On Cornell's campus, our team began recovering food from Becker House Dining Hall in Spring 2014. Surplus meals from the dining hall are donated to the Friendship Donation Network, where they are redistributed to pantries all over the county.
The national organization was founded in 2011 by Ben Simon, then a Maryland University student, who sought to fight waste and feed people by donating dining hall leftovers to his local food pantry. Since then, the organization has grown to more than 198 college campuses, and has donated over 1.76 million pounds of food.
ABOUT OUR CHAPTER
We recover at four dining halls on campus five times per week: Becker House (Monday), Cook House (Thursday), Okenshields (Friday), and Robert Purcell Marketplace Eatery (Monday and Thursday). Two to five volunteers go into the dining hall as it is about to close and package the food. The food is then picked up by a driver, who delivers it to Friendship Donation Network in Downtown Ithaca.
In addition to dining halls, we also recover food from other events on Cornell's campus as well as local farms (called gleaning). We also host other events focused on food waste, food justice, and food insecurity on campus, such as documentary screenings and speaker events.
We could not do any of this without the help of our large general body as well as volunteers from other organizations at Cornell including Alpha Phi Omega (APO), Phi Delta Epsilon (PhiDE), and the Pre-Professional Associaton Towards Careers in Health (PATCH). General body members are required to do one recovery per cycle and there are three cycles per semester. Any G-Body member who has been on at least one recovery can apply to be on the Officer Board. O-Board members lead two recoveries per cycle. We have G-Body and O-Board meetings each once a month and open E-Board meetings once a week.
If you are passionate about reducing food waste and fighting food insecurity in Tompkins County, join us!
Every Thursday at 6:30 pm
Online this semester
All are welcome to join E-Board members during meetings- contact us for the Zoom link. We love getting to know our members!
Spring ClubFest
2/13 9-12 pm & 2/14 2-5 pm
Come meet our Eboard and learn how to get more involved with our organization. Access through CampusGroups.
Information/Training Sessions
2/15 and 2/16 5:30 pm
Learn a little bit about FRN and get training about food safety and recovery practices. Zoom link: https://cornell.zoom.us/j/97378216498?pwd=cWVWYlpBNXhlSU80alpTT3g0TitPdz09
Next G-Body Meeting
2/17 5:30 pm
Come learn about our organization, food insecurity during COVID-19, and creative solutions to combat food waste! Zoom link: https://cornell.zoom.us/j/97378216498?pwd=cWVWYlpBNXhlSU80alpTT3g0TitPdz09
Click on the Blue to apply!
Recovery Officer Application - Accepting Applications!
Recovery Officers are responsible for leading our dining hall recoveries. As a Recovery Officer, you will be actively managing and teaching your volunteers while directing your recovery to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Recovery Officers are required to participate in 1 training recovery per semester, lead 2 recoveries per cycle, and attend monthly meetings with other FRN officers.
Preferred Qualifications (not required): Has attended at least 1-2 recoveries during time in FRN
Training will occur prior to your first solo recovery (within the limits of the requirements stated above), so we encourage everybody with the necessary qualifications to apply even if you do not feel completely comfortable leading a dining hall recovery yet.
FDN accomplishes its mission through an extensive network of volunteers who pick up donations of mostly perishable surplus food and deliver them to community pantries and programs. Combined, the pantries and programs serve over 2,100 people weekly.
Local Farms
Tompkins County, NY
We glean (collect produce at the end of the season that is not economically viable to harvest) from several farms in the area surrounding Ithaca! In the past, we have worked with Indian Creek Farms, Grisamore Farms, Dilmun Hill, and several others.
Logistical Coordinator
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Involvement on Campus:
Alpha Phi Omega
Club water polo
Director of Dining Relations
Hometown: Carmel, NY
Major: Biology
Involvement on Campus:
PATCH
Undergraduate Research
Sarah Coupal
Secretary
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Major: Nutritional Sciences
Involvement on Campus:
Cornell Running Club
Undergraduate Research in Nutrition
Alan Aytbaev
Treasurer
Hometown: Fairfield, CT
Major: Computer Science and Philosophy
Involvement on Campus:
Cornell Tradition
Association of Computer Science Undergraduates
Alpha Phi Omega
Johanna Keigler
Director of Community Outreach
Hometown: Wellesley, MA
Major: Plant Science
Involvement on Campus:
Mazourek Plant Breeding Lab
Creme de Cornell writer
Pi Beta Phi fraternity for women
Julia Caldropoli
Director of Volunteers
Hometown: Irvington, NY
Major: Human Biology, Health, and Society
Involvement on Campus:
Undergraduate Research in Nutrition
Phi Delta Epsilon
Alpha Phi Omega
Anna Sprouse
Director of Campus Outreach
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Major: Food Science
Involvement on campus:
Yamati
The Steminist Movement
Jenny Suk
Director of Communications
Hometown: Asheville, NC
Major: Human Development
Involvement on campus:
Alpha Iota Gamma
Little Thinkers Lab
CHEM 2070 Teaching Assistant