure 5.1: Poll on the extension of breakfast timings
38

47. Figure 5.2: Poll on the oil present in puri and vada
All the opinions are considered and a pictorial representation of
it is prepared. The various factors which could not be conducted
in survey form were done by informal interviews.
Figure 5.3: Poll on the removal of mixed pickles from the menu
39

48. Figure 5.4: Poll on chnge of lunch menu
Figure 5.5: Poll on the requirement of more fruits
40

49. Figure 5.6: Poll on the replacement of chapathy in the afternoon
Figure 5.7: Poll on the usage of variety of vegetables to make curry
41

50. Figure 5.8: Poll on the improvement of sambhar
Figure 5.9: Poll on the availability of coffee and milk during snacks
42

51. Figure 5.10: Poll on the quantity of snacks available
Figure 5.11: Poll on the quality of noodles
43

52. Figure 5.12: Poll on the quality of curd
Figure 5.13: Poll on the quality of curry
44

53. Figure 5.14: Poll on the individual wastage of food
The opinion poll gives a qualitative view of the factors men-
tioned before. All the factors like time schedule, frequency of
dumping, food quality, potential of the students were included in
this.
45

54. Chapter 6
Statistics
The following table provides the statistics of food wastage in
mess on some of the days. this shows that wastage of food is
present. Only a normal working week was taken into considera-
tion.
46

55. Table 6.1: Statistics of food wastage
S.No Food item Total Productionweight Wastageweight
1 Mixed veg curry 77.2 3.05
2 Plain rice 117.3 15.0
3 Sambhar 60.1 5.01
4 Kofta 41.200 5.160
5 Dal 60.4 4.07
6 Pav Bhaji masala 49.2 5
7 Masala rice 100 5
8 Curd 27 6.1
9 Potato fry 41.2 3
10 Scrambled egg 13 0
11 Butter chicken 141 0
12 Raitha 49.5 0.250
13 Paneer 68 0
14 salad 25 4.35
47

56. Chapter 7
Analysis
The analysis of the surveys obtained give some interesting views.
When opinion poll was taken, majority of them complained about
particularly the lunch menu in IIST. Students expressed their grievance
on the breakfast timing. It was found that even though there were
large number of dislikes for certain dishes, people did turn up to
have some amount of breakfast, may be in the form of bread and
milk. The wastage in breakfast would spring from the reason of
people getting up late. When enquired about the reason behind
this, the major reason was found to be the workload given each
day. Reasons like regular sleeping habits were also heard. This
habit was most particularly seen during holidays and exams.
Dinner was said to be moderate. But people had their opin-
ions on dishes provided certain days in dinner like some said they
prefer to eat outside on thursday nights. This was the reason of
wastage in food. Saturdays and sundays people preferred to eat
outside like in paratha shops. Strangely, 25% of the people chose
the preference of hostel cooking than eating in the mess. 28% of
the people prefered to eat in canteen, paratha shop during work-
ing days.
48

57. The surveys included all the years. But first years were included
more. When their responses were analysed many of them pref-
ered to eat in the mess. But when the second year students re-
sponse was seen, many of them chose paratha shop, hostel cook-
ing, canteen over mess. Also when the first years rated the dishes
from 5 to 10. Second years and the other senior years hardly gave
ratings from 5 to 10. Such a sudden deviation from the ratings in
just one year might be due to the fact that people got ored of the
food provided. This was because when they were new to the col-
lege, since many of the dishes are unknown to them before, they
took a liking to it. Also students in first year dont know much about
the other alternatives present. This was not the case with senior
years. Hence the deviation in ratings.
Analysing the preference for breakfast first, Idli was said to be
disliked more. It had likes and no opinion on the same level. When
asked about their opinions on Idli, many people complained about
the chutney and sambhar provided. Also some times the idli was
found to be of different taste.
Strangely, dosa was disliked more than it was liked. Almost
same number was between dislikes and no opinion. Dossas pro-
vided on sunday were very thin and some of them were burnt
excessively. Hence the deviation.
Interestingly, poori also was liked more and it had a tie between
dislikes and no opinion. as mentioned before, students from first
year gave a high preference for poori when it was quite opposite
with senior years. As assumed, aloo paratha was disliked more.
Bread-butter and Noodles had almost the same number in terms
of likes, dislikes and no opinions. it should be noted that though
there were opinions on noodles being watery, it had more likes
49

