Meet Sara, Director of Member Support & Communciations

Sara, FRN's Director of Member Support & Communications, gleans strawberries with the FRN team.

Have you met Sara yet? As FRN's Director of Member Support & Communications, Sara is thankful to be working to build a community of active and engaged young people that generate tangible, positive progress. She can't wait to meet everyone at the 2016 National Food Recovery Dialogue! Read more about Sara below.

Name/Nickname: Sara

Hometown: White Plains, NY

Position at FRN: Director of Member Support & Communications

What's one thing you love about FRN? Only one thing?! The FRNdship. I'm so motivated, inspired and thankful to be working to build a community of active and engaged young people. The issues of hunger and food waste (and the way they stem from and relate to social and environmental justice, poverty and climate change...) are tremendous and it's so easy to feel small and powerless. But being part of FRN is a way to take tangible, positive steps to fixing systems that are broken; changing the status quo alongside thousands of other student and community leaders. Also it's fun! As our core value says, "do good, feel good."

What are you most looking forward to at the 2016 National Food Recovery Dialogue? Lunch! No but seriously--as a national Network, the chance for all of us to be in the same physical space chatting and laughing is so special and exciting and lunch will be the first time that that will happen. I also can't wait to bring so many leaders together to celebrate our accomplishments and to dream about what's next.

What do you like to do when you're not helping fight food waste and hunger? I spend my time baking, reading, catching live music in unique spaces, visiting friends and drinking/learning about beverages.

What's your favorite food? I'm an advocate for breakfast all day, so I have to choose the open-faced waffle-egg sandwich. It starts with a waffle, then thin slices of Coulommier cheese and a fried egg, plus salt and pepper to taste. I actually haven't found Coulommier cheese since I lived in New Hampshire, but luckily brie and sharp cheddar make fine substitutes.

Are you as excited about the 2016 National Food Recovery Dialogue as Sara? Register here today.

Getting FRNdly at Florida State University

Florida State University's FRN chapters made new FRNds at the 2015 Food Waste & Hunger Summit, inspiring their "FRNdly Neighbors" program.

This post was written by Gabrielle Maynard, a leader of Florida State University's FRN chapter. You can learn more about FSU's awesome work here and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

At the FSU chapter of FRN, we value networking as an instrumental tool for generating collaborative ideas and initiatives. Attending the Food Waste and Hunger Summit in 2015 allowed us to do just this. The Summit provided us with a platform to engage in discussions with other chapters around the nation about the tools they have found to be effective in the realms of campus engagement, member outreach, fundraising and community involvement. As a young chapter, we’re still in search of ways to most efficiently expand within our campus and the surrounding Tallahassee area. 

Piggybacking off of the dialogue we engaged in at the summit, we decided to create a program called “FRNdly Neighbors” that aims to facilitate ongoing relationships between our chapter  other chapters around the country. At every meeting, one of our new members is appointed with the task of researching and communicating with chapter leaders at other schools across the country to explore the ways they operate within their campus communities. The process is simple: we seek out the directors of other chapters through social media and with the contact information provided to us by FRN national, and a constructive discourse inevitably follows. Generally, we try to learn from the successes of each chapter and the diverse methods they employ on their campuses in order to ensure the sustainability and growth of their organization. For example, we’re still in the process of transitioning from recoveries at smaller establishments (Starbucks, Einstein Bros. Bagels, etc.) to recoveries at the dining halls on our campus. Networking with other chapters to find out the ways in which they have worked with their dining providers and partner agencies to recover food from their dining halls helps us to understand the practices that we need to adopt here at Florida State. 

As an evolving chapter, we will continue to prioritize the ability to spark conversations about functionality and growth among other chapters -- it allows us to communicate our goals and foster relationships with other universities similar to ours. Further, joining forces with other chapters provides us with a creative platform on which to devise new recovery and outreach techniques, ultimately contributing to FRN’s objective of reducing food waste and food insecurity in our local communities. 

If you’re interested in having your chapter highlighted at our next meeting, please contact myself, Gabrielle Maynard, at gam14@my.fsu.edu. 

Meet Kelsey from Roger Williams University!

Roger Williams University's chapter takes a break from a recovery to snap a photo. (From left to right: Evan Cassani, Katie Boyd, Josh Henessey (food services director and chapter advisor), Kate Gladsky, Trevor Nelson, and Kelsey Rogers)

Kelsey Rogers first heard about FRN when she saw a video of co-founder Ben Simon talking about FRN's start at the University of Maryland. Kelsey immediately sought out her campus chapter, signed up to volunteer and, as she says, the rest is history! Read more about Kelsey and her chapter below.

THE BASICS

Name: Kelsey Rogers

School: Roger Williams University

Year of Graduation: 2017

Major/area of study: Graphic Design (minor in Film and American Studies)

Position on leadership team: President

WE ASKED Kelsey...

Where are you from? I am from Billerica, Massachusetts! For those who have no idea where that is (AKA everyone), it is just north of Boston.

How did you get involved in FRN? I first heard about FRN on Facebook when I saw a video about Ben Simon and how he and his friends began the first chapter in Maryland. I decided immediately that I wanted to start a chapter on my campus, and when I looked into it, I realized someone already did! That was Katie Boyd, a local who reached out to Bon Appetit at RWU to get things going. I e-mailed her and got started right away; the rest is history!

