The Food Recovery Program aims to tackle food waste and food insecurity by recovering excess ingredients that would otherwise get thrown away from the Hospitality Institute programs and turning them into meals for students at the Stock Up pantry. Although some sustainability initiates were in place before the project officially started in August 2023, a 3-year partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA was created to systematically track recovered food and expand the capacity of the initiatives. To date, the Food Recovery Program has recorded over 23,000 lbs of waste that has been diverted from the landfill through food recovery and composting, and has donated over 8000 meals to students.
In 2024, the Hospitality Institute partnered with the Food Recovery Network (FRN), a national coalition of colleges and businesses fighting food waste, in a pilot program to introduce community colleges to food recovery efforts. The partnership introduced food recovery to the Montco community by inviting students and employees to volunteer to support the effort as part of a FRN chapter. Since then, the Hospitality Institute has hired student workers and is piloting an internship program to provide additional support for the project. Additionally, the project has partnered with other departments on campus to support service-learning opportunities and partners with on-campus vendors and local food banks.
How to get Involved
The Montco FRN chapter is looking for volunteers and student leadership.
To inquire about leadership, email [email protected].
Sign-Up to Volunteer:
- Fill out interest form to get connected with network
- Complete basic food safety training and email completion certification to [email protected].
- Sign-up
- Meet at the front doors of the Hospitality Institute on volunteer days
- Be sure to wear long pants, close-toed shoes & bring a hair tie for long hair
