After a long day, dining halls always have extra food that goes uneaten. But instead of throwing it away, a new organization is collecting the food and giving it to people in need.
Senior Joe Plevel formed the Food Recovery Network, which collects excess food twice a week, around the start of February.
“I brought the Food Recovery Network to Mizzou, after hearing about it from a friend that goes to Brown University,” Plevel said in an email. “She told me all about it and I was very intrigued. I have always hated seeing food go to waste and this was the perfect opportunity to do something about it.”
The Food Recovery Network at Mizzou is a chapter within the national Food Recovery Network program, which originated at the University of Maryland – College Park in 2010, according to its website. Three students formed the organization when they noticed leftover food from dining halls and sports events that were being put to waste. Slowly, many other colleges across the nation started their own chapters, such as Brown University, Pomona College and the University of Texas – Austin.
The organization aims to unite students at colleges and universities to fight food waste and hunger by recovering surplus perishable food from their campuses and surrounding communities that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to people in need, according to its website.
The Mizzou chapter currently has about 30 volunteers, 15 who are current and 15 who are taking a food safety class that Plevel requires them to take to work in the organization, Plevel said.
Plevel said members of the organization recover all food except fish and anything considered risky.
So far, the organization has picked up food every Tuesday and Thursday from the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex dining hall. So far, the team has picked up food five times and recovered 249 pounds of food.
“We show up and they give us any unserved food packed into disposable serving trays and we immediately drive it to the place we are taking it.”
The team has been taking the food to the St. Francis House, a local Catholic Worker Movement house of hospitality. New locations will be introduced once the team gets more food.
Senior Allison Hu said in an email that she was instantly interested in helping out when she heard about the organization from Plevel.
“It sounded like such a good idea,” she said. “So much food goes to waste on college campuses and I was shocked something like this didn’t already exist here at Mizzou so I am really excited that now there is something.”
Senior Jon Strope said in an email that every delivery his team made was an experience for him.
“Walking into the house carrying so much food becomes a relief to not only the individuals who need the food, but also the volunteers trying to maintain the help they provide,” he said. “You always leave a drop off feeling like the little you did could have made a big difference to someone.”
Hu voiced similar thoughts.
“Everyone there was so grateful and it was nice seeing their smiles after showing them the food we brought in,” she said, recalling her first time delivery.
Strope said delivering food is an easy way to give back.
“Twenty minutes twice a week helps those in need,” he said. “Even a little time commitment can go a long way in making a difference to an individual in need.”
Also on persuading others, senior Dane Hagen said in an email that he would let others know how much food goes to waste regularly from all of the campus dining halls.
“That food could be given to people who struggle to eat a full meal every day,” he said.
Hagen said that besides helping people in need, what he enjoys about participating in Food Recovery Network is meeting and working with other students.
“It’s amazing to see how many people at Mizzou really want to step up and help others,” he said.
Plevel said he likes that his team is doing something so good and easy.
“It’s horrible to think of all the food that goes to waste every year when there are starving people out there,” he said. “This is helping to put a stop to that.”
