When considering the enormous and multifaceted problem of food waste, college students might seem like the least likely culprits — but in 2022, the National Resources Defense Council estimated that campuses in the U.S. wasted an astounding 22 million pounds of food each year.

Food waste is logistically challenging, occurring at both the corporate and individual levels, and uneaten food isn't the only adverse outcome involved. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food waste accounts for 24% of all "municipal solid waste" in landfills.

Additionally, landfilled food waste is responsible for 58% of methane unintentionally released into the atmosphere. 

Methane is "28 times more potent" than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat, and the EPA notes methane is responsible for "approximately 30% of the increase in global temperature since the Industrial Revolution."

Michigan State University's student-run The State News recently covered a new sustainability initiative aimed at tackling food waste in campus dining halls. MSU students wasted an average of 2.96 pounds of food per person, per meal, in recent years, the paper reported.

Arriving at that precise figure wasn't easy, either. For seven years, MSU dining hall staff spent one day each month "manually weighing" uneaten portions of food, a practice that ended amid widespread campus closures in 2020.

Artificial intelligence has since exploded into virtually every area of life in the interim. In MSU's dining halls, a startup called Raccoon Eyes AI — with an "environmentally conscious cartoon raccoon" mascot called Rowdy — has stepped in to discourage food waste.

On Aug. 18, "special cameras" were mounted in two of MSU's dining halls, trained on the spot where diners return dishware and uneaten food on a conveyor belt. Raccoon Eyes AI co-founder Ivan Zou says the cameras "create 3-D models of food waste," purportedly calculating discarded food types and weights with "a 90% accuracy rate."

Once collected in sufficient quantity, that information could tell MSU hospitality staff a great deal about what isn't being eaten, which recipes could benefit from tweaks, and, crucially, how to better portion meals to avoid waste. The paper used uneaten cheesesteaks as an example.

"Those subs were just way too big," Zou explained. Although Raccoon Eyes AI hasn't been at MSU long, there's some previous data from its use at Georgia State University. 

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In October, Good Morning America profiled GSU's experience with the startup; food waste dipped 23% in the first four months. GMA cited "AI insights and increased student awareness" for the result, hitting on another key component in reducing food waste: individual action.

Of course, not everyone has an AI-enabled tool to monitor their own personal food waste trends, but tackling it at home is easier in some respects. 

Simple actions, such as shopping strategically and ensuring food is stored properly, will maximize its lifespan. Getting creative with leftovers will further reduce the amount of food that goes uneaten at home.

At GSU, students also saw one direct benefit — Raccoon Eyes AI's data prompted dining halls to serve more Hot Cheetos sushi, a campus favorite.

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