A student of Class VII stopped a fellow student who had bought potato fritters from the canteen and threw some of them into the dustbin, unable to finish them all.

The student is a food monitor whose responsibility is to go around during lunch break and see if students are wasting food.

BDM International has launched a project — Zero Wastage of Food — the food monitors are part of the campaign that tries to raise awareness among students who mistake their privilege as a ticket to waste food.

Children or even adults wasting food on their plates is a common phenomenon, be it at restaurants or marriage invitations. Invariably people end up taking more than they can eat.

The restaurant chain Sanjha Chulha has launched the pilot in two schools, BDM International and Birla Bharati.

The students of BDM International prepared posters and placards that have been put up in various places on the campus.

Some of the posters drawn by the students themselves are telling. “Trash bins are full, but stomachs are empty,” reads one poster.

Another poster titled “Crumbs for the People” shows a man eating at a restaurant and many hands waiting to take the “crumbs” that fall from his plate.

“When they are surrounded by such messages it will make them think. While we may remind our children to not waste food, this kind of an awareness drive in school will have a more lasting impact,” said Asif Ahmed, partner, Sanjha Chulha.

“The change will not come overnight but when students are involved in such campaigns it will lead to self-realisation,” said Ahmed.

BDM International has made activities around zero wastage of food a part of its annual calendar.

“In each class, we have appointed two food monitors who have been assigned some duties to promote responsible practices. They have to encourage their peers to being appropriate quantities of food for lunch and are to record the instances of food wastage in their respective classes and report to the class teacher,” said Madhumita Sengupta, principal, BDM International.

Children wasting food during school events is a problem that several schools encounter. Some schools ask children to carry empty tiffin boxes so that they can take back home the unfinished food instead of throwing it in the bin.

“During events we have seen children, mostly those in middle school, throwing food in the bins. Unless they have the understanding that it is not to be done they will
keep doing so,” said Apala Dutta, principal, Birla Bharati.

The school has had one session with parents of Classes III, IV and V and plans to follow it up with other sessions and activities with children next year.

Food ATM might not be easy for everyone to sustain because it involves practical challenges like assigning somebody to manage the ATM, said Ahmed.

“But if this kind of a project can be introduced in a school immediately it will be successful in hitting the minds of thousands of children. An initiative by children has a larger and longer impact and I would urge more schools to come on board with us,” said Ahmed.