UBCO Leftovers Club tackling food waste and student hunger

According to a research study conducted by the National Zero Waste Council in 2017, 63% of the food that Canadians throw away could have been eaten.

For the nation as a whole, it amounts to almost 2.2 million tonnes of edible food wasted annually – costing Canadians over an estimated $17 billion a year. Another study shows that more than half of all food produced in Canada is wasted.

Two UBC Okanagan students, Benjamin Dunn and Samantha Singer, decided that they were fed up with the amount of food being wasted on campus.

The two co-founded the Leftovers Club in the new year, following a situation that Dunn said left him fuming.

Dunn, a fourth-year Arts student, said he passed a catered campus event late in the 2018 year. The event coordinators had decided to hand out their leftovers to passers-by rather than throw them out, but with little notice Dunn anticipated most of the food would end up in the trash.

"If I hadn't been walking by to eat that food, it all would have been thrown out,” said Dunn, stating that the issue was student awareness of the food distribution.

"But at the end of the day, it started with, I think, a frustration [from Singer and I] for a couple things: one, the food waste; and then also the really expensive campus food and the lack of healthy food options,” Dunn added.

Fortunately, the situation led the two toward developing the Club, which Dunn described as more of a food waste initiative.

“As we see it, the Leftovers Club is, for now, setting out to reduce food waste as well as empowering students with skills to make healthy affordable meals and teach them about food waste, food sustainability, and things of that nature," explained Dunn.

"Our main striving goal is to teach students how to eat sustainably, affordably and efficiently. It's just to limit as much food waste in your own house as well as after campus events,” added Singer, a third-year Science student.

The Leftovers Club has developed a Facebook page to circulate knowledge about the location of free leftovers, as well as to host events to educate students on food affordability, and sustainability.

"If students . . . had a way of being notified when [food] was being handed out, or an organization was expecting to have leftovers, students could be prepared,” explained Singer.

“They can stay on campus. Or, they wouldn't have to pack a lunch or have to buy expensive food on campus knowing that there's free food being handed out!"

Dunn and Singer have also teamed up with the UBC Okanagan’s Enactus group which manages Project Roots, a student-run, non-profit, prize-winning initiative that aims to reduce food waste by offering students discounted prices on produce that does not meet supermarket standards.

The two students have set a goal of 1,000-lbs to be saved by the end of 2019, and after seeing their success so far they don’t think that number is too high.

Dunn and Singer spoke of one Wednesday in particular, on Feb. 6, in which Mina Hoorfar, Director of the School of Engineering, notified them of leftover food from a catered event on campus. They brought a hefty amount of tacos to the Global Collegium at the UBCO Campus and let the students feast on the free food.

"I think that that Wednesday was the probably first day we knew we were absolutely on the right track. We were not only stopping food waste but there's one thing you're going to find on campus: everyone is hungry all the time," laughed Singer.

“Imagine how many other professors are catering their own events like that around campus . . . it's just a matter of time before we really see the true scope of how much food that we can save," added Dunn.

Dunn and Singer aren’t sure what the future holds for the Club, or their food waste initiative, but the two hope to branch out to the larger Kelowna community, and are dreaming of Canada as their ultimate target.

The new Club is still digging its roots into the campus grounds and is looking for student volunteers. For more information on how to volunteer, or to scan the campus for free food, visit their Facebook page.