Recover the 40%: A Letter to American Universities

Universities across the country host dozens of events on their campuses each year. Many of these events are catered and provide food for those who attend. I’ve seen a few of these events at my own university give food out for free to students and staff after the event was over, however I did not see enough of this for it to be called a solution to the problem of excess food left over at events. I obviously do not know what the procedure is for handling excess food at these events, however I would like to propose an solution that I think would aid universities across America in a multitude of ways.

First off, I’d like to introduce you to a company called Copia. The purpose of the company is simple: connect businesses of all sizes with soup kitchens and pantries so that left over food from events does not go to waste. The company works through an app; the user requests a predetermined time for a food pickup, Copia sends refrigerated trucks to the site to gather the food, and those trucks then deliver the food to a chosen pantry. Copia makes it clear that food, whether it be canned goods or sandwiches at a business conference, is best recovered and distributed those who need it.

The reason that I propose this solution to you is that it is beneficial to the university’s community, the neighborhood around the university, and the global populace. Those who hold events at universities will have peace of mind knowing that whatever food they have catered to the event will be picked up and delivered to those who need it. This not only allows the university to give back to the community, but also bolsters the image a university has in its surrounding community as well as the collegiate community. If we were to implement this plan we could help make progress in fighting a, well frankly, easily solvable global issue. In America alone, roughly 40% of food produced goes untouched and uneaten; and about 1 in 8 Americans fails to have a steady source of food. If we recover just a third of this 40% we can make a huge dent in the number of food insecure households presently in the United States. I believe it is our responsibility to do what we can to help fight the hunger issue in our communities and I believe this is a feasible way to do just that. In addition, recovering wasted food can reduce greenhouse gas emissions tremendously. As that 40% of food I mentioned decomposes, it releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributes greatly to the issue of global warming. By recovering the excess food at events we can reduce hunger as well as impede the progress of global warming. Financially, this plan gives university event coordinators more bang for their buck. Instead of throwing away food and money, coordinators can provide food for their events as well as use the excess food from their events to feed those who can’t feed themselves. The saved funds can go toward the organization of future plans or whatever other needs a university must tend to.

If a plan is already in place to handle the excess food at events around a universities campus, that’s great and I would love to learn what kind of initiatives are already in action. However, if this plan involves simply throwing away tons of food each year, I believe it is our responsibility to come up with a new plan that better discards of this left over food. If options are available to prevent the further waste of food, it is our duty to grasp those opportunities and improve our communities.