Food waste dataset: secondary school in Finland 2024-2025

This dataset contains daily food waste measurements from a secondary school in Western Finland, collected between August 2024 and April 2025. It includes total plate waste and plate waste per diner, as well as total food waste generated in the kitchen and during the serving stages, reported both in total and per diner. The number of diners is recorded for each day, and each row represents one school day. The dataset covers 155 school days and is divided into two phases: a baseline period (first 135 days) and an intervention period (last 20 days), during which artist-designed solutions targeting food waste reduction were implemented. Menu information is provided through a 25-day rolling lunch cycle that repeats every five weeks, allowing comparison under similar menu conditions. A key strength of the dataset is the availability of longitudinal per-person plate waste data over an extended period, which is rarely available in school food waste research. Variables PW = total daily plate waste (kg) PW/g/diner = daily plate waste per diner (g) (average per person) KSW = total daily kitchen and serving waste (kg) KSW/g/diner = daily kitchen and serving waste per diner (g) (average per person) DINERS = number of diners per day MENU = numeric identifier for the lunch menu item (values 1–25), where each number corresponds to a specific meal.