Hunger on Campus: Western's systems fail to meet student need

The UGA Garden works with Trader Joe’s to gather viable produce the grocery chain gets rid of each Sunday. Student workers go through the food each week, compost what has gone bad, and use the rest to make meals for those in need. The organizations has gathered over 330,000 pounds of food so far and deliver over 700 meals per month.

Pepperdine University’s Food Recovery Network club rescues unconsumed food from events on campus and a local Starbucks and gives it to nonprofits in the area that distribute it to those in need. Since forming in the Fall 2016 semester, the club has rescued 14,603 pounds of food that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit and grocery store shelves became bare, many consumers sought to purchase meat directly from farmers. The Shop Kansas Farms group on Facebook has more than 148,000 members with about 800 producers who are selling their goods. While there needs to be more education for farmers on how to sell their livestock and for consumers on the intricacies of buying from processors, people in other states are creating their own groups to better connect consumers to vendors.

Students across the country are dealing with food and housing insecurity, and financial loss, conditions that have been exacerbated because since the pandemic. In response, students in some colleges and universities created mutual-aid networks, raising and distribution thousands of dollars to their peers. “Students continue to lead the fight to address their basic needs.”

As the spread of COVID-19 forced residents of Bengaluru into lockdown, farmers had to get creative to sell their goods and turned to social media channels to directly connect to consumers. For example, the Farm to Fork Bangalore Facebook page allowed a grape grower to sell about 400 kilograms of his crops that otherwise would have gone to waste. While direct-selling can be challenging for those who are not in urban centers, many farmers are rethinking their business models.

Some Detroit residents can soon trade the long commute to big chain grocery stores for Neighborhood Grocery, a new store with local produce intended to actually cater to the needs of the customers it will serve. Other benefits include job creation, reduction of food waste, and food items that residents help choose. Local organizations are providing funding to get the grocery off the ground.

Organizations in Detroit are piloting a program to apply food stamp credits in grocery stores towards the purchase of nutritious produce, in order to increase access to healthy items. The initiative can also help the local economy prosper through increased promotion of locally grown produce.

In some cities, empty urban lots transformed into multilayered "food forests" that mimic natural ecosystems are providing free, accessible fresh produce to city residents through strategically designed edible plantings that feature native and adapted fruit trees, nut trees, and berry bushes.

The Monarch Food Pantry and The Huddle help combat food insecurity by ensuring college students have consistent access to food. About 1,100 to 1,900 people come to the pantry each month, and it’s available 24/7 to anyone with a university ID.

FoodCommune aims to reduce food waste by rescuing food before it ends up in landfills, redistributing about 6,000 pounds of food per week. FoodCommune gathers food from farmer’s markets, grocery stores, restaurants and other sources, redistributing enough to feed about 300 people each week.