SmartServe: Evaluating Liquid Dairy Waste Reduction Strategies in Child Care Centers in Illinois

Progress report for FLW24-008

FLW24-008 (project overview)
Project Type: Community Foods Project
Funds awarded in 2024: $415,192.00
Projected End Date: 08/31/2027
Grant Recipient: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Region: National
State: Illinois
Project Leader:
Dr. Saima Hasnin
Email
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Project Information

Abstract:

More than 66% of U.S. preschool children attend childcare daily and consume up to three meals and snacks in these settings. However, up to 40% of liquid dairy (milk) served is wasted and discarded through wastewater in childcare settings. Milk waste
has financial implication for childcare settings and has detrimental effects on the environment due to the associated carbon footprint. Hence, the proposed study aims to offer developmentally appropriate strategies to reduce preschool children’s milk waste in licensed Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)-participating childcare centers in Illinois, aligning with the prevent wasted food strategy on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wasted food cycle.

The study has five objectives divided into three phases:

-Objective 1 (Phase 1) Develop the SmartServe toolkit to educate childcare center providers about food waste and provide them with strategies to reduce food waste in childcare centers.

-Objective 2 (Phase 2) Pilot test the SmartServe toolkit to determine feasibility in childcare centers.

-Objective 3 (Phase 3) Assess baseline milk waste in 21 licensed CACFP-participating childcare centers.

-Objective 4 (Phase 3) Assess the effectiveness of SmartServe intervention on total milk wasted by 3-5-year-old children (n = 210) in CACFP-participating licensed childcare centers.

-Objective 5 (Phase 3) Assess the effectiveness of SmartServe intervention on childcare providers’ (n = 63) knowledge and self-efficacy to reduce food waste.

The SmartServe intervention combines an education toolkit for childcare providers with an alternative milk serving strategy, where milk will be served during breakfast and snacks and not at lunch in childcare settings. The SmartServe toolkit will be developed using community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods. The toolkit will be based on interdisciplinary science, including developmentally appropriate strategies for reducing preschool children’s food waste without using pressure or controlling feeding practices.

At Phase 2, two childcare center providers will be invited for qualitative interviews using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) for feedback on appropriateness and feasibility of the materials during pilot testing the SmartServe toolkit to address Objective 2.

At Phase 3 to address Objectives 3, 4, and 5, the full SmartServe intervention will be implemented, including the toolkit and alternative milk serving strategy, at 21 childcare centers in Champaign and Macon Counties in Illinois. Phase 3 will be a within-subjects crossover design with repeated-measures of child-level milk waste data collection, using the USDA plate waste measuring protocol for six non-consecutive days over four weeks. Providers’ knowledge and self-efficacy will be assessed using an online survey and their feedback about the full intervention will be collected using a focus-group interview. After the study, the toolkit will be finalized and made available to download on the Illinois Extension website. Website metrics will be collected to assess the longitudinal reach of the program components.  Additional dissemination would include training for childcare providers through the Extension network.

Project Objectives:

 The objectives and hypotheses for this study are:

  • Objective 1.
    Develop and adapt the 
    SmartServe toolkit to educate childcare center providers about food waste and strategies to reduce food waste in childcare centers. 
  • Objective 2.
    Determine the appropriateness and feasibility of the SmartServe toolkit in two licensed childcare centers.  
  • Objective 3.
    Assess baseline milk waste in licensed CACFP-participating childcare centers (n=21). 
    • Hypothesis 3.1.
      At least 29% of the milk served will be wasted at baseline (based on literature review).  
  • Objective 4.
    Assess the effectiveness of SmartServe intervention on total milk waste in CACFP-participating licensed childcare centers (n = 21).
     
    • Hypothesis 4.1.
      The SmartServe intervention will reduce the amount of milk wasted compared to the baseline. 
       
    • Hypothesis 4.2.
      After the SmartServe intervention, children’s (n=210) total milk consumption per day will be maintained or increased compared to the baseline.
       
  • Objective 5.
    Assess the effectiveness of the SmartServe toolkit on childcare providers’ (n=63) knowledge and self-efficacy to reduce food waste, while not using controlling child feeding practices.
     
    • Hypothesis 5.1.
      The SmartServe intervention will increase providers’ knowledge and self-efficacy to reduce food waste in their childcare center compared to their baseline knowledge and self-efficacy.  

Cooperators

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  • Dr. Krystal Hodge
  • Rachel Mannen
  • Dr. Jennifer McCaffrey

Research

Materials and methods:

The broader project aim is to prevent food waste in the early care and education settings. This funded project has two major components-  (1) developing educational materials for early childcare and education settings (ECE) and (2) research. Currently, the project team is developing the educational materials- a toolkit that corresponds to "Objective 1 (Phase 1) Develop the SmartServe toolkit to educate childcare center providers about food waste and provide them with strategies to reduce food waste in childcare centers." The research data collection for this project will start in FY-2 and will continue until FY-3 (January 2026 to June 2027). Therefore the current report does not include any research data collection protocol and/ or results. 

