CBU students take food from cafeteria to the community

At Christian Brothers University, food justice is on the menu twice a week. Shanice Oliver and a few of her peers make up the university’s chapter of the Food Recovery Network, an organization of over 110 colleges that reroutes unused food into the hands of poverty relief groups.

On Mondays and Thursdays, the group delivers the cafeteria’s leftover food to St. Vincent Food Kitchen, Memphis Union Mission, JIFF—which provides intervention services to at-risk male youth—and FirstWorks, Inc.—a nonprofit afterschool care center for inner-city kids. The hauls range from 150 to 80 pounds of food. “Aramark (Food Services) has been really supportive,” Oliver added.

Inspired by Dr. Emily Holmes’s Ethics and Spirituality of Eating class, Oliver started brainstorming in 2013 with other student leaders of the student sustainability coalition about how to better serve the community. Their first food recovery effort, which took place during CBU’s month-long September of Service, delivered more than 200 pounds to Firstworks. Oliver and her peers served the food to children who came back asking for multiple servings. “At CBU, we say the food isn’t great, and we hate it. The children actually love it, and we’re doing something really relevant and great,” she said.

Presently, CBU is the only local member of the Food Recovery Network, but Oliver has plans to connect with the social justice student club at Rhodes College and get them on board. Oliver’s further vision for Memphis covers gardening education with groups such as GrowMemphis and small business advocacy.

For further details about getting involved with CBU’s chapter of the Food Recovery Network, contact Shanice Oliver.