FRN Reaches 2 Million Pounds of Food Recovered for Those in Need

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CONTACT: Regina Northouse, Food Recovery Network, +1 (240) 615-8813 regina.northouse@foodrecoverynetwork.org, www.foodrecoverynetwork.org

Food Recovery Network Reaches 2 Million Pounds of Food Recovered for Those in Need

College Park, Maryland - Food Recovery Network has officially recovered over 2 million pounds of surplus food, that would have otherwise gone to waste, for those in need. FRN is a network of college students across the country who package perfectly good surplus food from their campus dining halls and surrounding businesses. The collective commitment of these students to fighting food waste and hunger enabled  FRN to achieve the biggest milestone since recoveries began.

Food Recovery Network, America’s largest student organization against food waste, was founded in 2011 on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park  (UMD). Since its founding through a generous grant from Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, FRN has transformed from a UMD campus club to a 501(c)3 non-profit headquartered in College Park, Maryland and has chapters across the country.

The U.S. food system is marked by an alarming paradox: nearly 40 percent of food produced in the US goes to waste, while 48.1 million Americans experience food insecurity each year (NRDC 2016; USDA 2015). Food waste is not only a social and economic loss, costing Americans $218 billion every year; it’s also one of the world’s worst environmental hazards. Food waste accounts for 25 percent of freshwater use and constitutes 23 percent of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (FAO 2013). Regina Northouse, FRN’s Executive Director since 2015 notes, “This achievement is a testament to the power of college students to make immediate, positive impacts in their communities. We’ve heard it loud and clear that food waste is an important issue to this generation of emerging leaders, and they’re willing to put the work in to solve what has turned out to be a huge problem in America. They’re changing the dialogue from food waste to food recovery, and people are listening.”

FRN reached its first million pounds of food recovered in 2015 after four years of growth and strengthening their ability to recover more food in their communities. It has taken the organization a little over a year and a half to recover the second million. FRN Program Manager Hannah Cather says “I’m incredibly proud of our student leaders today because in a fraction of the time, they were able to recover a second million. When I left the office one day, we were two thousand pounds away from the milestone. The next day, I came to work and realized students had submitted recovery information for more than 20,000 pounds! We blew our goal out of the water.”

Allison Blakely, a senior student leader at Rochester Institute of Technology, said "Last year when we hit one million pounds of food donated and diverted from landfills I didn't think I would still be a student when we did it again. Now a year later, I couldn't be prouder of how this organization has grown.”

Micah Heaney, the chapter leader at Goucher College, said "FRN is more than a student group. It's a movement. As a member of FRN, I've worked with dining hall staff, staff and clients at a transitional shelter, students at countless campuses, national leadership, community-based learning staff, passionate professors, local activists, and national sponsors. Nothing brings people together like food. FRN makes this a foundation of social and environmental transformation."

Stay tuned as FRN continues to expand its network across the country to support higher education in being the first sector where food recovery is the norm and not the exception.

About Food Recovery Network

Food Recovery Network (FRN) unites and supports college student leaders in the fight against food waste and hunger in America. Since 2011, FRN students have recovered over 2 million pounds of surplus food, that would otherwise go to waste, from their campus cafeterias and local restaurants to donate to hungry Americans. Food Recovery Network has over 220 college campus chapters in 44 states and the District of Columbia. For more information about Food Recovery Network, including how they support businesses who want to do the right thing and recover their surplus food through their program, Food Recovery Verified, visit www.foodrecoverynetwork.org. Social media: Twitter @FoodRecovery and Instagram @FoodRecovery and Facebook www.facebook.com/FoodRecoveryNetwork.

THE ZERO WASTE CHALLENGE​​​​​​​

In the month of May I’m refusing coffee on the go, saying no to candy bars, passing up gum, avoiding Amazon, and striving for zero waste. No I’m not some masochist who wants to be under caffeinated with stinky breath and deprived of all the joys that come with online shopping...I’m doing this to waste less.

Striving for zero waste means I’m living my life in a way that generates as little waste to landfill as possible (and really as little waste to recycling and compost as possible for reasons I’ll explain in a later post). And I’ve upped the ante by doing it for a cause: raising money for Food Recovery Network.

Why zero waste?

