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Keene State Wins EPA Award for Reducing Food Waste

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Keene State student serving food

Every pound of food that ends up in the trash represents 71 pounds of waste upstream through the growing, preparation, and transportation process. According the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2013, the country generated 37 million tons of food waste, and only five percent was recovered, which means that 35 million tons went into the country’s landfills. It’s a serious, unsustainable problem, and the EPA established its Food Recovery Challenge to encourage organizations to improve their sustainable food-management practices.

Keene State College won the 2015 award in the Education and Outreach category for its campaign to reduce wasted food that ends up in landfills. That campaign includes consistent food audits; a “spokesvegetable” and mascot, the Carrot, that is displayed across campus with facts about preventing food waste and the progress that KSC has made; bringing external experts on the topic to campus to speak to the community; engaging students in the logistics of the program; and more.

“Keene State partners closely with Sodexo, our food service provider, to deliver on the College’s commitment to sustainability through engaging our students—in fact, our students are critical to this recognition through their work to monitor and track our food usage and waste,” said Keene State College Campus Sustainable Material Management Specialist, Heather Greenwood. “Through our partnership with Sodexo, we have accomplished a great deal for this important issue. I look forward to continuing our partnership, and going forward, I see many possibilities with increased interactions between our food-waste-prevention team and involvement of first-year students.”

Keene State College has received three regional EPA awards since the EPA started its Food Recovery Challenge, including both the 2014 and 2013 Demonstrated Commitment to Improving Sustainable Food Management Practices Awards, and the 2012 (combined with 2011) Outstanding Achievement in Food Waste Prevention.

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1-800-KSC-1909
229 Main Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03435