Research on trayless dining

So here are some articles that I thought were very interesting...I know that tray less dining can be a pain in the side, but I actually like it. Besides the fact that it reduces food waste and saves on energy and water, I think it could also help with America's growing obesity. Hear me out. If you are taking less food, because by nature we are lazy, then we will eat less. The less we eat, the less weight is on our bodies. Combine that with walking from one end of campus to the other, and I think we have a simple way to keep ourselves moderately healthy. Now, I don't have any facts on that, it's just an observation. But it would be interesting to see research done on it and if my theory is correct. So, instead, I'll probably write on being for tray less dining and how it will help eliminate our carbon footprint.
Oh and P.S.-maybe it could eventually lower the cost of meal plans on campus.

USA Today
"Some campuses that already have tested the concept report food waste declines of up to 50%. Then, there's the thousands of dollars in energy savings when trays don't need washing. An astonishing 79% of the 92,000 students surveyed this spring by Aramark said they support tray less dining to reduce campus waste."

StarTribune.com
"The St. Paul school serves about 6,700 meals a week in its dining hall. With students taking less food from the all-you-can-eat cafeteria, the school estimates it is saving 12 cents per person per meal this fall. If that continues throughout the school year, Hamline will save more than $25,000 this academic year. But money isn't the only thing saved. Last spring, Hamline filled two 32-gallon trash cans with leftover food every day. That has been reduced to one this year."

I like the different ideas. Like how can we get everything we want without spilling, stacking, and making extra trips. One suggested meals a-la-carte and eliminate the all-you-can-eat feel in the cafeteria. I disagree, I think that picky eaters will be very unhappy. I suggest the smaller trays with the raised dividers-think elementary school. You know, it was all squares and you put your food in each one. It separates your food, and it allows portion control.

University at Buffalo
"'We anticipate saving nearly 48,000 pounds of food waste this semester by going tray less in the three dining centers,' said Jeff Brady, interim executive director for UB Campus Dining & Shops."

Even the New York Times 25 best blogs, Freakonomics, is on the tray less wagon.

Just for kicks, I looked up the cost of a compartment tray versus what we have now.
One Web site had the compartment trays at 24 for $114.

They trays that we have now cost $127 for 12 trays at this Cooks direct.

According to the UNK Web site, 2,600 students live on campus.

So lets say we have 3,000 trays to purchase. The trays we have now cost us $31,750. The compartment trays would cost us $14, 250. That's a savings of $17,500, not to mention the amount of food and water saved.