Pictured Above: Peter Krauss, left, and Samantha Harris holding collected food after a recovery.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Adams
By Annalise Anderson
For members of the Food Recovery club, leftovers are the best part of every meal.
As a chapter of national student-led organization Food Recovery Network, the service-oriented club works to reduce food waste and fight food insecurity in the St. Petersburg community by recovering cooked but unserved food from The Nest dining hall and delivering it to CASA domestic abuse shelter.
The club is also working to partner with other local restaurants to increase its impact, and is investing more time in its outreach to advocate for awareness of food insecurity issues.
Dora Gladstein, a junior psychology major at USF St. Petersburg, joined the club in spring 2019 and became its vice president that fall. Gladstein said she was looking for a way to get involved on campus that was more than just a fun extracurricular.
“I joined the club because I was looking for opportunities to get connected on campus and meet new people, while also doing something meaningful for the community,” Gladstein said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “I was raised in a way that strongly advocated against food waste, and I felt that joining the food recovery club was a great way to live my morals.”
Elizabeth “Skyler” Adams, a junior health sciences major at USF St. Petersburg, joined the club in 2018 and became its president at the end of her second semester in 2019. Adams said she joined the club to spend her time “doing something that was worthwhile and would help others.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the club hosted food recoveries every weeknight, where members were scheduled to help pack and deliver food. Now, club partners at The Nest package the food and only one club member delivers it to the shelter. Adams hopes to expand member engagement with the initiation of other local restaurant partnerships.
While the club hosted a regional summit for Food Recovery Network in spring 2019, it does not regularly host any of its own events. However, it participates in campus events like Greenfest and Earth Week and works closely with other USF organizations such as Student Green Energy Fund, Clean Energy Resource Center, Student Environmental Awareness Society and the Garden Club.
In 2019, the club’s executive board traveled to Philadelphia for the Food Recovery Network national conference.
“(We) got to learn more about how to be an effective club and explore an amazing city,” Adams said. “Plus, it was an amazing bonding experience for the whole team.”
Adams said that the club has impacted her college experience in “many wonderful ways” and has provided her with leadership, public speaking and event planning skills.
“FRC is a really great way to make friends and form wonderful connections with people both inside and outside of campus,” Adams said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “I have met some of my closest friends through Food Recovery and made so many amazing connections that I wouldn’t (otherwise) have afterward.”
Gladstein said that her experience with the club has inspired her to get involved on campus and will leave her with fond memories after graduation.
“My favorite part of being in the club is that our actions are worthwhile in so many ways,” Gladstein said. “We support environmental sustainability because less food wasted is less food collecting in landfills, we support humanitarian efforts by feeding those that are hungry, and we support community bonding through the communal feeling of doing something meaningful together.”
Adams encourages students interested in joining the Food Recovery club to reach out and visit a meeting.
“This club is entirely what you make of it and it can be as big or as small of a time commitment as you want it to be,” Adams said. “You can help out occasionally or apply for a leadership position. Also, reaching out or coming to a meeting is not a commitment, feel free to drop by and check it out and see if you like it!”
Find the Food Recovery Club on PeteSync and Instagram. Those interested in joining can email Adams at esa1@usf.edu.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Adams