 

Project's supply chain focus areas:
  • School/institution
3 Stakeholders participated in the project
Food recovery methods:
  • Prevent Wasted Food
How the activities align with the food recovery methods:

The educational toolkit highlights several contexts and age-specific evidence-based strategies that are expected to prevent food waste in early care and education (ECE) settings. The research component will further examine the effectiveness of the toolkit as well as policy intervention to reduce milk waste in the ECE settings. The current project specifically focuses on preventing food waste at the consumer level so that the food is not spoiled and can be reused by the primary consumers, which is the most preferred action in the wasted food scale (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2023)

Research results and discussion:

Research data will be collected in phase two, after incorporating feedback from all community partners and research experts in the toolkit. 

0 Pounds of food previously wasted that has been recovered or diverted to date from points of origin.
Point of origin of food waste (zip code(s)):
Not applicable at the moment.
Food waste destination:

Not applicable at the moment.

Previously wasted food categories:
  • Dairy
Percentages of food wasted - categorized:

Not applicable at the moment.

Supply chain linkages:

The project focuses on working with community partners to build a wider dissemination of the educational toolkit using the Illinois Extension's channel. This will increase the reach and impact of the program to encourage the federal childcare nutrition assistance program stakeholders and ECE educators and staff to work collaboratively and reduce food waste in the ECE settings. 

Milestones:

The project team already developed a relationship with the local and regional community partners. This is an important milestone because the project approach is community-based participatory research. This will further assist in research participant recruitment and data collection. 

The first draft of the toolkit is ready for collecting feedback from the Illinois Extension educators, who will be actively disseminating the toolkit in the community after the project ends. 

The project team has a plan in place to finalize the draft of the toolkit and move to phase 2: determine the appropriateness and feasibility of the toolkit by the end of the FY-1.  

Education

Educational approach:

The broader project aim is to prevent food waste in the early care and education settings. This funded project has two major components-  (1) developing educational materials for early childcare and education settings (ECE) and (2) research. Currently, the project team is developing the educational materials- the SmartServe toolkit that corresponds to "Objective 1 (Phase 1) Develop the SmartServe toolkit to educate childcare center providers about food waste and provide them with strategies to reduce food waste in childcare centers."

The project team is collaborating with the following community partners to ensure the quality and appropriateness of the toolkit content for the ECE educators and staff: Illinois Extension, Seven Generations Ahead, Child Development Laboratory at the University of Illinois, and the Illinois Public Health Institute. 

The first draft of the toolkit is ready and currently under review with internal Illinois Extension partners. Currently the toolkit has the following sections: 

  1. Introduction
  2. What is Food Waste?
    • Why should We Care?
    • Benefits of Tracking and Measuring
    • What to Track
  3. Tracking Waste in the Childcare Kitchen
  4. Food Waste Prevention in the Childcare Kitchen
  5. Plate Waste Tracking in the Classroom
  6. Plate Waste Prevention at the Table
    • Strategy 1: Family Style Meal Service
    • Strategy 2: Child-Appropriate Portion Sizes
    • Strategy 3: Reduce Plate Waste and Support Healthy Habits
    • Strategy 4: Re-store or Preserve already Prepared Foods and Beverages.
  7. Food Recovery and Redistribution
  8. Resources 
    • FoodKeeper App
    • Food Waste Tracking Log Sheet Template
    • Food Storage Log Sheet Template
    • List of Children’s Books about Environmental Sustainability
    • Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in Young Children
    • Safe Food Storage Guidelines
    • Home and Community Composting
  9. References 

This toolkit draft will be shared with all community partners and interdisciplinary researchers and experts for feedback and suggestions for improvement. After the toolkit is finalized, at Phase 2 and 3 of the project in-person training will be provided to ECE educators and staff. We will also collect their feedback on feasibility and appropriateness of the toolkit for ECE settings,. After the end of the study, the toolkit will be shared with the funding organization and will be made available to public for download at no cost to them. 

 

Educational & Outreach Activities

1 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
1 Published press articles, newsletters
1 Webinars / talks / presentations
1 Other educational activities: A doctoral student is being trained by the PI and the project team. Currently, the student is working on a systematic review to identify the most effective strategies and interventions that prevent food waste in education settings.

Participation Summary:

2 Stakeholders
Education/outreach description:
  • Curricula, factsheets, or educational tools. The project team is currently working on finalizing the educational toolkit for early care and education teachers. 
  • Other Educational Activities. The systematic review and meta-analysis will significantly advance this topic by identifying feasible and effective strategies to prevent food waste in educational settings. This knowledge will enable us to optimize both environmental and financial resources efficiently.

Project Outcomes

3 New working collaborations
Project outcomes:

This information is not available at this stage of the project. We will start research participant recruitment and data collection in January 2026. 

Recommendations:

This information is not available at this stage of the project. 

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Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.