Penn State

Six thousand, seven hundred and two. That is the number of unserved meals from dining halls at the University Park campus that have been donated to local shelters, food pantries and other organizations by the Food Recovery Network at Penn State since its inception in spring 2023. And, thanks to the drive and determination of Adeline Peat, a senior studying nutritional sciences in the College of Health and Human Development, the number of meals — as well as the organization’s overall impact — continues to grow. 

The student-led Food Recovery Network aims to increase sustainability, food security and awareness of issues surrounding food waste. The organization recovers unserved food from four University Park dining halls and transports it to four student and community partners.  

“When I ate in the dining halls during my freshman and sophomore years, I could not ignore the trays of untouched food being thrown into the compost at the end of each meal,” said Peat, president of the Food Recovery Network at Penn State. “At the same time, I could not ignore the increased requests for donations to student food pantries and the growing food insecurity among students. That juxtaposition between the waste and the need didn’t make sense to me; there was a clear misalignment that could be changed.” 

From there, a seed was planted in Peat’s mind. She and a friend, Anna Janaszek, a fellow nutritional sciences major who works in campus dining, created a plan to take action. They began the process of establishing a student organization and securing a staff adviser. Meanwhile, they discovered that two other students at University Park — Emmanuel Kraft, a rising junior studying political science and communication arts and science, and Jeff Shi, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology in May 2024 — shared similar motives.

These leaders combined into a single force to address food waste and food insecurity by joining a national movement known as Food Recovery Network, a nonprofit with more than 230 chapters at higher education institutions across the country. In the spring of 2023, a new chapter of Food Recovery Network was born at Penn State. 

Feeding (and building) a community 

Powered by 40 student volunteers, the Penn State chapter of the Food Recovery Network conducts four weekly food recoveries during the fall and spring semesters — and this year they’ve started summer operations, too. During each recovery student volunteers travel to four separate dining halls to pick up meals, which have been pre-packaged by campus dining staff. They load a volunteer’s car with the meals and drop them off at various student and community partner organizations including:  

• Abba Java Coffeehouse, a ministry of the Wesley Foundation and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church that offers free coffee, tea, food and WiFi to students at its downtown State College location; 

• Community Cafe at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, which serves a free weekly meal to community members;  

• Out of the Cold: Centre County, a community-supported organization that provides shelter, food and support services to those experiencing homelessness; 

• The Lion’s Pantry, Penn State’s student-run food pantry at the University Park campus. 

“Addy’s passion for making a positive impact in this important work is evident in her leadership every day,” said Leslie Pillen, associate director for farm and food systems and Food Recovery Network co-adviser. “In addition to the real difference that these recovered meals make for students and community members, she is creating opportunities for club members to connect directly with community partners over shared meals and fellowship.” 

Beyond feeding the community, the Food Recovery Network makes an environmental impact too. In its first year, more than 2,500 pounds of food were rescued and redistributed, preventing waste from going to landfills. This prevented the release of more than 9,500 pounds of carbon dioxide from decaying food waste, according to the organization’s annual report. Since the chapter’s emergence, this mitigation has increased exponentially from 9,500 pounds to more than 23,200 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Partnering with the Food Recovery Network is just one of many ways that Penn State’s Residential Dining leaders are working to reduce food waste and improve sustainability. According to Amy Bressler, associate director of campus residential dining, some sustainability-focused efforts include utilizing a menu management system to forecast patron counts and recipe production; batch cooking menu items and serving proper portion sizes to reduce food waste; and measuring customer post-consumer waste through the LeanPath program. 

“With the addition of the Food Recovery Network program, we are able to repurpose some of the leftover food to positively support our students and the community,” Bressler said. 

Peat’s efforts go beyond recovering and redistributing food. She also aims to educate others about food insecurity and sustainability and increase awareness through Food Recovery Network community events, such as cooking nights. These events, typically held at partner agency Abba Java, invite students and community members to gather to prepare and enjoy a zero-waste meal. (Editor's note: The following Instagram post highlights one of these events held last semester).  

“A big part of the Food Recovery Network is knowing that food is love,” Peat said. “I hope that our efforts help minimize the stigma surrounding hunger, free meals and financial situations. FRN supports the simple notion that if you’re hungry, you should be able to eat without shame.”