• Garbage is bad. Nothing EVER really goes away. When we put things in a bin to be hauled off our trash doesn’t actually disappear. At best it gets piled in a landfill where it never breaks down and while sitting there it emits greenhouse gasses. At worst it escapes and finds it’s way into our waterways and oceans poisoning our environment, destroying habitats, and polluting our beautiful world.

• When we waste ANYTHING, we waste all the precious resources and energy that went into producing that product.

• It’s actually not that hard to go zero waste. It’s something we can all do. It’s painful to hear about the effects of climate change every day and feel powerless. I will not stand by while our world is enveloped in trash, I can and will take action. This is empowering, I can make a difference.

Why for a cause?

• Accountability. It’s motivating to do the right thing when it’s for something greater than me.

• Community. It’s better when we’re all in this together. I can learn from you, you can learn from me, and we can be better and do better because of it.

• Cause duh! Food Recovery Network is an extension of my zero waste values, they’re an organization empowering students to recover excess food that traditionally would go to waste, and redistribute it to people in need. My heart is 100% behind that mission.

Rules to live by

So the zero waste challenge works like this: for the month of May I’m going to try not to create any landfill waste. When I do, I have to put a $1 in a jar to donate to FRN (think of it like a swear jar, but my problem isn’t a dirty mouth, it’s a dirty garbage bin).

And to make things fun, if you donate $15 or more to FRN during this challenge, I will extend the challenge another day.

And to really increase the stakes, if you donate $15 or more to FRN and you pledge to strive for zero waste too, I will donate an additional $1 for each piece of landfill trash I generate during the challenge.

Throughout the month I’ll share tips on how to reduce waste in your own life through my successes and blunders. My goal is three-fold:

1. Waste less in my own life

2. Inspire you to waste less in your own life

3. Raise over a $1,000 for FRN in the process

“The world doesn’t need saving. The world needs folks who are willing to save themselves and be humble enough to serve when and where they are needed.” - Chani Nicholas

I’m not going to save the world by going zero waste, but I’m asking you to join me in saving ourselves from trash with the hope that in changing our habits and empowering organizations like FRN who serve when and where they are needed, we can make this world a better place. Will you join me?

#FRNSpeaks and Trifecta Present: An Interview With University of Hawaii at Manoa

All of our FRN chapter leaders fit the maxim, “If you want to get something done, ask the busy person.” Jenny Park, president of the University of Hawaii at Manoa chapter, is no exception. One would imagine Jenny heading for one of Hawaii’s beautiful beaches during her recent spring break. No, far from it. She spent the week in the country of Fiji assisting the Hawaiian Eye Foundation in performing 28 cataract eye surgeries. With a double major in biology and psychology, Jenny still finds time to recover food from her school’s cafeteria and deliver it to a remarkable non-profit five miles away, the Institute for Human Services (IHS), which prepares more than 900 meals every single day. Working closely with Sodexo’s general manager, Donna Ojiri, and her staff, the students deliver 250 to 300 pounds of food every Friday of the school year.

From left to right: Jessica B., Jessica P., Theresa C., Lauren T.

Left to Right: Olivia K., Keala S., Jessica P.

A small but active FRN chapter at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

Jenny Park will be a senior and FRN’s president for another school year come September 2017. Jenny especially likes the University of Hawaii at Manoa for its diversity with three main ethnic groups--indigenous Hawaiian/Polynesian, Asian, and Caucasian students, as reflected in the ethnicity of the FRN student chapter members. She attributes much of her success to “a very inspiring figure,” Heather Fucini, the chapter’s former  president and “one of the most passionate people” Jenny has met in her work with FRN.

Despite the fame for its unique beaches, landscapes, and volcanoes, Hawaii has a huge homelessness problem, as Jenny explains, “one of the worst in the U.S.”  It was only natural for the university’s FRN chapter to choose a nonprofit benefitting the homeless,  the Institute for Human Services, as an official partner agency.  Jenny likes  having the institute’s clients help the students carry in the food packed for their Friday deliveries.

Jenny praises FRN for the opportunity it gives students, who may devote as little as two hours per week to the cause, to make for real change in their community.  Jenny’s hope is that FRN will grow in the years to come to include food recoveries at local hospitals, restaurants and other businesses. Jenny is also grateful for the ready support of the school’s food service, Sodexo, and its general manager, Donna Ojiri.

