Did you know that over 20%, or at least 1 in 5, of all children in the USA live in poverty? Don’t even get me started about the poor, starving people in third world countries in Africa, South Asia, and South America. Clearly, there are children less fortunate than others who are suffering from hunger and have no voice for themselves. Yet, we can do so much more. So much more. Take action! Don’t waste food!

This project attempts to tackle the cumbersome issues inherent with food waste management in our campus dining halls. Food waste is an enormous contributor to the municipal waste stream, and its generation has significant immediate and long-term economic as well as environmental consequences that many Americans are oblivious to. Food waste is of particular interest to university administrators because nationally the cost of waste disposal has skyrocketed in recent years, and will likely only continue to increase. Additionally, there is a trend amongst universities towards reducing dining hall waste. If the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wants to maintain its role as a leader in sustainability practices it will be necessary for our institution to consider our waste reducing options.

Our beautiful planet can provide enough food for every person to have 4600 calories a day.  For children, the average calorie intake per day is only 1600 minimum. And yet, here in the greatest country on Earth, we have an obesity epidemic. It is absolutely criminal that people in this country can get obese while children all around us starve to death daily. Wake up! What you can do to help people matters so much. Take only what you need, or give away your excess, or just save your leftovers for later. Take this food for thought, and turn it into actions that give food for others.