Food donations towards Riverdale residents. ZOEDEFAZIO/THEQUADRANGLE
By Zoe DeFazio, Web Editor
Manhattan College and its service provider, Aramark, face the challenges of overconsumption and food waste. Even as the college actively advocates for sustainability, the battle against wastefulness continues. With a commitment to reducing its environmental footprint, MC finds itself at the intersection of advocating for change and confronting a problem within its walls.
Aramark Corporation is an American multinational corporation that provides food service, facilities and uniform services to various businesses, educational institutions, sports facilities, healthcare institutions and other organizations worldwide. Aramark Corporation declined to comment to The Quadrangle after multiple attempts.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, when organic waste, including food, ends up in landfills, it decomposes anaerobically, producing methane. This potent greenhouse gas contributes to climate change. Methane is over 25 times more effective in trapping atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide over 100 years.
Luckily for Riverdale residents, there lies a community food aid effort to bridge the hunger gap and provide sustainable food in an ecological-friendly manner.
Sarah Allen and Selma Raven run the Bronx Friendly Fridge on Broadway Avenue. Raven and Allen strive to close the hunger gap and help the environment by reducing waste, always hoping to seek resources from Manhattan College and Aramark. However, their attempts to receive donations have yet to be fulfilled.
In the three years the Friendly Fridge has been active, the college as an institution has yet to be a part of closing the hunger gap in Riverdale. MC has previously partnered with the Association for Advancement in Sustainability for Higher Education, but hasn’t made any notable efforts with the Friendly Fridge. Lasallian education strongly emphasizes serving the underserved and addressing social inequalities. It encourages students to be advocates for social justice, particularly on behalf of those living in poverty or facing systemic injustices.
Jill Kupecki, a freshman student at MC, doesn’t believe that the college is capable of demonstrating environmental changes when it comes down to food waste. She believes Locke’s Loft dining hall is the prime example of food waste.
“I think that no matter what, food waste is a big issue,” Kupecki said. “I understand there isn’t necessarily a way for that to change, especially in a dining hall environment. The people making the food make a certain amount to compensate for the amount of students coming in and out and there’s no specific gauge on how much food intake there will be, therefore, food waste is going to be prominent either way.”
Allen and Raven believe the college’s food disparity issue rests with the administration. The Friendly Fridge receives donations from schools and individuals around the Bronx and the Westchester area.
The Leffell School in Hartsdale, New York, regularly drops off at the Friendly Fridge. Meanwhile, MC’s Locke’s Loft dining hall is located 0.3 miles away from the Friendly Fridge.
Maggie Morrison, an employee at Fieldston Lower School, also regularly visits the Friendly Fridge to donate needed goods and resources.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity for schools like Manhattan College to donate some of the food from their food providers,” Morrison said. “I think that would be incredible because I mean, food waste is such a huge problem in the city anyway. And there are people who need it, so why not give it?”
Raven encourages the college students to become part of The Food Recovery Network (FRN). FRN nonprofit organization is a national network of college students and food professionals in the United States fighting food waste and hunger.
Allen advocates equitable food distribution and believes that MC’s reluctance to be a donor for the Friendly Fridge is due to the lack of people willing to contribute to solving this problem in the local area.
“A realistic challenge or obstacle is to actually act,” Allen said. “It’s the logistics of taking that food, repackaging it and transporting it. I’m assuming based on experience that there’s no middle management [at MC] willing to sign on the dotted line to make that decision.”
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, often called the Bill Emerson Act, is a United States federal law passed in 1996. This act encourages food donation by minimizing liability for food donors. It provides legal protection to individuals and organizations that donate food in good faith to nonprofit organizations, such as food banks and charities, for distribution to needy individuals.
The purpose of the Bill Emerson Act is to reduce food waste and encourage the donation of surplus food to those in need while protecting donors from legal repercussions.
“Imagine if you could create jobs,” Raven said. “Because hunger is not because of lack of food, It’s because we are poor, and people are not getting paid enough. If you can hire the kitchen staff for four hours more, then we could create jobs and balance this out and the food won’t go to waste and [MC] can get a tax write off. It’s a win-win and creates these jobs for students to repack food and get them a food handling license.”