Uncovering new passions and career paths 

Peat’s career trajectory began with a single lecture focused on sustainable diets — specifically how in some parts of the world, humans regularly consume protein-packed insects.  

That lecture was delivered in a course, "Geographic Perspectives on Environment, Society and Sustainability," taught by Bronwen Powell, associate professor of geography, African studies, and anthropology. Peat took the general education course as a first-year student while enrolled in the University’s psychology program, and Powell’s lessons piqued her interest. 

“We talked about unique ways that food systems could be changed to be more sustainable but also improve the nutritional status of a community, such as eating bugs,” Peat said. "I began to consider the complex relationships between global nutritional deficiencies, availability and accessibility of food, social norms, and sustainable food systems." 

With the realization that a sustainable world and human health can be transformed in the most surprising ways, Peat began exploring Penn State’s nutritional sciences program, and ultimately changed her major. 

“Nutritional science is incredibly interdisciplinary and spans across countless fields of study,” Peat said. “I found myself deeply interested in many of them, especially biology, chemistry, environmental health, psychology and anthropology. When I realized that nutritional science is an intersection between these disciplines, I knew it was time to switch my path.”  

Around that time, Peat began conceptualizing the Food Recovery Network at Penn State. The academic and experiential opportunities she’s had through her degree program and involvement have shaped her personal and professional paths, she said.

“I strive to incorporate my passions for environmental and human health in my academics, extracurricular activities and future career,” Peat said. “The Food Recovery Network combines these two passions, which is why I love it so much. While I’m certainly motivated by the statistics and the growth in the number of our donated meals, watching other students find true meaning and joy in our mission is another highly motivating factor.” 

She added, “The Food Recovery Network also leads to transformational and lasting change. Individually, we can all be aware of sustainable efforts in our day-to-day lives, such as picking up a piece of trash or being aware of our personal food waste. But collectively, through efforts like the Food Recovery Network, we can work together to cause change on a much bigger scale.” 

Making a global impact 

Peat’s drive to enact positive change goes far beyond Penn State and the surrounding community. This past summer, she participated in program known as MEDLIFE (Medicine, Education, Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere), through which she worked alongside Peruvian health care professionals in underserved communities in the city of Cusco. There, she spoke with health care providers and educators about the health needs and challenges faced by communities. 

“Facing complex global health issues, like poverty and inequitable access to health care, I learned that listening and understanding a community's perspective must come first before collaborative solutions can emerge,” Peat said. “I'm thankful that MEDLIFE provided a glimpse into the meaning of health care as a basic human right by working alongside those fighting to make it a reality.”

She also serves as an undergraduate research assistant with POLARIS, a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project that investigates how interconnected environmental stressors and infrastructure disruptions are affecting coastal Arctic Alaskan communities and identifies the important assets to help them adapt to climate-related changes. Peat contributes to the project by reading and conducting qualitative coding of first-person narratives from indigenous Arctic Alaskans.  

“By reading first-hand accounts, I’ve noticed the interconnected relationships between culturally significant food sources and themes of identity, family, accessibility, economy, nutritional health, etc.,” said Peat. “With the growing climate crises — one contributor being food waste — it is shocking to see how this environmental harm also damages those relationships that serve as foundations of human identity and culture.” 

Through POLARIS, Peat works with Bronwen Powell — the same instructor who delivered the lecture on sustainable food systems that inspired Peat to change her major. 

“I enjoyed Dr. Powell’s class so much that I reached out the following year to ask for a research position,” Peat said. “Her interests, career, research and lifestyle have served as an inspiration to me, and I’m happy to learn all that I can from her.” 

After Peat completes her undergraduate education, she plans to pursue a master’s degree and earn a registered dietician certification. In her career, she said she hopes to advise and advocate for marginalized populations, aid those suffering from nutritional deficiencies, and explore the correlations between nutrition, food insecurity, culture and environmental health. 

“Some of the most burdening health and ecological issues are often battled silently. I strive to amplify and answer those calling for help,” Peat said. “I aim to not only push for global human health and security but to do so through sustainable action and processes."