Project Description: 

Under the UCR Basic Needs Department is focused on reducing corporate food waste, increasing access to food, and providing awareness of sustainable food practices. This will be demonstrated through the official establishment of a Food Recovery Network chapter on campus.

Establishing this chapter will provide the opportunity to partner with local grocery stores to recover food that would otherwise go to waste. Items collected during recovery efforts will be provided to the campus R’ Pantry which will directly re-distribute the items to students experiencing food insecurity. Data collected from each food recovery will be utilized to educate the UCR community about food waste, food recovery, and promote sustainable food procurement financially and environmentally. Outreach efforts will also include advocating use of available resources on campus such as CalFresh, R Garden, and food banks off campus through both in-person and online methods. This can include social media platforms, tabling, workshops, collaborations, and more.