Case Study: Food Recovery Network
Fighting Food Waste and Hunger
Students Take a Stand
The Food Recovery Network (FRN) unites students from colleges and
universities nationwide to fight food waste and hunger by recovering
surplus perishable foods from their campuses and donating it to people
in need. Started by University of Maryland students, the FRN operates
on the principle that "food already exists to solve hunger; we simply
need to recover and donate it." Now with chapters on 23 campuses
across the United States and growing, the FRN is an endorser of EPA's
Food Recovery Challenge, dedicated to recruiting even more colleges
and universities to reduce wasted food.
How it Works - Campus Chapters
Each night when the dining halls close, student volunteers pack up the
excess food then walk, bike or drive it to nearby shelters and food
banks. The food is then distributed to hungry people in the
community. Since September 2011, the FRN has recovered 166,354
pounds of food to provide an estimated 133,000 meals to those in need.
With an estimated 75 percent of college campuses still operating with-
out a food recovery program, the FRN is looking to expand or unite with
pre-existing programs. Today, the 23 FRN campuses stretch from the
University of Maryland College Park and Brown University in the East, to
the University of California-Berkley in the West.
Sustainable Materials Management
Food Recovery Challenge
Key Topic
Food Donation
Results
• 166,354 pounds of food
recovered from 23 campus
dining halls and 29 restaurants
• 133,000 meals provided to feed
hungry families
• More than 468 volunteers
donated 1,866 hours of their
time
Stats
• More than 36 million tons of
food waste was generated in
2011, 96 percent of which
was thrown away into
landfills or incinerators
14.9 percent of households
in the U.S. were food
insecure in 2011, meaning
they did not know where
their next meal would come
from
Food decomposes in landfills
to generate methane, a
greenhouse gas over 20
times more potent than
carbon dioxide
CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT OUR RESOURCES FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
www.epa.gov/smm
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Key Drivers for Effectiveness
Don't Wait - Start Now — Chances are good your school doesn't yet have a food recovery program
The FRN estimates that 75 percent of American colleges and universities don't yet have a food recovery
program. According to University of Maryland student and co-founder of the FRN, Ben Simon, "If you haven't
yet heard of a food recovery program operating at your school, one probably doesn't exist." With this in mind,
there's no better time than today for students to approach their school administrators to get a food recovery
and donation program up and running. The FRN will help you through the process.
Visit foodrecoverynetwork.org to learn more.
Target your communication — One size does not fit all when it comes to getting others on board
In order to get buy-in from school administrators, FRN approaches school and dining administrators with
compelling information about how food recovery would be simple to implement, save money for dining service
managers, and send a meaningful message to the student body. When approaching shelters and food banks,
their message focuses on the ease of implementation, the quality of the food provided, and dependability of
deliveries. When discussing the FRN with the media, they often focus on hunger awareness, as well as the
positive impact that local college students can have in their community.
Generate support wisely — Student groups love good volunteer projects
The FRN currently operates on 11 college campuses, thanks to the more than 350 student volunteers
nationwide who dedicate their time to packing and delivering the nutritious bounty to shelters. The FRN found
that by dedicating specific days of the week to different student groups- for example, an on-campus commu-
nity service group on Mondays; a sorority on Tuesdays, and the Muslim Student Association on Wednesdays-
each would feel a sense of ownership of their work, and pride in their respective group's accomplishments.
Groups are scheduled a semester at a time and are trained at the start of the semester.
Share the tools to spread the wealth — Partnerships expand the network
The FRN has become the nation's largest network of student-led food recovery programs thanks to their
partnership approach to reducing food waste. Using a simple online toolkit, they encourage information
sharing among existing campus recovery programs. Schools wanting to start their own chapter can also receive
support provided by a skilled "New Chapter Team", mini-grants, and the advice of regional coordinators
stationed throughout the country.
Keep careful track of metrics — Measure your success to tell your story
FRN organizers quickly learned that keeping close track of metrics was essential to keeping the program
running. Simon points out that while not necessarily the most exciting task, tracking metrics helps measure
success and tell the story. Don't wait to start quantifying pounds recovered, meals donated, and pounds of
each food item donated.
Food Recovery Challenge Endorser Since 2012
The Food Recovery Challenge asks participants to reduce as much of
their food waste as possible - saving money, helping communities,
and protecting the environment. The Challenge is part of the EPA's
Sustainable Materials Management Program, which seeks to reduce
the environmental impact of materials through their entire life cycle,
including how they are extracted, manufactured, distributed, used,
reused, recycled, and disposed.
Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery
EPA 530-F-13-003
August 2013
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