Frostburg’s Own Food Recovery Network

Food waste is a serious problem in this country. According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States wasted an estimated 133 billion pounds of food in 2010. This is equivalent to approximately 161 Billion U.S. dollars. The amount of food wasted in the U.S. is underestimated. A multitude of companies and organizations have been started in order to alleviate this problem. Many nationally, such as Sustainable America Food Rescue, and locally, that being Frostburg State’s own Food Recovery Network. Frostburg State’s Food Recovery Network has done some great work in recent years delivering thousands of pounds of would be wasted food to local food banks across the region. The Bottom Line had the chance to interview Dylan Redman, the now standing president of Frostburg State’s Food Recovery Network chapter. Dylan had great things to say about the history and success of the program, and how the student body can join in order expand their ranks.

The Food Recovery Network was started in the Spring of 2016, by Christian Ratliff and eight other various students as an outreach project for Tracy Edwards IDIS 155 Sustainability class. These students first began delivering from Chartwells [Chesapeake Cafeteria] to the Union Rescue Mission in Cumberland once per week during the evenings. After some time, this group began to pick up from the Lane center as well. Issues arose from delivering to the Union Rescue Mission, such as a lack of volunteers and uncooperative closing hours, in response to this the Food Recovery Network began partnering with the Western Maryland Food Bank also located in Cumberland. At this period in time, Dylan became the acting president of Frostburg’s Food Recovery Network chapter after being instructed by the past president, Christian Ratliff, on why Frostburg State and the greater community needs this program. The Western Maryland Food bank is now able to come directly to the Lane Center in order to pick up the food donations.

One of the forerunners to this organization, the Sustainability Awareness Society, was a catalyst for the creation of the Food Recovery Network. Dylan had this to say: “They educate themselves about the organization a lot at the majors fair and other events. They are always very willing to collaborate with us and work together. Any organization related to Sustainability is very open with us, we work together really well.” Dylan went on to say that Frostburg State’s Geography Department has been a massive help to the creation of the organization, and specifically with the help of Tracy Edwards, David Glenn, and Adam Kenny.

The Food Recovery Network has achieved some great goals. They have surpassed saving 1,000 pounds of food every semester since its start in the spring semester of 2016, over 3,000 pounds of food has been recovered, excluding the current one. This is because of Chartwells improvements on overproduction, resources and waste. Due to these improvements, there is not as much food that is able to be recovered. Because of this, the Food Recovery Network plans on getting involved on more events on campus, including ‘Waste Wednesdays’ in which during lunch hour the Food Recovery Network staff will demonstrate the amount of food wasted. Dylan added, “small stuff like that where we can participate without having to do recoveries.” Another success of the program was the expansion of recoveries to the Lane Center. Dylan had this to say, “It was for at least a year and a half just pick ups from Chesapeake on Wednesdays by the food bank, and then the recovery network delivers on Fridays from the Lane Center to the food bank. But, now on Wednesdays when the food bank comes through the area to pick up they also stop at the Lane Center and we have someone here for them too.” Not all of the Lane Center participates with the Food Recovery Networks efforts though. Some of the booths in the Lane Center are privately owned, such as Moe’s Southwest Grill and the Lane Center’s sushi booth. This is because these organizations must agree that they wish to have their food recovered and also have food that is able to be recovered. “We can’t do them all yet just because it’s not really safe at this point,” Dylan added.

The Bottom Line then went on to ask about the actual physical process of food recovery. Dylan answered, “on Wednesday mornings, the dining hall makes sure that the food is all prepped and safe to recover, since it is in their hands. We agree that our part is to makes sure that the food is recovered and gets to the food bank. We work really close with Chartwells [Chesapeake Cafeteria]. On Wednesday morning, we have a volunteer from the Food Recovery Network go to the dining hall and go into the kitchens and says, ‘Hey, I’m here’ and a member of the staff will lead them to the freezer or fridge that the food is in. They will take it out and they will weigh it and write down what the labels are. The dining hall makes sure that the labels are on all the packages of what’s in it as well as the ingredients and recipes. I take a picture of that and record it for whenever I do recovery logs. The food banks comes, loads it onto the truck, and then there gone.” Dylan went on to say how the process of food recovery in the Lane Center can be more complicated then the process that takes places at Chesapeake, “we have to have a volunteer who can drive, preferably one who has a certification to drive an FSU vehicle. They have to pick up the vehicle, go down to the Lane Center, park behind, and get in and communicate that they are with the Food Recovery Network. Usually I am there every Friday, so I will help pack up little bits here and there. They can’t pack up everything up right away because some students still might want to buy that [food]. They get everything packed up and recorded, same thing as from Chesapeake. Then, I take it down to the food bank.” The food recovery process is fairly straightforward, and does not take up too much time.

The program wishes to see more student involvement on campus. As of now, the program is lacking in numbers, and is open to accepting new volunteers. Dylan had this to say about his services in the Food Recovery Network, “it’s fairly convenient and fulfilling. That’s how I explain it to people when they ask me. It isn’t really a big chunk of your day or month. If you a busy person who wants to give back to your community, it’s a great way to do that.” When the Food Recovery Network was delivering to the Union Rescue Mission in Cumberland, a student came back to campus in tears from the interactions she had with a woman she was delivering the food too. Until the organization can receive more attention from the student body and the administration, Dylan believes that they have accomplished all that they can.