Food waste is a recurring problem in America today. We are situated in the context of the climate crisis, an urgent and pressing matter in part caused by the human tendency to produce waste of all kinds.
As Thanksgiving approaches, the government shutdown that began on October 1st has threatened the SNAP benefits of millions of United States citizens, putting additional stress on a program that the current administration’s tax and spending bills have restricted.
The College is situated in Waterville, Maine: a city whose residents make up 32.9% of food stamp recipients in Kennebec County. The state of Maine as a whole has the highest rate of child food insecurity in New England.
Michael Lugo `27 feels that the College could be doing more to contribute to food donation programs in the area. He was shocked when he found out just how much good food was going to waste here at the College, explaining, “Last year, me and my friends, we were using spa swipes nonstop because we were hungry and on rugby and we needed food…at four o’clock, when they had lunch, we were like, ‘oh, sorry, it’s four, can we still get food?’ And they were like, ‘grab whatever you want because we’re going to throw it out.’”
This waste seemed entirely unnecessary to him. “I think it could be donated and redistributed to food banks or whatever is necessary. Like, the fact that this is just getting thrown out daily is a massive problem.”
The College has put various initiatives to reduce waste in place in the past. For example, in 2008, “trayless dining” was implemented, and the College removed trays from the dining halls to encourage people to take a more reasonable amount of food.
Another way that the College diverts some of its food waste is by composting food scraps. Within the dishwashing rooms of the dining halls, there are composting bins, into which leftover food scraps are scraped, as well as tea bags, coffee grounds, and the like.
However, there is one program that actively fights both food waste and hunger which the College has failed to maintain: the Food Recovery Network. According to the organization’s website, “Food Recovery Network unites 8,000+ college students, food suppliers, farmers, and local businesses across the U.S. in the fight against climate change and hunger by recovering surplus food from across the supply chain and donating it to local nonprofit organizations that feed people experiencing hunger.”
In 2016, by working with the Food Recovery Network, the College donated 903 pounds of food to the surrounding community. However, because the school’s partnership with the organization was centered around a club, it faded out of existence once the students who ran the club graduated.
The program was brought back again by another student, Michael Jimenez `23, who collaborated with the Joseph Family Spa to collect and redistribute the uneaten food at the end of each week. However, after his graduation, that initiative disappeared as well.
Lugo says, “if there was some sort of Colby-run thing, that would be awesome. I think when things are clubs, they’re going to end eventually, and it’s kind of, like, I feel like this is something more important than a club. People need to eat.”
Having lived in Waterville for years before attending the College, Lugo has experienced the impact that food insecurity has had on the community, making this issue stick out to him even more.
In response to the disruption of SNAP benefits, various on-campus clubs, such as the Colby College Student Government Association (SGA), the Colby Outing Club (COC), and the Woodsmen Team have brought food drives to the campus. These efforts highlight the importance of food in the current moment, and show how much students at the College care about food insecurity.
For all of its sustainability efforts and its commitment to improving its relationship with Waterville, it seems that the College might do well to consider building a lasting partnership with the Food Recovery Network, rather than leaving the fate of the College’s leftover food to chance.
~ Anna Izquierdo `29
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