More than 38 million tons of food are thrown away every year in this country, according to a 2014 EPA study. At Whittier, a group of students are tackling this problem while also addressing the issue of hunger in the local community.
The Food Recovery Network, founded four years ago at Whittier College, works with Bon Appétit to collect left over food from the Campus Inn and donates it directly to the St. Matthias Church soup kitchen.
The FRN efforts were recently applauded by Food Tank, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and helping the world with food issues, and noted as a model for other colleges through a recent article on their website.
Chinese major Christina Fong ’18 leads the Whittier FRN chapter, which she has been a part of since the start of her junior year. She was motivated to join the group after seeing documentaries about food waste and thought she could make an impact right in her own community.
“I’m involved with Food Recovery Network because I hate seeing good food go to waste,” said Fong. “It shouldn't be thrown away when there's hungry people out there who could really use it.”
By the end of fall 2017, Whittier College’s FRN collected 21,130.10 pounds of excess food that has been donated to those in need.
“Volunteering [with FRN] has reaffirmed what I want to do, which is help people. It makes me really happy and I feel like I’ve made a difference,” said Fong. Visit the Food Tank website to read the full article.
