Food waste is a global epidemic. In the United States alone, 40 percent of the available food supply is wasted according to research from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. A 2013 World Resources Institute study found that household food waste costs an average of $1,600 per year for a family of four. That money could be used to buy at least two college textbooks!

While the MSU cafeteria is not necessarily throwing more or less food away than other restaurants or the average household, we as university constituents have the opportunity to at least change the school’s practice in throwing away food, whereas we have less power to affect how much food the local burger joint tosses out.

I have personally witnessed supermarket employees throw away the day’s old baked goods. I asked if the food could go somewhere else than the trash, to which the worker carefully handed me a glazed blueberry scone so no manager could see and replied, “We are required to throw it out. I could get in trouble for giving this away.”

Yes, some regulations might make it difficult to start saving food, but a rule that keeps perfectly good food out of the hands of those who need it is a rule worth changing. These rules send a message that it is OK or inevitable to waste this much food when research shows that steps can be taken to reduce waste.

Universities are the prime place to solve these problems. Not only do we have the autonomy to affect university policy, but we are home to a diverse group of problem solvers. Engineering and environmental science students can partner with dining services and the undergraduate research programs to start converting wasted fats and oils into biofuel for university vehicles. A hallmark of entrepreneurship is to determine a problem and then find a solution. Well here’s a problem to solve, business majors.