College Launches Campus Food Recovery Program

In early November, as the effects of the federal government shutdown and its impact on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) challenged communities across the country, staff and faculty at Washington College banded together to launch a pilot food recovery project providing fresh, prepared meals to anyone on campus facing food insecurity.

AVI Dining Hall staff packaged fresh, leftover lunch meals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the rest of the fall semester and placed them in a refrigerator in George’s Free General Store—a campus pantry located in Hodson Hall available 24/7 for any student, staff, or faculty member, no questions asked. They rarely had to dispose of leftovers when stocking new meals, and the few meals that were not taken were composted in the Campus Garden.

“We recognize that there are some within our own College are not immune to the loss of SNAP, including students, and that they could benefit from the option of grabbing a packaged meal at George’s Free Store,” said Valerie Imbruce, Lammot du Pont Copeland Director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society (CES).  

The recovery project is a collaborative effort coordinated by Laura Chamberlin, associate director for civic engagement at CES, who works with the regional Upper Shore Food and Farm Council, and supported by the campus’s Hunger and Homelessness Committee and Nicolle Moaney, director of student intercultural affairs.  

“I’m excited that we’re able to bring this initiative to our campus community, to help supplement the types of support we offer,” said Moaney. “By providing fresh meals, we help ensure that members of our community have access to nutritious foods, on their time.”  

Though AVI Dining Services manages portion sizes in planning for meals, they still see a manageable surplus of food per lunch service. Multiplied across the three recovery days, this offers a meaningful contribution. The effort also serves as a solution for several groups on campus who have been searching for ways to reduce food waste on a more daily basis. 

The organizers are committed to the program’s sustainability, hoping it can continue indefinitely. Meals are discarded after 48 hours to ensure freshness and safety, with fresh meals replacing them.  

—Dominique Ellis-Falcon