By Monique Ahmad
In only a short year Salem’s Food Recovery Network (FRN) has turned out to be one of the most talked about organizations on campus. In November of 2014 FRN began with only a few volunteers. Now FRN recovers food 5 times a week and has ten to fifteen returning volunteers. They work closely with Tera Perez, head of Dining Services, and Airmark to find the most efficient ways to avoid food waste on Salem’s campus.
At last year’s FRN conference, Salem students were able to meet FRN’s founder Ben Simon. Photo courtesy of Carly Caldwell.
FRN has not only obtained rapid attention at Salem College, but has also received major attention from National FRNs. On April 2-4th FRN members, Carly Caldwell, Greta Garbo, and Zoe Dempsey will be among the 6 students attending, will be taking a trip to University of Maryland College Park to take part in a National FRN Conference. About 80 chapters from around the country will be present to benefit from the vast knowledge presented on food recovery. Sessions during the conference will give greater insight into rescuing food, starting and maintaining FRN chapters, and creating overall food security. On the last day of the conference, attendees will be transported to Washington, D.C. to talk with legislators in regards to food security and sustainability.
Caldwell finds that it will be “really unique to see all the legislator’s kind of learn about what FRN does.”
FRN will make efforts towards creating change on a much larger scale. Caldwell emphasizes that the United States is behind in sustainable living, making it a hot issue in this nation.
Salem is not only going to this event to learn from the conference, but has also been asked to present. Caldwell, one of the founders of Salem’s Chapter of FRN, will be presenting as a panelist. The panel will discuss how maintain a good relationship with one’s partner organization. Because FRN has done so well at Salem, the regional representatives found that Caldwell could help other small colleges universities succeed in their food recovery efforts as well.
Caldwell has worked hard to make FRN a successful organization on campus. She has worked with both students and administration to insure that Salem’s food waste decreases.
“Something that really makes me feel passionate and makes me feel like I am doing something that I am not going to hate at the end of the day,” says Caldwell.
This conference will give Salem students a unique opportunity to become effective and sustainable eaters. They will create long lasting relationship peers who have similar passions, as well as those with professionals working in food policy. Conferences like these give Salem students a chance to explore their interests on a larger scale by giving them more perceptive and knowledge.
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