The Food Recovery Network, established in 2017, was created to address two important challenges on campus: food insecurity and food waste. What began as an initiative to recover unused campus food has become a larger effort that reduces waste while supporting students facing food insecurity.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took over, the organization stopped all activities, temporarily ending its initiatives. Despite these challenges, the Food Recovery Network remained committed to restoring its operations. By working to become a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) and forming partnerships with on-campus food vendors, the network successfully relaunched its food recoveries this year.
With a desire to expand the organization’s impact on the campus community, Nikki Cocuzza, president of The Food Recovery Network, found a way to change the initiative to meet students’ needs.
“I was able to revamp [the organization] into something that I envisioned. Originally before instead of microwavable meals, [the volunteers] would just get the trays and bring [them] to, like, an off-campus food pantry. While I love the idea, I’d love to bring that back in, I wanted to revamp it into the individual meals because I just felt that was more suitable to the campus,” expressed Cocuzza.
Each week, dedicated student volunteers work to achieve the organization’s mission by leading food recoveries. Volunteers collect unused food at campus dining facilities that would otherwise go to waste, all while ensuring proper safety measures are in place.
“We provide all the supplies, the containers, the spoons, gloves, sanitizer, everything,” stated Cocuzza.
Volunteers follow a step-by-step process, passing containers of food and filling each with a meat or a side. After preparing the meals, they label them with allergy information to make sure students receive the correct meals and consume them safely. The meals are then delivered to the Red Hawk Pantry, where the Food Recovery Network partners to provide a designated space for students to pick them up.
Katie Griggs, a graduate student worker at the Red Hawk Pantry, felt this partnership was not only expanding the pantry’s efforts but also making a positive impact on the community.
“[These meals] gives students the opportunity to again have a pre-made meal, which they might not be able to have every day or at all,” stated Griggs. “So they’re able to, you know, come and take a meal every single week.”
The availability of a fresh, pre-made meal has become a valuable resource for students like Myriame Kaba. As an out-of-state student, Kaba faced significant challenges during her first two years at Montclair State, managing without a car to buy groceries and with no nearby family for support.
“I was really struggling to ask people around to bring me food,” expressed Kaba. “My mother was trying to find friends in New Jersey for me who [could] bring me food. I would have to take Ubers and everything.”
For many students, accessing consistent, nutritious meals is a daily challenge. A survey conducted at Montclair State between 2018 and 2022 revealed that 41.4% of students were food insecure. A recent United States Government Accountability Office study found nearly a quarter of college students struggle with food security, with some experiencing significant difficulties.
Dr. Lauren Dinour, a professor of nutrition and director of the Didactic Program, explained how food insecurity affects every aspect of student life.
“When we’re hungry, that’s all we can really think about, and so it becomes difficult to focus on the lecture or to focus on the paper that we have to write, or to study for an exam. But food insecurity can also affect mental health. It can affect physical health. It can affect sleep,” explained Dinour.
The Food Recovery Network’s initiatives are just one small step towards addressing food insecurity. While this issue cannot be resolved alone, it plays an important role in eliminating the concerns of where students will get their next meal.
“If you ran out of swipes and all of that and you haven’t been able to, like, you couldn’t get food on campus with your swipes or flex. They got the same thing [at the pantry] with the Food Recovery Network,” shared Kaba.
For Cocuzza, these efforts go beyond recovering food; it’s about helping a community of students overcome significant challenges and achieve success during their college experience.
“I may not be food insecure, but everyone around me may be suffering silently. And I recognize that the silence of suffering and the embarrassment factor that people worry about,” expressed Coccuza.
In addition to helping students, the organization works to minimize food waste on campus. Over the past seven years, it has recovered more than 10,000 pounds of food.
Since the start of the school year, the Food Recovery Network has partnered with NextGeneration Service Corps and expanded recovery services to add an extra day, providing more meals to students than ever before.
Through initiatives like these, students have access to a valuable resource during times of need, ensuring they have access to nutritious meals when they need it most.
“We can’t shy away from it. It’s a fact, [and] it’s a reality,” expressed Dinour. “So if we want students to be successful, in which of course we do in their academic endeavors, then we have to address some of these factors that are affecting them.”
Ava Scott is a junior at Montclair State University studying Journalism and Digital Media Studies and Business. Scott is an on-air personality and producer for Montclair Newslab and 90.3 WMSC Upper Montclair. She aspires to work for E! News as an entertainment reporter.
