“Free food on campus!”: Using instructional technology to reduce university food waste and student food insecurity

Abstract

Objectives

As food insecurity among college students in the United States continues to rise, large quantities of food are wasted on college campuses. This paper presents a simple, low-cost approach to address both issues, using an electronic learning management system to connect college students with good quality excess food. Participants: Students at a small East Coast urban university. Methods: Using the MAP-IT framework, a university-wide food rescue system was developed to alert students to obtain food. Results: During the first twelve months of implementation, 451 students enrolled to receive announcements. 78% of students reported satisfaction with the food obtained. Conclusions: This program was successful in providing students with access to desirable food that would otherwise have been wasted.

Keywords:

• College food insecurity
• food rescue
• food waste reduction
• hunger
• learning management system
• university students

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.