In my effort to understand how to stop food
wastage at the workplace, I have posted two articles so far here. This is the
last one where I would lay bare the possibilities of saving food
by automating food data on a daily basis. I must also quickly add that all the
thoughts I have shared so far came out from years of observation at various
canteens where I had the opportunity to eat; that is my only experience, I have
never worked in any canteen or administrative departments. Some of you would have
also found a structure in the preceding articles which had addressed social,
cultural, philosophical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and pragmatic
aspects to saving food.
Bringing in music
We all know that music can
work wonders in controlling stress that the modern workforce goes through. In
view of this, I would suggest the team (a group of passionate people for whom saving food is a fetich) to research on music that can energize
and increase appetite and play them softly in the canteen. IT will help. please try.
No TV while eating
Don't tell me it's not possible. You have done it before, and wonderfully well. You have successfully pushed the smokers from inside the office premises to outside. You have successfully reduced smoking, so you can do that, with a little bit of focus and commitment, you can. What is the need for TVs shouting with news of horror, hatred, bloodshed at the times of eating? And not to forget the advertisements that are busy doing the dishes, cleaning clothes, restrooms, armpits, and faces, etc.! It reduces the appetite and contributes to wastage, although we don't realize it. Can’t we regulate the TVs to show programs like fashion shows, concerts, and so on? Or can't we simply not have the TVs running at the canteen, except for days when it is absolutely necessary, e.g World Cups, etc.? You never know, they could be adding weights on the litters too! Don’t worry! If you have trained your workforce to watch TV while eating, through repetitive behavior, you can also train them to listen to Chopin or Beethoven or Ravi Shankar while eating!
No TV while eating
Don't tell me it's not possible. You have done it before, and wonderfully well. You have successfully pushed the smokers from inside the office premises to outside. You have successfully reduced smoking, so you can do that, with a little bit of focus and commitment, you can. What is the need for TVs shouting with news of horror, hatred, bloodshed at the times of eating? And not to forget the advertisements that are busy doing the dishes, cleaning clothes, restrooms, armpits, and faces, etc.! It reduces the appetite and contributes to wastage, although we don't realize it. Can’t we regulate the TVs to show programs like fashion shows, concerts, and so on? Or can't we simply not have the TVs running at the canteen, except for days when it is absolutely necessary, e.g World Cups, etc.? You never know, they could be adding weights on the litters too! Don’t worry! If you have trained your workforce to watch TV while eating, through repetitive behavior, you can also train them to listen to Chopin or Beethoven or Ravi Shankar while eating!
Before going on to the automation part, I
would urge the team (the dream team who is committed to saving food!) not to
jump into automation without going through the earlier steps.
Automation
Do I need to suggest anything here! I don't, at least to
people who have been brilliantly and flawlessly automating their clients'
processes!! Wizards that you are, you have only been writing programs for
your clients; consider writing something for your internal clients! Be intoxicated with the idea that this is one of the greatest CSR initiatives you are taking not only for your organization but for the society in which you are doing business. Wouldn't that give you a high!
R.S.V.P
Suggesting this as a name because all of
you I am sure would have come across this expression many times. The intention
of this is to save food, nothing else. However, you can have any name that
ensures similar single-minded focus, what’s in a name after all! In your respective
workplace, you can capture accurate data in R.S.V.P on a daily basis and give
that information to your vendors. Since you have already worked on the
preference of each of your employees in your facility, it will not be a big deal
to predict (not assume!) and understand the footfall through the click of a
button. Beverages can also be predicted with unmistakable accuracy because when
an employee number 138287 keys in, you know if this employee prefers cappuccino
or infusion. Data for breakfast could be taken the day before. As you advance
through the versions, you could have R.S.V.P to throw up data to your vendors
when your employees swipe in. In the same way, you could track visitors’ and
client data too! You could work on this in a creative way, and if you are
successful, you could also give meaningful consultancy to other facilities of
your organization or who knows, even to other organizations too! Remember every
working day is an opportunity for you in your effort to saving food.
The challenge
Large organizations might find this
challenging. Even small organizations that have its facility inside a large
building hosting a number of offices might find this challenging too! To cope
with this, for large organizations, I would suggest you exercise Coleridge’s
famous ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ and think of one facility at a time.
Think that the world begins and ends with one facility only and you can capture
data, in terms of food preferences, shift timings, the distance of the facility and
other variables. Small organizations inside a large office complex need to get
into a meaningful huddle with the administrative department and then work. If
this is not possible, then those organizations can at least train their
workforce on the importance of saving food and the ways to avoid waste
mentioned in previous articles.
The advantage
Stability is one good advantage here. If
you notice, study the trends and patterns of your workforce’s food habits, you will
see that the majority of them like to have the same food every day. It is also
interesting to note that most of them occupy the same table, and believe you
me, sit on the same chair every day, in the absence of which these zone-sensitive people react differently
with the same food! Be in witness consciousness and observe. I have tried this many
times looking for a Lakshmi or an Ahmed or a Samuel at lunchtime, and I knew
where exactly to find them! This is because everyone looks for stability! Even
you, from an organizational standpoint, also look for stability. Otherwise, why
does one significant sentence always find its due place during client
presentation or induction: ‘Of the clients we have, more than 80/90% are repeat
customers’; it is because we all look for stability, despite the menace or
marvel of changes presumed to be the only constant in this day and age of
internationalization. It is this stability that could help you predict the
journey of every grain of food, from the market to the stomach.
Incentive and motivation
I have worked for more than 27 years now
and have eaten at various office canteens. Never have I fallen sick with the
quality food that you have served me and to millions of people out there. If
this is not commendable enough, I don’t know what it is! But how do you do that!
Every single day! It is because you are determined to serve quality food to
your workforce ensuring that no one falls sick by eating food from the canteen.
What you need is the same determination in saving food! Your only incentive and
motivation on this effort I can think of is to let you know that this is no
less than any other CSR activity. This is because to waste food, 'I can afford,
you can afford, but the nation [world] cannot afford'.
Image credit: Google images
©Supratik Sen
