By Josie Winslow 鈥�21
Nearly 40 percent of America鈥檚 food supply ends up in the garbage. In just one year, 133 billion pounds of food are tossed into landfills, increasing methane production and costing the nation $162 billion. With 11 percent of the U.S. population struggling with food insecurity, activists across the nation are working to bring quality food to the communities that need it鈥攏ot to the landfill. The members of the 61传媒Food Recovery Network (FRN), along with the many Food Recovery Network chapters across the nation, do exactly this, working diligently to raise awareness about food waste and to reallocate food to communities in need.
Under Butts鈥檚 leadership, 61传媒FRN has grown from a small volunteer organization to a thriving community that hosts club meetings and dinners in addition to running the food delivery program. Through these gatherings, students also plan fundraising strategies and cross-campus initiatives. Nevertheless, Butts aims to do more: 鈥淭his is a broader issue with multiple facets that we can delve into, so I feel like we need to have even more club meetings. I try to brainstorm other ideas to increase community involvement. We make merchandise, stickers, and tote bags, and through that we鈥檝e raised participation and awareness,鈥� she says.
To that end, this past April, during Earth Week, the 61传媒FRN posted 鈥渃ompost guardians鈥� at the dining hall to educate the campus community about the amount of food waste being discarded at every meal and to encourage diners to compost their leftovers; the results were astounding. 鈥淲e established a baseline for food waste over the course of a week,鈥� explains Butts. 鈥淕arrick calculated the amount of post-consumer compost and the number of people eating dinner each evening. The numbers were huge鈥攖here was almost two-thirds of a pound of waste per person. But the next week, during Earth Week, when we really tried to heighten awareness of this issue, there was a drastic drop. Waste didn鈥檛 exceed one tenth of a pound of food per person!鈥�
鈥淕etting to know the dining hall staff has been really nice,鈥� continues Butts. 鈥淐onnecting the different worlds that exist at 61传媒is incredibly important to becoming more sustainable. This type of interdepartmental, cross-facility, and student-staff work is essential.鈥