Food waste has been a chronic problem for restaurants and grocery stores -- with millions of tons lost along the way as crops are hauled hundreds of miles, stored for weeks in refrigerators and prepared on busy restaurant assembly lines. But the historically high price of products is making it an even bigger drag on the bottom line. 

Restaurants, colleges, hospitals and other institutions are compensating for the rising costs of waste in novel ways. Some are tracking their trash with software systems, making food in smaller packages or trying to compost (......) and cut down on trash-hauling costs. 

"We have all come to work with this big elephant in the middle of kitchen, and the elephant is this 'It's okay to waste' belief system," said Andrew Shackman, president of LeanPath, a company that helps restaurants cut back food waste. 

The interest in cutting food waste "has just rocketed in the last six to nine months," he said. 

Roughly 30 percent of food in the United States goes to waste, costing some $48 billion annually, according to a Stockholm International Water Institute study. A University of Arizona study estimated that 40 to 50 percent of food in the United States is wasted. Wholesale food costs have risen more than 8 percent this year, the biggest jump in decades, according to the National Restaurant Association. 

Freshman students at Virginia Tech were surprised this year when the two of the campus' biggest dining halls to find there were no trays. 

"You have to go back and get your dishware and your drink, but it's not that different," said Caitlin Mewborn, a freshman. "It's not a big trouble. You take less food, and you don't eat more than you should." 

Getting rid of trays has cut food waste by 38 percent at the dining halls, said Denny Cochrane, manager of Virginia Tech's sustainability program. Before the program began, students often grabbed whatever looked good at the buffet , only to find at the table that their eyes were bigger than their stomachs, he said. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What's the elephant in the middle of the room for kitchen staff?
2. What large problem do kitchens have that they don't address?
3. What huge problem goes unaddressed in restaurant kitchens?
Q2:
1. Who called food waste an elephant in the room?
2. Who said that food waste was like an elephant in the room?
3. Who likened food waste to an elephant in the room?
Q3:
1. What is Andrew Shackman's job?
2. How is Andrew Shackman employed?
3. What is the profession of Andrew Shackman?
Q4:
1. What does Andrew Shackman's company do?
2. What does LeanPath do?
3. What is LeanPath's mission?
Q5:
1. What did Virginia Tech remove from its dining halls?
2. What was taken out of the dining spaces at Virginia Tech?
3. What did Virginia Tech take out of the studnet cafeterias?
Q6:
1. Why did Virginia Tech remove trays from its dining halls?
2. Why did Virginia Tech take trays out of its cafeterias?
3. What was Virginia Tech's reason for removing trays from the dining halls?
Q7:
1. Did it work to take trays out of Virginia Tech's dining halls?
2. Was removing the trays from the dining halls an effective measure at Virginia Tech?
3. Did taking trays out of the dining hasll at Virginia Tech produce the desired results?
Q8:
1. How much waste was cut by removing trays from Virginia Tech's dining halls?
2. What was the decrease in waste when trays were removed from Virginia Tech cafeterias?
3. How much less waste was produced when Virginia Tech took trays out of the dining hall?
Q9:
1. Who talked about waste at Virginia Tech?
2. Who spoke about Virginia Tech's dining halls?
3. Who made comments regarding waste at Virginia Tech?
Q10:
1. What is Denny Cochrane's job?
2. How is Denny Cochrane employed?
3. What does Denny Cochrane do for a living?
Q11:
1. What is the amount of food waste in the US?
2. What quantity of food does the United States waste?
3. How much food is wasted in the United States of America?
Q12:
1. According to whom does 30 percent of food in the United States go to waste?
2. Who says that 30 percent of food in the United States goes to waste?
3. Who finds that the United States wastes 30% of its food?
Q13:
1. What is an estimate other than 30% of food waste in the US?
2. What estimate other than 30 percent is there regarding food waste in the US?
3. What's a different estimate for how much food the US wastes, besides 30 percent?
Q14:
1. Who estimated that 40 to 50 percent of food in the United States is wasted?
2. According to whom is it estimated that 40 to 50 percent of food in the United States is wasted?
3. Who found that between 40-50% of food in America is wasted?
Q15:
1. What is the cost of food waste in the US according to one estimate?
2. What does one estimate guess is the cost of food waste in America?
3. When food goes to waste in America, how much is it estimated to cost annually?
