On Oct. 14, Willamette University’s Food Recovery Network collected the food discarded from students’ plates and weighed the results: 219 pounds of food wasted.
It was one of several similar events the network conducts at the university to demonstrate how much food is thrown in the trash. The Willamette University chapter is part of the national nonprofit Food Recovery Network, an organization that helps colleges recover surplus unsold food from their campuses that would otherwise go to waste and deliver it to hungry Americans.
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To date, the Willamette chapter has donated more than 14,000 pounds of leftovers to the Union Gospel Mission and Women at the Well Grace House, organizations combating homelessness and hunger in Salem.
The university has also created Trayless Tuesday, which eliminates trays for the day and has been shown to reduce the amount of food waste at the end of the meal.
– Source: Iris Dowd, president of Willamette University’s Food Recovery Network
