All products ordered by SAk are checked and stamps checked and placed in the correct storage facilities. If the lifetime is short and the product is not expected to be used, it is returned to the supplier and replaced with new ones. “We try to cook only as much food as we can, the remaining food is cooled as quickly as possible and the rest is used in salad bar dishes or frozen and used later. Unfortunately we can sometimes not re-use cooked vegetables,” says Linda Hrönn Benediktsdóttir food engineer at SAk.

The leftover soups used in delicious bread

The remaining soups are cooled and used in breads baked on the premises and served with at the salad bar. Leftover bread is made into grater and the remaining bread is used in bread cubes. “If any good product expires in time, we offer it for free to staff,” says Linda.

React from the surpluses on the food banks of the patients

Patients receive food on trays according to pre-calculated nutritional criteria. The kitchen regularly checks the leftovers that come back with the trays and the dosage is changed according to their results. “One of the main findings was that patients did not like raw vegetables, so we took them out except for certain diets that are provided according to nutrition recommendations. We always try to act to reduce food waste,” says Linda.

Employees encouraged to take only what they are going to eat on the plates

The staff of SAk dispenses themselves food on plates. It is difficult for a kitchen to assume the number of portions as it is never known beforehand how many people come to eat. According to Green Steps, food waste in the dining room is measured regularly and usually these surveys have been successful. “We are soon going back to such surveys and so it is important that staff take a step back and think before they take too big portions on their plates. Reducing food waste in the dining room is a cooperative project between all parties involved,” Linda concludes.

SAk employees and patients have long praised the cold-rised bread at SAk so here is a recipe:

Cold-rised bread SAk

• 450 g wheat

• 30 g other flour (the amount depends on the crudeness)

• 6 g dry yeast

• 5 g salt

• 30 g seeds (or other such as nuts, cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.)

• 375 ml cold liquid (e.g. chilled soups, water, malt liquor or whatever the mind might want)

You can also add all sorts of spices, e.g. breadstick spices, if you want.

All of the flour is kneaded together, stored in the refrigerator overnight, shaped and baked at 175°C for about 40 minutes.

It is good to keep a drawer with water in the oven while baking.