Learning about NMU dining and the Food Recovery Network Chapter
MARQUETTE — The Northern Center for Lifelong Learning attended a luncheon at Northern Michigan University’s renovated dining hall, known as, “Northern Lights dining”.
They went to try some homemade food and learn about the Food Recovery Network chapter at NMU.
The dining hall has changed drastically form its looks to what they serve in the last year. NMU is trying to use more locally bought food from the surrounding areas to feed its students and faculty.
“We are really proud that we buy local, we all live here and we have great producers here in the local area,” said Associate Director of Dining at NMU, Paul Schoonveld. “We are also looking to continue and further expand that. We have formulated some tremendous relationships with those people.”
But not only has the food become more localized but a group known as the Food Recovery Network has started a chapter at NMU and it been going strong since the 2017-2018 school year.
Their goal is to help use the food that would be thrown away after the fact. Instead the group works with NMU dining services to get that food to places where it is needed.
“We know that we actually captured over one-thousand pounds of food in the 2017-18 year, which is pretty impactful and it goes all over the community,” explained Schoonveld. “It goes to places like the Salvation Army, the Jansen House and even the Warming Center. So the students are really the heros of this program.”
For more information about the Food Recovery Network you can click here.