Students initiate food recovery on campus

MARQUETTE — A small group of students at NMU is working to make a long–lasting impact in the community by way of feeding hungry people.

Food insecurity is defined by not having the resources or ability to gain food. In the Upper Peninsula it is very common to lack the resources of food. That is why the area is called a food desert.

“A lot of communities don’t have access to local or healthy food. A lot of people are 1-10 miles away from a grocery store, so what we intend to do is take all of the food waste from our cafeteria and give it to the community. It’s such an easy step and we want to be a part of that,” said Isabelle Tabares, Vice-President of NMU’s Food Recovery Chapter.

The Food Recovery Network is a national organization that helps to reduce the wasting of food and gives the unused food to places that could use it.

Here in Marquette, NMU students are working to recover food from the college cafeteria in order to give it to the Room at the Inn Warming Center in coordination with the Food Recovery Network.

“One of the best things that you can do is just connect. I mean, we have too many resources here that we don’t need and there are people who don’t have enough, so it’s about balancing out that inequality by taking that not only do they have enough but we have too much. So, that was an easy step that the Food Recovery Network has already set up and knows how to do really well,” shared Abigail Austin, Recovery Coordinator.

They hope to expand their efforts to other places as well. Recoveries are a commitment so the student group is asking for volunteers in the community who are willing to help.

So far, they have been able to complete one recovery with another this week, but next semester hopes are to complete three recoveries a week which requires at least 48 volunteers.

If you would like to know more about their efforts look to their Facebook page as well as the website for the Food Recovery Network Organization.