JMU food is good. Good
enough to be ranked #5 in the Princeton Review. Staff and students eat a lot of
it, too.
But what happens
when there’s too much food to be consumed before it goes bad? Dining Services
is one step ahead of those of us wondering this exact question- they have
partnered with the Food Donation Connection to create an initiative to “let
nothing be wasted.”
This
initiative is just over a year old, and already 8,500 pounds of prepared food
have been donated to the Salvation Army’s Hope for Homeless shelter located
here in Harrisonburg.
This
“Let Nothing Be Wasted” initiative came about after a pilot program in 2011
where JMU Dining Services partnered with the Food Donation Connection (FDC) with
the common goal of donating prepared, unserved, wholesome food to those in need
in the community.
“This
program has a direct, meaningful impact to those in the area who suffer from
homelessness or food insecurity issues,” JMU Dining Services assistant food
service director Dwight Campbell said.
The
program officially began at several dining locations at JMU in March 2011.
“Through June that
year, we donated more than 3,000 pounds of food, which is the equivalent to
feeding 635 people for a day or a family of 4 for 159 days,” JMU Dining
Services marketing manager Angela Ritchie said. “According to a USDA study, the
average amount of food consumed per person per day is 4.7 pounds.”
“The
community realizes a direct benefit from the donations,” Campbell said.
With the
alternative to food donation programs being sending food waste to landfills,
which would harm the community, there is more reason to be involved to better
our community and its environmentally friendly practices when it comes to food.
“While we strive
to be as efficient as possible, there is always room for improvement in any
operation,” Campbell said. “The donation program actually helps us see where
common types of food are overproduced allowing the kitchens to modify their
production levels, directly minimizing excess food production.”
All dining
locations on campus have been participating in this program as of fall 2011.
The amount of food donated varies each week, with some locations sometimes
having no food to donate while others have many foods to donate.
“I’ve always
wondered what happened to the food we didn’t eat, and I’m so glad that this
initiative exists and is working to do something good for JMU and for
Harrisonburg too,” sophomore psychology student Kenleigh Prendergast said.
There is a set
process in place for how to manage the food that is donated.
“The food is
inventoried, bagged, labeled, and frozen on campus and then picked up by the
Salvation Army, through an agreement with FDC,” Ritchie said.
While the
Salvation Army is the main recipient of the surplus food from JMU, food that
goes beyond what they can use is passed on to other area service agencies
involved in the FDC program.
This program, and
the Food Donation Connection organization that provides it, goes beyond the
contributions of JMU.
The FDC works with
food service companies across the country to provide a socially responsible alternative
to discarding wholesome food. It was founded in 1992, a year that many of JMU’s
students were born, and has coordinated the donation of more than 164 million
pounds of quality prepared food since then.
So, rest assured,
JMU community, that food that you can’t bear to eat at the dining locations
will end up feeding those who need it in the community around us. Overproduction
of food happens, but “Let Nothing Be Wasted” really is working hard to save
whatever can be saved to eliminate waste and feed our community.
