ABSTRACT
Analysis of data to determine how much knowledge the American University of
Nigeria food service has on sustainability as well as creating an improvement plan
has formed the crux of this research paper.
The American University of Nigeria has been able to provide and implement
sustainability plans however these plans do not include the food service. To help
determine what level of improvement is required, interviews were done, periodic
visits and observations were also done. It would be important to mention here that
the setback experienced by the food service in the area of sustainability has been
because of their lack of knowledge on the importance and benefit of sustainability as
well as an information gap between the university and the food service, where the
number of students present in a semester is concerned.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………………………………………………….v
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. vi
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY …………………………………………………………………………….1
1.2 HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA …….1
1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM ……………………………………………………………………………2
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ………………………………………………………………………………..2
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY …………………………………………………………………………2
1.6 SPECIFIC AIMS ………………………………………………………………………………………………3
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW. ………………………………………………………………………………….3
2.1 DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY …………………………………………………………………3
2.2 A PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
(UNIVERSITY) …………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
2.3 SUPPLY CHAIN ……………………………………………………………………………………………..6
2.4 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT …………………………………………………………………….7
2.5 INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY ………………………………………………………………………………..8
2.6 INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS ………………………………………………………………………………9
2.7 INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT. ……………………………………………………….. 10
2.8 WEST AFRICAN CATERING NIGERIA, LTD (WAC) ………………………………………. 12
2.9 FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY …………………………………………………………………………. 12
2.91 FOOD ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13
i. ORGANIC FOOD ………………………………………………………………………………………… 13
ii. LOCAL FOOD ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
iii. FOOD WASTE REDUCTION ……………………………………………………………………….. 15
iv. COMPOSTING ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
2.92 PACKAGING ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
i. PLASTICS AND PAPER ………………………………………………………………………………. 16
ii. PLASTICS ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
iii. PAPER ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
2.93 ENERGY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 18
i. COOKING ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
ii. REFRIGERATION ………………………………………………………………………………………. 19
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2.94 WATER ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 21
2.95 WAYS TO IMPROVE UNIVERSITY FOOD SERVICE SUSTAINABILITY. ………. 21
2.96 BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES …………………………………………………. 23
3.0 RESEARCH METHOD ………………………………………………………………………………….. 23
3.1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23
3.2 STUDY AREA ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 23
3.3 RESEARCH METHOD ………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
3.4 TARGETED LOCATION ……………………………………………………………………………….. 25
3.5 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………………. 25
3.6 DATA COLLECTION ……………………………………………………………………………………. 25
4.0 RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
4.1 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS …………………………………………………………………………….. 25
4.2 TRANSCRIPTION ………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
4.3 PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FOOD SERVICE ……………………………………………….. 28
4.4 REASONS WHY STUDENTS USE STYROFOAM PACKS. ……………………………….. 36
5.0 DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
5.1 SUMMARY OF RESULTS. ……………………………………………………………………………. 36
5.2 Analysis and characteristics of AUN food service. ……………………………………………….. 37
5.3 SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES: ………………………………………………….. 38
5.4 Opportunities and solutions (improvement plan) ………………………………………………….. 42
5.5 How the improvement can happen. ……………………………………………………………………. 43
6.0 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 44
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 45
1
Sustainability is not a destination; it is an adventure a mystery, and a process. As
Flint & Houser (2001) remind us, there are sure to be stumbling blocks along the
way, but we mustn’t be discouraged because this journey toward sustainability, like
the journey toward human equality, is forever evolving (Flint & Houser, 2001).
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
One of the most neglected element in Nigerian development is environmental
sustainability, even though the word has been used a lot, little or nothing has been
done in that direction.
This research paper seeks to characterize the degree of sustainability and identify
opportunities for improvement in the American University of Nigeria’s Food service.
Results from this will help inform the decision process on whether or not there is a
need to improve.
1.2 HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF
NIGERIA
From the beginning, the university has been committed to development but has not
implemented the sustainability component of development until 2012 when Dr.
Charles Reith joined the university as Director of Sustainability and Professor of
Environmental Science. In June of 2012, AUN joined the Association for the
Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and began to apply
AASHE’s principles to its planning and operations. This included the preparation of
an annual sustainability report.
AUN’s Student Teams Advancing Regional Sustainability (STARS) was founded in
August 2012. In the context of all the improvement made possible by the efforts of
2
AUN’s STARS which includes better land management, water conservation, energy
reduction campaign, the food service has languished. There has been no real progress
in the food service.
1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The American University of Nigeria’s food service remains as yet undefined in terms
of its performance relative to sustainability and therefore recommendations on
improvements cannot be made until the overall performance has been characterized.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How can one best characterize the sustainability performance of an
institutional food service and how would this apply to the American
University of Nigeria food service?
Where along the food services’ supply and operational chain are the greatest
opportunities to improve sustainability?
For those elements of the food service that are environmentally irresponsible,
what are the alternatives?
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To characterize sustainability of the food service.
To determine if the American University of Nigeria food service uses
adequate technology.
To create a mind map for the American University of Nigeria food service.
To use some parameters to measure the level of sustainability of the
American University of Nigeria food service.
To find out how the food waste is handled and disposed of by the American
University of Nigeria food service.
3
To provide an improvement plan.
1.6 SPECIFIC AIMS
To characterize the environment related processes at the food service in order
to identify opportunities to improve environmental performance.
To prioritize recommendations to be implemented.
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