Military Food Said to Taste Better... Only Trash Has Increased

Analysis of National Defense Committee Member Lee Heunseung's Office Audit Data
Annual Food Waste Exceeds 113,000 Tons

The amount of food waste generated by the military has doubled in six years, with last year's disposal volume exceeding 110,000 tons.

The military will expand the hiring of civilian cooks this year to remote areas, the front lines, and small unit kitchens, significantly improving the taste of meals.

According to the Ministry of National Defense and the office of Lee Heon-seung, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee from the People Power Party, the annual amount of food waste processed by each branch of the military last year was 113,003 tons. The annual disposal volume steadily increased from 67,645 tons in 2016 to 81,019 tons in 2017, 97,835 tons in 2018, 104,458 tons in 2019, 105,675 tons in 2020, and 107,817 tons in 2021.

It is estimated that about half of the military food waste consists of freshly cooked food that never even reached the dining table. According to an analysis of a certain unit included in the "Policy Research Report on Military Food Waste Emission and Proper Disposal Measures" submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the lawmaker's office, 40% of the food waste originated from "leftovers"?food untouched during the serving process. Leftovers occurred when soldiers disliked certain menu items, when the number of diners changed, or when food was overcooked or served in small portions. Additionally, byproducts such as peels from the food ingredient preprocessing stage accounted for 30% of the total waste, and leftover food that soldiers received but did not eat made up 25%.

The cost of disposing of food waste is also increasing. The military's expenditure on processing food waste was 4.35 billion KRW in 2015, 6.73 billion KRW in 2016, 6.063 billion KRW in 2018, and 9.833 billion KRW in 2019.

A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "Since all unit members are served a single menu, food waste is generated by some who do not prefer certain items on the single menu," adding, "We will strive to reduce food waste by providing meals that reflect soldiers' preferences and by expanding the use of semi-processed ingredients to reduce food waste generated during preparation."