The Food Waste & Hunger Summit: Continue the Momentum
Many of you probably left the UFWH Summit reenergized, inspired and ready to go back to your campuses to tackle the complex issue of hunger in your communities and throughout the world. No doubt, many of you are also still wanting to learn even more. If you are interested in continuing the amazing conversations that took place at UFWH, consider attending the Food Waste & Hunger Summit on April 16-17 at the University of Arkansas, hosted by The Campus Kitchens Project.
Each spring, The Campus Kitchens Project hosts the Summit that brings together leading national nonprofit organizations and engaged students who are working to fight food waste and hunger, for a packed weekend of learning about advocacy, service and leadership. The Summit provides a forum to learn from experts in the fields of social justice, social enterprise, public health, non-profit management and related fields in addition to the opportunity to share best practices. This year, you will be able to hear from Secretary Tom Vilsack from the USDA, LA Kitchen founder, Robert Egger, and many other representatives from the EPA, USAID and other innovative non-profits all working to combat hunger and food waste.
Registration is now open for the 2016 Food Waste & Hunger Summit, which will be held on April 16-17 in Fayetteville, AR at the University of Arkansas. Please register here. You can find out more about the 2016 Food Waste & Hunger Summit here.
Start a Campus Kitchen: Continue to Build the Movement
If you are interested in taking what you have learned at the UFWH Summit and taking action, consider starting a Campus Kitchen at your school. As UFWH leaders on your campus, you have made a commitment to making food security a priority on your campus. The Campus Kitchens Project provides a proven model to take your commitment to the next level. The results are clear: one of the best steps you can take to position yourself as a leader in addressing food insecurity and sustainability is to start a Campus Kitchen.
Since 2001, the Campus Kitchens Project has creatively used leftover food, idle cafeterias, and energetic student volunteers in America’s fight against hunger. At each Campus Kitchen across the country, student leaders recover food that would have gone to waste and put university dining halls to use after hours to create meals that will feed those struggling with food insecurity in their community. This year, on 51 campuses, CKP prevented the waste of 969,093 pounds of food while preparing 309,283 balanced meals for hungry Americans. We recruited 23,078 volunteers for our efforts, who dedicated 74,953 service hours and reached 15,310 clients.
Each Campus Kitchen is not only committed to ending hunger at the surface level but also addressing underlying root causes of hunger through using “food as a tool” to develop innovative community programs that break the cycle of hunger and poverty for good.
A strong Campus Kitchen relies on a foundation of support from students, staff, dining service providers and community members. This spring we also have a number of $5,000 launch grants available for colleges and universities to start a Campus Kitchen. Will you be one of them?
To learn more, please contact Matt Schnarr at mschnarr@campuskitchens.org.