Leftovers are scraped into the trash after dinner and fresh produce rots in dumpsters behind grocery stores. As much as 40% of food is wasted in the United States. This wasted food is quickly filling up municipal landfills and generating methane, a potent greenhouse gas. These emissions, in addition to the energy-intensive steps that go into producing and distributing food, make reducing food waste a critical challenge in climate change mitigation efforts. The National Food Recovery Network, a non-profit organization that supports universities across the country in efforts to recover food on campuses, formed as a response to this issue.
Recently, the UW-Madison chapter of the National Food Recovery Network established a new method of food recovery to further reduce the amount of food wasted on campus. The program itself is fairly simple: leftover food from the dining halls is collected, examined by a student dietician, packaged in single-sized servings, frozen, and placed in refrigerators refrigerators at The Crossing, a Christian campus ministry and student organization. The meals are available to students for free on an honor system basis, and there seems to be a large demand because they frequently run out.
“Food insecurity is a huge problem at [UW-Madison], even though many people don't know about it. I think Food Recovery Network is one part of ensuring that college students (and community members) get the food they need to succeed, while also preventing tons of food from piling up in landfills. We believe that food is a human right, and that food should not be thrown away to the degree that it is while people go hungry,” says Alyssa Meurer, the Outreach and Communications Director for the UW-Madison Food Recovery Network chapter.
UW-Madison’s Frozen Meal Program was made possible with the help of a $27,000 grant from the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation to kickstart a food repackaging system. The program is run by four paid students–two directors, an assistant director and a student dietitian–and 6 weekly volunteers.
In one semester, this program recovered 2,663 meals, which equals 2,317.6 pounds of food.
This isn’t the first initiative taken by UW-Madison to reduce food waste. In a press release, dining and culinary services director Peter Testory said they have been “looking at our past data about usage, the weather, even football games. We track all these things so we order properly, produce properly, and limit overproduction.”
The Food Recovery Network currently runs four weekly recoveries. Since its formation in spring 2017, UW-Madison’s Food Recovery Network has gleaned about 20,000 pounds of leftover food from the dining halls.
“I think our community meals are making a big difference on campus. People are really excited to hear about the work we are doing, many telling me that they are really happy to hear that the dining halls are working to reduce food waste, and that they are grateful for the meals we provide them,” says Meurer.
Members of the organization think this program is just the beginning. Not only do they plan to expand their program to various locations on campus, but they also hope other campuses can follow their lead and start their own frozen food programs.
In the meantime if even just a small number of students are benefiting from the program, the organizers call that a success.
“I hope that we are helping even a few people who are food insecure worry less about how and where they are going to get a good, filling meal from. A lot of people joke about being a poor college student, but forget that some people come to this university and have very little money for things as simple as food to the point where it can affect their studies,” says member Jackson Miller.
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