The amount of waste from the overall food industry is large. The percentage of food waste so called as food loss in the food retail sales is 22% and is largest in the food industry. Therefore, identifying methods for reducing waste in the food retail sales industry is important. We focused on supermarket specializing in food. Sources of food waste were studied by interviewing store managers and employees, and analyzing store input output data. Principal 4 findings include : (1) Vegetable and fruit waste is largest, and it is 65.6% of total weight of overall food waste. Stores with smaller vegetable and fruit waste had smaller waste in meat, dairy, cooked meat, bakery, rice and alcohol. It is important to improve the method for distribution and selling of vegetable and fruit for reducing total waste in the food retail sales industry. (2) It is suggested that it is possible to reduce the food waste via changing how vegetable and fruits are ordered and via skillful control and revived recycling efforts by salespersons. (3) By good understanding of employees and managers on these points, It will be possible to reduce the food waste in food supermarkets. (4) It is suggested that education for employee is necessary not only for reduction of food waste but also for consumers’ health and agricultural promotion.

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The aim of this study is to understand the current level of menu planning competency of students in dietitian training programs, as well as to identify effective educational methods to improve menu planning competency. The participants were 156 first-year students enrolled in dietitian training programs.
Following the submission of a menu planning assignment in July 2012, questionnaire surveys were conducted and 153 valid responses were collected. The instructors evaluated the menus. The results showed that the highest percentage of cooking knowledge was acquired through helping with meal preparations at home. On the other hand, the highest percentage of food knowledge was obtained through studies in junior college. The “menu planning,” “cooking experience” and “food seasoning in menu evaluation” scores for students who correctly identified 4 or more seasonal foods were significantly higher than those for students who only identified 3 or fewer seasonal foods. “Food seasoning” and “dietary composition” had low menu evaluation scores. The group with meal-making frequencies of once or more per week had a significantly higher “cooking experience” score than the “less than once a week” group. The group with more cooking experience had significantly higher scores in “menu planning” and “nutrient to energy ratio in menu evaluation” than the group with less cooking experience.
These results suggest that students need the following to enhance their menu planning competency : i）gain more cooking experience at home and in school, ii）gain food and cooking knowledge and iii）acquire skills through practice. We need to teach students to understand and apply the principles of（i）adjustment of nutrient quantity to energy ratio,（ii）dietary composition and（iii）food seasoning. We also need to identify an educational method that helps them acquire applied skills that give them the ability to take into account multiple conditions.

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While special-needs schools provide various coaching on food and eating, current efforts are not organized. The following information regarding food and nutrition education for visually impaired, intellectually disabled and/or physically disabled children was collected from teachers at special-needs schools and analyzed to determine the current situation and future challenges.
98.4% of surveyed teachers felt/somewhat felt challenged by the current dietary habits of their students. 96.9% were interested/somewhat interested in food and nutrition education and 93.7% said food and nutrition education was provided/somewhat provided at their schools. However, only 78.1% provided/somewhat provided food and nutrition education themselves, which was significantly lower（p < 0.05）than the percentage interested in food and nutrition education or the percentage of schools providing food and nutrition education Moreover, only 73.4% of the teachers who do provide food and nutrition education themselves felt/somewhat felt food and nutrition education was effective.
While the challenges that teachers face regarding the dietary habits of their students vary, there seems to be a gap between what is and should be taught. When teaching food and nutrition education, teachers prioritize the improvement of unbalanced diets, the enjoyment of eating, appreciation and communication, and the value of manners. The most common challenge they face is cooperation from the family. Moreover, they expect nutrition educators to manage and provide school meals that are balanced, safe and reassuring.
In the future, nutrition educators should play a more central role in seeking ways for teachers and families to provide food and nutrition education and cooperate more effectively.

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