Waste Hater is a monthly series where we interview friends in the industry doing interesting and awesome work to reduce all kinds of waste, food or otherwise. This March, we spoke with Kashef Majid, a professor at the University of Mary Washington, who is leading a revolution against food waste in the classroom.

The spread was lavish: Irish cookies, pumpkin rolls, blueberry muffins, orange syrup, chocolate mousse, crostinis, and cheese sliders. The chefs: remarkably amateur. 

Nevertheless, this impressive smorgasbord comprises just a few of the tasty upcycled dishes students at the University of Mary Washington created and enjoyed, all from food that would have otherwise been wasted. Incidentally, it was a class assignment. 

Kashef Majid,  a professor at UMW, was inspired to create an upper-level marketing course titled Alleviating Food Waste after witnessing food insecurity in the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The idea was to teach students how the problem of food waste can be mitigated through public policy and supply chain adjustments, as well as on a consumer level, through behavioral change and community engagement.

“I live near a church that distributes groceries to those in need, the line at the church stretches around the block before the donations start,” Majid tells Replate  “That really brought home how much food insecurity there was.”

Throughout the 12-week course, Majid lectures on a diverse range of subjects associated with food waste and food insecurity. Topics include the psychology and economics of food waste, theory of reasoned action, public versus private partnerships, gleaning, upcycling, and cause-related marketing.

“As an upper level marketing elective, there were a lot of concepts I was not familiar with,” Kyle Close, a student from the course, tells Replate. “We looked at climate change through the lens of different marketing approaches, and how climate change has been polarized and politicized over the past 30 years. We were then able to look at food waste and how it is incorporated into that narrative.”

One point Majid stresses throughout the class is that there are misconceptions surrounding best-by dates. 

“The best-by date is not a thing,” he explains. “It’s a marketing tactic that manufacturers use to encourage consumers to buy more.”

Students are able to experiment and get a first hand look at how best-by dates cause food waste through the class's partnership with the Fredericksburg Food Co-operative. Each week, Majid’s students spend several hours at the co-op cataloging foods that have reached their best-by date, as well as noting which products are selling.

When the co-op decides to get rid of products due to expiration or appearance, students take the products home and earn academic credit by upcycling and incorporating those items into a recipe.

“I was able to make fried rice balls out of ready-to-eat rice kits,” Close recalls. “The best-buy date was a few weeks before, and they were great!”

Not only is the assignment delicious, the students save countless pounds of food from going to the landfill by getting creative in the kitchen.

Rebecca Alley, another student from the course, explains to Replate, “Just seeing what other people could make and seeing how we can all upcycle our food and turn something that's expired, which is not really expired, into something edible and really good that we can share with everyone was probably the best part about the class.”

In its run, the course has been able to alleviate food waste in the community, and influence students to start making small changes in their own lives.

“After Professor Majid’s class, I started keeping some of my produce in mason jars to help preserve my food for a little longer,” Alley describes. “I used to get a week out of my bell peppers, now I can get three weeks out of them because they're in the right container!” 

Learn more about Replate and how you can get involved in reducing food waste and supporting the community on our website.