Every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., free meals are provided at the old Newman Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus through the Food Recovery Network (FRN), which has provided meals to locals in need since it was chartered in 2015.
Cooper Anderson, a senior BDIC major and one of the leaders of the FRN, recommenced its operations after the COVID-19 pandemic. Anderson revived the network alongside Lena Fletcher, a professor in the Natural Resource Conservation department, and some of their classmates. At the beginning of the fall 2024 semester, they received approval from the University after two years of working towards the program, and began their service weekly out of the old Newman Center.
“All the work that I’ve done has just been endless, battling with the University to just get approval to do it. So huge victory this year, we’re actually doing the recoveries,” Anderson said.
The FRN is volunteer-based, and currently has around 30 volunteers, which Anderson predicts will increase as people learn more about the program.
The FRN receives leftover food from Franklin Dining Commons. Anderson said they get about a car load of food each week from Franklin, most of which is consumed within the hour. A concerningly high amount of leftover food is taken from Franklin every week, which Anderson says is “ridiculous.”
As food insecurity increases across western Massachusetts, Anderson said the FRN is one of many vital resources given the significant amount of food waste found on campus.
In the past year, local organizations, such as Amherst Survival Center, donated “more than 1.6 million meals – prepared and groceries – to more than 11,000 people.” The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts said that in August of 2024, they provided meals to 10,533 people.
“I think just the fact that we live in an area of such food insecurity, and then we also live on a campus that has an incredible amount of food waste is just so contradictory,” Anderson said. “It just doesn’t make sense. It’s so clear that those two things, how it shouldn’t be possible that there is so much food thrown out every day.”
The FRN is one of several food justice initiatives brought onto campus in recent times. Various organizations have come together to provide free food for students and locals in need, including the Center for Education Policy and Advocacy (CEPA), Amherst Survival Center and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Lily Pleven, a junior social thought and political economy major, worked with other students in the CEPA at the end of last semester to push for the provision of food to students.
Pleven said CEPA also aimed to create a food pantry in CEPA’s office, to establish a swipe-out hunger program, and to create the role of a basic needs director at the University. The University hopes to establish the swipe-out program on campus rather than through an outside entity.
CEPA’s food pantry provides non-perishables only, which Pleven hopes to eventually bring to the FRN, so people can take them alongside their to-go meals. For some locals, the meals they receive from the FRN are their only hot meal of the day, which makes the FRN’s role in the community is a vital one.
Pleven said she noticed when students take from the pantry, they often try to justify their needs. She said that for many students, there is a general “lack of awareness of so many different things that food insecurity can look like,” and that one does not need to be destitute to be unable to afford food.
“That’s definitely something that I’ve noticed that I think might be a reason why a lot of people are hesitant to come by and just take what they need … I see a lot of excuses,” Pleven said. “It makes me very sad because no one needs an excuse to get food when they’re hungry.”
On Sept. 30 of this year, the University announced it is partnering with Amherst Survival Center to create a food pantry in the old Newman Center. The FRN will still have their own space to deliver food within the old Newman Center.
“We want college students focusing on their studies, not worrying about where they will get their next meal,” shared Lev BenEzra, executive director of Amherst Survival Center in the press release shared by the University. “The Center has seen skyrocketing levels of need over the past few years, including from UMass students, both on-campus and off. This on-campus pantry will serve more students, and serve them better, as it can be tailored to meet their unique needs.”
Anderson’s aims to expand FRN further by utilizing leftovers from all dining halls and serving food every day of the week. Anderson and Pleven both envisioned the creation of a mobile food pantry, where meals could be delivered to people in need. Pleven also expressed her wish to see the Newman Center become a community space where people can sit and enjoy a meal.
“I do hope to see [there be] a community space, you know, eating, and sharing of food, just because I think that’s really important and one of the best things about the food closet has been when people stop and eat and chat,” she said. “When people are able to find community in sharing and eating food, that’s been the best thing to see.”
As FRN continues to grow on campus, those involved with it, to whatever extent, hope that it continues to develop as a vital source of support for students in need.
Anderson hopes the FRN could expand its services and outreach, and that its most important goal was to continue providing food amidst high levels of food insecurity. Anderson reflected on the FRN’s achievements in the past year and expanded on what they hoped to do in order to establish themselves further.
Anderson says FRN is not “just limiting ourselves to ‘we’re doing this one service and that’s it,’ but politicizing ourselves and being like ‘these are our values, and this is why we’re doing this and connecting ourselves to broader things on campus,’ than [to] just … recover the food and we serve it, but actually being like, this is why we’re doing it.”
Eve Neumann can be reached at [email protected]. Kalana Amarasekara can be reached at [email protected].