Sodexo Focuses on Lowering Food Waste in Landfills

Donna Ojiri, the general manager of Sodexo, enjoys getting to know new student volunteers with their “different leadership styles” every year. Her employees “look forward to the weekly Friday food recoveries and helping the students pack up the food for the IHS shelter.” Keeping waste to a minimum is one main focus of Sodexo’s. As Donna explains, “We live on an island so we definitely do not want to send waste to the landfill.” Because of FRN’s rescues, “we have less food waste to put in our EcoFeed containers.” EcoFeed is a food disposal system that serves Manoa and other areas of the island by recycling food waste placed in labeled containers that they regularly deliver to pig farms for the pigs to eat.

Donna Ojiri sees FRN’s influence becoming international in its scope as students from other countries observe the chapter’s work. “We have had a group of students from Japan and Indonesia who were very interested in the FRN activities . . . It is very interesting to see that food recovery efforts are also being studied in other countries.” Donna also appreciates the fact that the FRN volunteers are connecting her kitchen with very “thankful” consumers, namely the clients of the Institute of Human Services, as her marketing staff has observed on a recent visit to one of its shelters.

“Children and families get first-choice."

No one seems more dedicated to improving the lives of others than Anna Alualu, meal program manager at the Institute for Human Resources. The institute’s mission is to “to create and offer tailored housing solutions for those in crisis, and nurture homeless people toward greater self-direction and responsibility.” (You can find more information about IHS at www.ihshawaii.org).  Besides providing personal counseling and job trainings, the institute offers separate shelters for men, women and children, those newly released from a hospital, and homeless veterans. They also have 28 transitional housing units for families for whom they help find permanent housing. As meal program manager, Anna oversees meals for at least 900 people per day. Anna sees that FRN food donations first go to children and their families. The IHS kitchen staff often stretches the weekly delivery to 100 or more meals. Donna calls the FRN donations the “best source for top meats” like roast beef, which her tight kitchen budget would never allow. Much of it, like chicken tetrazzini and kiwi fruit, is food her clients have never seen before and thus she sees an educational purpose in introducing them to healthy eating and cooking. On first glance, the children in particular will ask, “What is that?” They typically are surprised at how good “that” can be!

Left to Right: Shari W., Olivia K., Jessica B., Lauren T.

FRN student volunteers give generously

Anna Alualu is “grateful,” as she says, for the students she has met through her association with FRN. Like Donna Ojiri of Sodexo, she has nothing but praise for all that the student volunteers do to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate and to create a more livable environment for their community. FRN student volunteers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, as busy as they may be, always have time to augment both the quantity and quality of food served by Hawaii’s largest homeless shelter and support organization, the remarkable Institute for Human Services. Student Jenny Park, indeed, lives up to her own words: “even the smallest of things and the most menial of tasks can serve to help those around you.”

#FRNSpeaks: An Interview With Carleton College

Northfield, Minnesota is home to the outstanding Food Recovery Network (FRN) chapter at Carleton College. The chapter has seen tremendous growth since its founding in 2013; since then, the number of partner organizations has grown from one to five, and the number of food rescues went from one per week in one dining hall to two per day in two dining halls. In celebrating #FRN5Years, we wanted to highlight how this growth came to be at Carleton, and their plans for the future.

Mika Chmielewski, the current coordinator of activities for the chapter, regards Shira’s leadership as one of the main inspirations for her own work. Mika is one of a four-member team that currently runs the chapter, which has over 50 members. Coordinating so many people while maintaining a full course load constantly tests Mika’s leadership skills. A senior physics major, Mika modestly calls her work  “mainly logistics, moving containers between dining halls, helping volunteers if they can’t find something, bringing food to community partners.” According to Mika, “the work has pushed me far beyond my comfort zone in dealing with the myriad of situations that arise when coordinating so many moving parts and it has built my confidence as a leader and coordinator.”

Mika credits attendance at the FRN’s National Food Recovery Dialogue for helping to keep her motivated “while I’m carrying tubs of container lids across a snowy campus.” The people Mika met, together with the incentives gained from learning about other chapters’ remarkable projects have helped her keep focused on the importance of food recovery when everyday problems arise back on campus.

