UP Students Transform Food Waste Into High-end Products
UP Students Transform Food Waste Into High-end Products. Final-year students from the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Department of Consumer and FoodSciences recently showcased their ability to transform rescued food ingredients into high-quality retail andrestaurant products during the second UP-Cycled Food Experience #waste2wonder. During the evening,attendees enjoyed an immersive retail and fine dining experience.
This event served as both a practical exam and an exhibition, highlighting the potential of academic researchand innovation to create valuable food products from rescued foods, thus benefitting communities. SouthAfrica contributes 10 million tonnes to the 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted globally each year.
“Impact is a fundamental value at UP,” said Dr Nadene Marx-Pienaar, a senior lecturer in the department, inher opening remarks. “In alignment with this, we sought to move beyond the conventional written exam byoffering students the chance to showcase their skills to industry leaders, demonstrating their ability to shapethe future and promote a more sustainable food system.”
Nutrition and health lecturer Dr Adeline Pretorius explained that the initiative began last year with the firstUP-Cycled Food Experience #wastenotwantnot, when Dr Marx-Pienaar, whose research focuses on foodwaste, was approached by the NGO SA Harvest with the idea of finding innovative solutions to tackle this issueand address food insecurity.
“We then brought together students from food retail management, hospitality management, and culinaryscience to develop retail products and a menu using rescued ingredients,” PhD candidate Nadine du Piesanieadded. “This resulted in innovative and delicious food offerings.”
Bachelor of Consumer Science students Lerato Maine and Kayla Bishop expressed their pride in being youngscientists at the forefront of innovation aimed at addressing the global food waste crisis.
They highlighted the stark contrast between the millions of tonnes of food wasted worldwide and the fact thatmany still go to bed hungry due to poverty and social challenges. They also pointed out that South Africa’sfood retail industry alone produces about 1.4 million tonnes of food waste annually, with 19% occurring during post-harvest handling and storage, 49% during processing and packaging, and 32% at consumer level. In the hospitality industry, 65% of food is wasted each year, mainly due to overproduction (40 – 50%), poor planning and improper storage (5 – 15%), and staff knowledge gaps and guest waste (20 – 30%).
Culinary Arts lecturer Dr Hennie Fisher taught students advanced food preparation, plating skills and how tomerge science with culinary art, while Dr Marx-Pienaar trained food retail management students on consumerbehaviour, visual merchandising principles and food retail strategies. Behind the scenes, Dr Pretorius guidedstudents in recruiting and managing support staff, while Du Piesanie honed their event management skills.
“As a group of lecturers, we take great pride in our students and their remarkable creativity and commitmentto using their knowledge to address real-world challenges,” Dr Marx-Pienaar said.“Their ability to transform food waste into high-quality dishes demonstrates not only their culinary skills butalso their commitment to making a positive impact,” Dr Fisher added.
The successful development of the retail products and meals relied on the contributions of industry sponsorsand collaborators such as SA Harvest.
“SA Harvest is proud to partner with UP on the UP-Cycled #waste2wonder initiative, supporting the nextgeneration of leaders in tackling food waste,” said Ozzy Nel, Chief Operating Officer of SA Harvest. “Ourcollaboration involves mentoring students, sharing insights into food waste and value chains, and providingopportunities to connect with our extensive network in the food and sustainability sectors.”
He added that other sponsors included FarmWise, Glamour Veg Packers, Simply Garlic, Sunspray Solutions,Savannah, Cavalier, Mondanette, Kelly Jayne cakes, Time4Wine, Pico Grow, InToFoods, Schoonbee Landgoed,Graham Beck, Veld, Yara, The Tasting Room, UCook, Food Lovers Market, Best Before, Imbali cut flowers,Joekels, and Garden of Eden. Dr Marx-Pienaar expressed her gratitude to all the sponsors, whose support, shesaid, not only equipped the students with the necessary resources, but also fostered an enriching learningexperience.
