Most weeknights, when academic buildings close and students return to their dorm or off-campus housing, a group gathers outside the university’s cafeteria. Devoted to reducing food waste while serving those in need, they enter the Reef and collect the unserved food made that day.
Pounds of pasta and rice, beans and tofu are sealed up in reusable containers, packed in cars and given to CASA, Community Action Stops Abuse. The organization then distributes the food to recent survivors of domestic abuse and their children.
Approximately 1,200 pounds of food have been donated this semester alone.
“That is 1,200 pounds of food that didn’t go into a landfill and produce methane, a major source for climate change, and instead went to someone who is hungry and making their life better,” said Elizabeth Adams, a sophomore in health sciences and president of the food recovery club on campus.
The food recovery club, whose motto is “There is so much we can do to make a difference and every small act counts,” is one of several groups and initiatives at the university devoted to improving lives and the environment through food.
From donating to those in need to growing sustainably, reducing waste to helping the hungry, USF St. Petersburg and its student body is using food – something we all have in common – to enrich our community.
“I am continually impressed by the leadership of our students on campus and in the St. Petersburg community,” said Martin Tadlock, Regional Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg. “Their commitment to creating a more sustainable world while lifting up their community is unwavering and provides a great example for others to follow.”
Local Food and Urban Agriculture Grow in Downtown St. Petersburg
Three years ago, a quarter acre plot of land on the outskirts of campus was nothing more than a barren dirt patch. It has since been transformed into a food forest, sprouting more than 50 different edible and medicinal plants, from herbs and spices to bananas and sweet potatoes.
A brick path meanders around the vibrant garden. A solar panel powers a burbling pond. In the middle is a gazebo, where students from the garden club meet each week before spreading out to cultivate the ground and maintain the crops. Once plants are ready to harvest, those who work the food forest get to bring home the fruits of their labor.
“We like to think of it more as urban agriculture than just a simple garden,” said Caryn Crabb, president of the student-run club. “And it teaches us a lot about the natural environment and about community.”
Recently, the forest has become so productive that the students involved can’t consume all that is growing. So the club has developed a partnership with Rawk Star Cafe, a vegan restaurant in town, to provide them with Moringa, a tree from the Himalayas that is considered a superfood. Used medicinally all over the world, Moringa has 18 essential amino acids and can be used in salads and smoothies or dried out and used as a protein powder.
“We fill up a five-gallon bucket every Wednesday and bring that to them. We hope to continue to increase the food produced here so we can give even more local, organic and sustainable food to the community,” said Crabb.
While they drop off the Moringa, the students don’t leave empty handed. In return, they pick up food waste from Rawk Star Cafe, as well as from the restaurant La V Vietnamese Fusion and the Ronald McDonald House. That waste, which totals 150 pounds a week, is composted by the club until it becomes a nutrient-rich soil that goes back into the food forest to grow future crops.
“What we have here is a sustainable closed loop system, where local food waste is collected and composted, used as soil to grow food that feeds students and the community, with any additional waste going back to compost and starting the cycle over again,” said Crabb.
Eliminating Food Waste and Reducing Carbon Emissions by Digestion
One way to reduce food waste is to give that which isn’t used to others. Another is to compost scraps and items not eaten. A third way was installed on campus by the Student Green Energy Fund earlier this year.
Called the ORCA system, it is a biodigester that uses oxygen, water and microorganisms that flourish in cold water to break down foods naturally, from fruits and breads to eggs and chicken bones. The system is able to break down as much as 15 pounds of food an hour. So far, it has diverted more than 3,000 pounds of the university’s food waste from landfills.
USF St. Petersburg is the first university in Florida with this technology.
Here is how it works: food waste from the university’s cafeteria are collected and loaded into the ORCA unit, which will reside in the dishwashing area of the cafeteria. The ORCA breaks down the food waste into smaller and smaller pieces until it is eventually transformed into a liquid effluent. The effluent – composed largely of water with broken down fats, proteins and minerals – is then safely filtered through a screen and discharged through the existing plumbing infrastructure and into the sanitary sewer system.
Unlike other food waste biodigesting systems, the microorganisms in the ORCA thrive in cold water, saving both energy and money with no need to heat water.
“Every place that makes and prepares food obviously throws some of its items away, which in turn becomes a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Emma Jacobs, a junior at USF St. Petersburg and president of the student green energy fund, which purchased the system. “The ORCA will decrease the amount of food waste at the university while also reducing our carbon footprint.”
According to the United Nations (U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization, 30 percent of food is wasted globally across the supply chain, ending up largely in landfills where it decomposes slowly and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide.
Food waste contributes up to eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The U.N. has stated if food waste was a country, it would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet.
Fighting Food Insecurity through Support-a-Bull
Food waste is a major environmental issue that can largely go unnoticed and unaddressed. Food insecurity can also largely be unobserved, especially in a college environment.
Studies paint a troubling picture of food insecurity, a lack of consistent access to foods for an active and healthy life, on college campuses. Up to half of all undergrad students experience food insecurity, according to a 2017 study. Last year, researchers found that nearly 30 percent of college students are hungry nationwide.
Enter the Support-A-Bull Market. The campus food pantry, which launched this year, grew out of a student government concern about the impact food insecurity was having on the student body.
The market provides a space for the collection and distribution of goods, from canned
foods to pastas – even toiletries such as toothpaste and deodorant. In essence, it
will provide emergency food assistance to all active students living on or off campus
to help them succeed in their studies.
“Both resident and commuter students are affected by food insecurity,” said Noah Miller,
a psychology major who worked on the proposal that became the market. “We want to
bring this problem to light on campus and show that we have a space for these students
to get food, no matter what.”
The pantry is expected to provide benefits for students such as better nutrition and mental health as well as improved focus in class and higher GPAs. It is also hoped for that it will help raise awareness about food insecurity on campus and in the community, and encourage students to get involved in this issue.
During a fund drive last spring, the community helped raise more than $1,250 to make the pantry a reality. Money raised through a current fund drive will help extend the hours of operation for the pantry and provide even healthier food options and essential items that can sustain students as they attain their educational goals.