Nutritional, Economic, and Environmental Costs of Milk Waste in a Classroom School Breakfast Program

To measure fluid milk waste in a US School Breakfast in the Classroom Program and estimate its nutritional, economic, and environmental effects.

Fluid milk waste was directly measured on 60 elementary school classroom days in a medium-sized, urban district. The US Department of Agriculture nutrition database, district cost data, and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions and water footprint estimates for fluid milk were used to calculate the associated nutritional, economic, and environmental costs.

Of the total milk offered to School Breakfast Program participants, 45% was wasted. A considerably smaller portion of served milk was wasted (26%). The amount of milk wasted translated into 27% of vitamin D and 41% of calcium required of School Breakfast Program meals. The economic and environmental costs amounted to an estimated $274 782 (16% of the district's total annual School Breakfast Program food expenditures), 644 893 kilograms of CO₂e, and 192 260 155 liters of water over the school year in the district.

These substantial effects of milk waste undermine the School Breakfast Program's capacity to ensure short- and long-term food security and federal food waste reduction targets. Interventions that reduce waste are urgently needed.