58. than dislikes. Bread-jam, Milk and coffee had more number of
likes.
Sambhar, dal and chapathi had more dislikes than likes. On
the other hand rasam had more number of no opinions in its list.
Strangely, people were comfortable with rawa kesari. Bhindi fry
was also seen to be almost equal in its three preferences.
Snacks other than vadda and mysore bhaji were seen to be
liked more. Vada had equal likes and dislikes. But mysore bhaji
was seen to be disliked more. People complained that it is sweet
and it is hard to tear it also. Some even joked it of having ”high
Young’s modulus“.
Dinner was seen with 50% of the dishes being registered with
no opinions. As assumed curd had dislikes more than likes. Com-
plaints were heard on this aspect that quite often the curd was
sour in taste. Aloo fry was also dislike more than it was liked.
There were opinions that it does not go with rice. Strangely rasam
encountered more number of dislikes than likes. Although same
rasam was provided in afternoon and evening, there were differ-
ences in opinions. All the non-vegetarian items were liked more.
From the statistics of food wastage in the mess, it is evident that
sambhar, dal were being wasted. Non- veg items encountered a
minimal percent of wastage. Paneer had a minimal amount of
wastage.
Analysing opinion poll, larger percentage voted for breakfast
timings to be extended till 8:45 AM. While there was larger perce-
natge of no opinion for more fruits to be present. 70% of the peo-
ple opted for more variety of vegetables to be used for curry. Also
50

59. 56% voted for the imrovement of sambhar. 76% collectively voted
for the quality of curd to be improved, while 0% spoke against
it. All in all the opinions and survey showed the negatives and
positives of food in the mess.
51

60. Chapter 8
Suggestive measures
The following table shows the quantity of food items and their
rates on 04/10/2016 in IIST. Refer table 8.1.
From the table, it is evident that a large quantity of food items
were bought to college. On an average, 1 kg of rice can be eaten
by 7 people. Therefore, it is necessary that left over food not be
sent to bio-gas plant.
An Amarak study in 2008 found when college dining halls go
trayless for a day, food waste is decreased 25 to 30 percent per
person. The study also found that going trayless lowers not only
food waste removal costs, but also the cost of water, energy, and
cleaning supplies used when cleaning the trays.
Another food waste study in 2013this time by a group of Lean
Six Sigma students at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technolo-
gyshares a few other tips to reduce food waste on college cam-
puses. The students found that simply educating students and
staff about food waste, providing smaller serving utensils, pre-
dishing more foods, and limiting the number of dishes the stu-
dents uses can reduce each students food waste by 2.66 ounces
per mealtotaling 145.4 pounds less food waste per lunch period.
52

61. That one-third of the food produced annually for human con-
sumption is wasted is in itself unconscionable in a world where
870 million, or one in eight people, go hungry every day. The left-
over food can be packed into bags and sent to nearby orphan-
ages/ old age homes ratherr than making them into a compost.
This is a tire some practice, but places nearby the college can be
selected for this purpose or a contract with an organization can
also be done. As food is cooked at that moment, it remains fresh
for a certain time. The same is true for the salads and the curries.
For food to be not sent to bio-gas plant or to farms, the first step
should be the decrease in the left-over food. This can be done
by having a feed-back every semester about the opinions of the
students on food and implementing the most possible cases. As
said in the articles above providing small size plates can also be
a solution. An other way, can be, asking the B.Tech students to
pay for their mess fees atleast. This is because as the M.Tech
students pay for their mess fess and the relative wastage for them
is seen for them is less.
An other way, can be by having a contract with the paratha shop
person or the canteen person to serve food in the mess for a cer-
tain day also decreases the food wastage and keeps in check the
health of the students. As a famous quote says,”If there is a will,
there is a way“, only if the college takes initiative, then the food
wastage can be reduced. This might be hard in the starting but
later the results will be fruitful.
53

62. Table 8.1: Approved Bulk list with quantity and rates
S.No Food item Required quantityweight Raterupees
1 Coconut oil 20 49.50
2 Channadal 350 106.50
3 Raw rice 2300 38.60
4 Atta 2000 29.66
5 Maida 1000 30.5
6 Black gramdal 400 109
7 Dry chilli 30 132
8 Refined oil 1600 76.5
9 Vanaspathi 40 65
10 Green gram 25 69
11 Green peas 75 30
12 Kesari dal 50 66.5
13 Red gram 50 55
14 Moong dal 400 70
15 Rajma dal 40 72
16 Bengal gram flour 125 142
17 Cashewnut 110 445
18 Cinnamon 4 540
19 Fenugreek 5 65
20 Pepper corn 12 830
21 Chamba rice 1200 37.25
22 Sugar 800 38
23 Fried Bengalgram dal 35 125
24 Toor dal 350 104
25 Jeera 30 214
26 White Jeera 17 98
27 Doppi rice 600 28.4
28 Clove 2 625
29 Garlic 40 115
30 Kismis 5 100
31 Mustard 25 58
32 Sooji rawa 60 45
33 Table salt 250 6.20
34 Tamarind 5 80
35 Thakkolam 3 235
36 Vermicelli 10 19
54