Can you share a favorite FRN memory? To be honest, that is a hard question! There have been so many small memories that have built up into one, memorable experience.  One of my favorite memories would have to be all of the car rides to and from the local shelters with Katie and the other officers, Trevor, Evan, and Kate, singing at the top of our lungs to "Uptown Funk"! To this day I will always think of those great times whenever I hear that song!

What's one thing you love about Roger Williams University? The FOOD. Ask anyone who goes here. It is by far the best (sorry, Mom!). We all wait all year long for steak and lobster dinner, midnight breakfast, Halloween dinner, and Thanksgiving feast. So much of our food is locally grown and we have so many options that people never get tired of it. We are so privileged and it is so important that we share what we have.

What are your ambitions post-graduation? What a loaded question! Well to get to the point, I’d like what everyone would like, to be happy and able to support myself! I would love to go into the publishing business. Working for a publishing company such as Simon & Schuster would be amazing. However, I have a passion for Pixar, and working as a story artist or animator for such a prestigious animation studio would be a dream come true. I think it is a good thing to have many plans for myself; I’ll do it all someday!

Tell us something unique about yourself! Just one?! Well, I had a pretty unique high school experience! I graduated from Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in 2013. I matriculated through the health technology shop, and competed for my school in SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA is a student-governed organization that encourages students in vocational schools to be better prepared for the world of work. I truly owe my self-confidence, initiative, and leadership skills to my experience with this organization as a competitor and student leader. Without SkillsUSA, I would not have had the strong ability to organize our FRN chapter at Roger Williams.

Interested in learning more about Roger William's University's chapter? Check them out here.

From Regina's Desk: Growing Stronger Every Day

Our FRNds on a recovery at Florida State University, one of our 170 chapters nationwide that are working to make the fight against food waste stronger every day.

FRN has accomplished so much in these almost 5 years of existence. The temptation might be to take a break, to slow down and let the accomplishments speak for themselves for a little while. And, if FRN were but one person, that might become a reality. However, FRN is a network blazed all across the United States of students, community partners, sustainability directors, funders, Fellows and alums who are sparked by those ambitious accomplishments and brighten that network all the more. Our pulse is becoming noticeably stronger by those who never before questioned food insecurity. They now stop and think, “How can I provide support to those who do not have enough to eat?” The pulse is so strong, people who never gave a moment’s notice to where their uneaten food goes are now commenting, “Did you know the biggest source of waste in landfills is food?”

At FRN national, we know it’s endless work--there are more partner agencies to identify, more places to call up to recover food, more volunteers to recruit. Your support sustains the movement and quickens that pulse, and it’s working. We are supporting the dialogue shift from food waste to food recovery. YOU are supporting this work.

I’m inspired by all of you, and the following quote sums up how I feel about this intrepid network of leaders:

"COMMITMENT is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. 

It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."  --Anonymous

Cheers to you, and to 2016 being the year of deeper relationships, achieving our chapter goals and recovering more food.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

Brown University's chapter gleaned 1,450 lbs. of apples from Pippin Orchard in November.

This post is written by our FRNds at Brown University, Megan Kelly and Aida Feng. For more information about Brown's chapter, click here or email Megan at megan_e_kelly@brown.edu. 

Early November generally marks the effective end of the harvest season in New England, as freezing temperatures set in and apple picking trips are traded for bonfires and visits to Christmas tree farms. At the same time, hundreds of pounds of quality produce remain unharvested in the orchards. Last month, members of Brown University's FRN chapter went on a gleaning expedition to a local orchard and set out to answer an unusual question: What does one do with 1,450 pounds of recovered apples?

FRNds at Brown asked: what does one do with 1,450 pounds of recovered apples?

FRN@Brown organized our second annual apple gleaning event with Farmer Joe Polseno at Pippin Orchard in Cranston, RI. For those unfamiliar with the term, gleaning refers to the act of collecting excess unharvested fresh food from farms at the end of their season. In one morning, we were able to recover 1,450 pounds of apples that would otherwise have gone to waste and donate fresh, nutritious food to our local partners.

On top of this, we also wanted to spark a specific conversation about food waste and sustainable food consumption on the Brown campus. In order to engage the student body with our work, we planned a campus-wide event, “Good to the Core.” With enthusiastic support from Brown University Dining Services, we chopped, cooked, and served 200 pounds of the recovered apples in our main campus dining hall. Through this event, we engaged more than 300 students in conversations about food waste and recovery and added more than 30 interested students to our representative pool.

FRN@Brown students partnered with Brown University Dining Services to serve 200 pounds of recovered apples to students. 

Our campus-wide project inspired our current Leadership Team to expand their own visions and drive as well. Following the success of this project, we began an uncomfortable but necessary conversation about FRN@Brown’s true impact. The majority of the 55,000+ pounds of food we’ve recovered over the past four years has consisted largely of bagels, breads, and other bakery items. While it is better to provide these resources to food-insecure members of our community than to send these pounds to the landfill, we reevaluated the impact of these largely nutritionless donations. The outcome of these conversations have led to new community partnerships with produce and hot food donations. These efforts have the potential to enhance our chapter’s fight against local food insecurity.

With the help of Brown University Dining Services, FRN@Brown whipped up recovered apple compote to share with students, spreading the word about food waste as they passed out samples.