Campus Kitchen students and staff present at the Food Waste & Hunger Summit

Stacey Rusterholz, Amy Mullen, Melanie Seidman, Abbey Riesett, and Daniel Schneider represented Elon at the Food Waste and Hunger Summit.[/caption]​More than 300 student leaders, staff, community partners, and experts from around the country arrived at University of Georgia over the weekend of April 18-19, 2015, for the annual Food Waste and Hunger Summit.

The summit, hosted by The Campus Kitchens Project and the Food Recovery Network, convened student leaders who are pioneering solutions to food insecurity and food waste. The Campus Kitchens Project and Food Recovery Network partner with colleges and universities across the country to create student chapters and encourage students to join the fight in hunger relief in their communities.

Students do this by recovering food, harvesting gardens, gleaning farms, and providing nutrition education programs, as well as preparing and delivering meals to community partners.

The Elon University Campus Kitchen Project students and staff presented “Linking Farm, Campus, and Community,” which focused on their strong partnership with the Loy Farm through the Center for Environmental Studies, in addition to nutrition programs given in the Alamance County community.

The Campus Kitchen at Elon University is a grant recipient of the CoBank Foundation and has been able to strengthen its relationship with Loy Farm and the Alamance County community as a result. Loy Farm is utilized as an instructional tool by a variety of students and faculty, but the farm also provides fresh produce to Campus Kitchen at Elon University. The produce is incorporated into 240 meals each week that are delivered on Wednesdays to Allied Churches of Alamance County, Graham Recreation Center, and the John Roberts Kernodle Senior Center.

This partnership is essential to the success of Campus Kitchen and to making meals healthy and nutritious for community members. Campus Kitchen also serves the community by doing monthly presentations on senior nutrition; the program focuses on the importance of certain nutrients, teaching MyPlate, limiting sugar intake, etc. Additionally, Campus Kitchen students just piloted their first educational session for high school students about the importance of sustainable agriculture, local food systems and nutrition.

The 300+ students, staff, faculty, and community partners who attended the Food Waste and Hunger Summit.[/caption]“It was great to discuss our strengths and challenges with other Campus Kitchen and Food Recovery Network chapters around the nation,” said Abbey Riesett ’15, Elon’s Campus Kitchen coordinator. “Most of us are facing or have faced the same operational challenges at some point. Sharing how we overcame those challenges and the various beyond the meal projects we each are working on, can help us create a more sustainable solution to end hunger together.

“As the keynote speaker Doug Rauch (Founder and President of Daily Table) emphasized, it is vital to the success of your organization and the success of others to embrace and share your failures.”

Daniel Schneider ‘16, one of the Farm and Garden Coordinators said his experience at the Food Waste & Hunger Summit was invaluable to understanding the national efforts students are making to improve sustainability in their communities.

“The keynote speakers, projects by the students, and workshops at the conference have inspired me to explore new ways for the Elon Chapter of Campus Kitchen to improve our program and expand our efforts to reduce hunger in Alamance County,” he said.

To learn more about Campus Kitchen or how to get involved visit the website or email campuskitchen@elon.edu.