Mika also values FRN for providing “a great avenue for meeting community members with whom I would not otherwise have had a chance to interact.” She recalls one instance when she attended an event sponsored by one of the chapter’s partners, Northfield Food Shelf. There, she struck up a conversation about food justice in the Northfield community with a teacher, Cheryl Mathison. “That initial interaction sparked the idea for a collaboration between Ms. Mathison’s school and our chapter, resulting in her becoming one of our first partners. As a result of running a FRN chapter, I have been able to keep working with her and to connect with other partners.”

One such other partner is the afterschool program, Greenville Park Community School (GPCS), a public school serving nearly 50 percent of families classified as “low-income”.  When Carleton students make their Tuesday deliveries to GPCS, the chapter members become educators themselves as they “sell” food that may, at first glance, seem strange to the students. For example, they educate students on how delicious root vegetables such as turnips and rutabagas can be when prepared the right way. Mika says the students get excited to see what’s new on the menu, ask questions about the food, and are curious about the health benefits that the food provides. Typically, half the students — between 40 to 50— have a chance to write their names on the food containers they want to take home. Each container feeds at least one adult or two students. Parents that come to pick up the students are also welcome to pick cartons themselves.

Mika also credits Bon Appétit Management Company, Carleton’s food service, for being a supportive partner. From an operator’s perspective, Food Manager Katie McKenna has seen many benefits from the FRN partnership with Bon Appétit. The main one, she says, is that it “tunes the team into what they have been wasting. They watch lines closely to ensure that we have food for all of our guests, but they reduce production to actually help us save money.” Still, her employees provide enough recovered food for daily deliveries from two kitchens. Katie praises the students for consistently working with her staff and not interrupting the staff’s work. This helps make the FRN partnership “painless for a food provider to be enrolled in the program” as well as “a great way to interact with the students and community.”

Katie also values the opportunities that FRN students have provided in regards to personally connecting with the food recipients. One notable event was a recent luncheon that Katie helped the chapter organize for Whispers of Hope, a center for women in need of recovery from abuse and other trauma. She and the student leaders sat down with the clients of Whispers of Hope to share food and listen to each other’s stories. Hearing the women tell of the dramatic impact recovered food has made in their lives, as Katie explains, helped the Carleton Community “connect the dots” to get a better perspective on why their efforts are so important.

The Carlton College FRN chapter has helped make a dramatic impact on their community. Every year, they have extended the number of community partners they serve and the amount of food they deliver. Katie affectionately describes the students as “cool student foodies.”  And how do the students see their remarkable progress? As Mika recently stated, “Now that we have smoothed out many of our initial challenges — gaining access to the dining hall, obtaining a fridge, connecting with the larger community — we can focus more on outreach in order to include more of the campus in our recovery program.” Their highest hope is one voiced by many FRN members across the country — to establish a FRN chapter at every college and university in the United States. Mika hopes to help do it by 2020!

FRN Press Round Up

Food Recovery Network has had an incredible start in 2017. In about a month, our student leaders have recovered over 25,000 pounds, and we've surpassed 200 chapters in our network. This past week, FRN has been featured in some great publications:

1. Food Recovery Network @ WVU (West Virginia University) was mentioned in the The Daily Athenaeum for rallying around scientific research.
2. Washington Square News, NYU's independent student newspaper, highlighted the work that Two Birds One Stone has been doing to recover food and educate the campus.
3. In a feature on Lovin' Spoonful's Plenty Program, which aims to teach people how to cook healthy foods on a budget, Civil Eats also mentioned FRN amongst organizations who are working to tackle food waste.
4. The Jewish Journal published a great piece on Imperfect Produce, who works to deliver less attractive produce to homes in order to reduce waste. Ben Simon, our founder, co-founded Imperfect and serves as its CEO.
5. The Kansas City Star highlighted Thomas Anjard, who founded the FRN chapter at Kansas State University.

We are so proud of the work that all of our students, staff and alumni have done over the years. If your chapter has made the news or a blog, let us know! Send an e-mail to media@foodrecoverynetwork.org.