63. Chapter 9
Conclusion
The first hypotheses considered was ”The supply of food and
its consumption are not in equilibrium due to factors like taste of
individual, time schedule of mess, the quality of food, potential of
the students, better alternatives and other factors“.
The survey and opinion polls justify this fact clearly. Based
on the statistics obtained from the mess it is clear that there is
wastage in food. And also the survey and opinion polls clearly
show this fact. Hence we can conclude from this fact that all the
factors listed do play an important role in the wastage of food.
The second hypotheses considered was ”The disposal of waste
food or left-over food into bio-gas or to the farms is not the only
solution to treat this problem efficiently.
This is proven by the suggestive measures listed. But for this to
happen the mess officials have to take an initiative. It is evident
that there are certain ways which can be possible like the feed
back everry semester. This sure does reduce the food wastage in
a significant amount. When the food is utilised properly and cor-
rect measures are taken, then there will be no need to send it to
55

64. the farms. In this way, there can be two profits, one the food being
eaten properly. Two, the development of the college happening.
This is but a small veenture taken by us in order to make our
college more developed. There can be many more possible ways
to solve this problem and move in the path of development.
56

65. Chapter 10
Appendix
The appendix consists of the majority of the ratings given by
students for the dishes selected on a sacle of 1 to 10 with 1 being
the least liked one by the student and 10 being the most liked by
that student. The following table provides the detail.
57

66. Table 10.1: Major Ratings given by students
S.No Food item
1 Idli 3 0 4 7 5 6
2 Dosa 6 5 0 2 7 3
3 Pav Bhaji 7 8 9 5 3 4
4 Poori 6 5 4 7 4.5 2
5 Aloo paratha 4 0 3 6 7 5
6 Bread butter 8 6 1 4 5 6 7
7 Bread jam 3 4 6 7 10 9
8 Milk 7.5 7 8 9 10 5
9 coffee 4 6 10 9 8.5 6.5
10 Sambhar 2 6 4 3 0 8
11 Dal 7 3 0 1 5 6
12 Rasam 5 6 6.5 7 8 4
13 Butter milk 5 6 8 7 10 4
14 Chapathy 0 1 4 6 5 7
15 Salad 4 2 5 6 7 8
16 Bhindi fry 5 2 6 8 9 7
17 Rawa kesari 1 5 6 7 6.5 3
18 Raitha 4 5 6 7 8 3
19 Tea 5 6 10 9 8 4
20 Burger 4 8 6 5 1 7
21 Bhel puri 1 3 5 6 9 7
22 Veg puff 4 5 6 7 9 10
23 Chilli/Banana pakoda 3 5 6 7 4 0
24 Samosa 3 1 8 7 6 5
25 Vada 3 4 5 6 7 4.5
26 Mysore bhaji 7 0 3 6 5 4
27 Aloo fry 6 4 5 7 3 8
28 Paneer 8 7 6 5 3 4
29 Rasam 4 5 6 7 9 3
30 Curd 7.5 6 5 1 0 4
31 Egg curry 5 6 8 7 4 5.5
32 Chole Batore 6 8.5 3 4.5 7 5
33 Masala rice 5 6 7.5 4 3.5 0
34 Kofta 7 8 6 5 4.5 0
35 Boiled egg 10 5 8 8.5 7 6
36 Butter chicken 2 4 6 5 9 10
37 Omlete 5 6 8 10 9 7
38 Fish fry 8 9 4 5 6 10
39 Scrambled egg 4 5 6 7 9 3
58

67. Chapter 11
Bibliography
11.1 List of Internet sources with internet adresses
1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city.
2. https://www.pagalguy.com/news/students-get-sabji-without-vegetables-
and-raw-chappatis-at-nit-warangal.
3. http://www.fao.org/docrep.
4. http://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/green-initiatives-galore-at-iit-
delhi.
5. http://foodtank.com/news/2013/04/youth-fighting-food-waste-
on-college-campuses.
6. http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/tackling-food-wastage-
in-india.html.
7. http://www.deccanherald.com.
8. http://legalperspectives.blogspot.in.
9. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/padmanabhan-gopalan-
and-no-food-waste.
10. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/wasted-food-for-thought/.
59

68. 11. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/IIT-B-students-
waste-around-950-kg-of-food-every-day.
12. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/turning-garbage-into-gas.
13. http://foodtank.com/news/2015/10/universities-leading-the-charge-
on-food-waste.
14. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kerala-college-students-fall-ill-
after-eating-canteen-food.
15. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/College-canteens-
must-meet-food-safety-rules-UGC.
16. http://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/tribal-kids-consuming-
waste-probe-ordered-english-news.
17. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/fci-admits-194-lakh-mt-
foodgrain-wasted-between-2005-13.
18. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/fssai-raids-reveal-
food-adulteration.
11.2 List of books with author and publishers
1. Paul A Samuelson., William D Nordhaus., Economics., 19th
edition., Tata Mc-Graw Hill Private limited.
60