Cornell Food Recovery Network is bringing unused dining hall food to Tompkins County residents

11.9 percent of Tompkins County residents, or 12,200 people, were food insecure in 2022, according to Feeding America. Charlotte Ariyan ’26 said she believes Cornell can be part of the solution.

As a freshman living on North Campus, Ariyan was surprised by the amount of food Cornell’s dining halls produced, and he thought much of it was wasted. Two years later, Ariyan is chair of community outreach for Cornell’s chapter of the Food Recovery Network, a national organization with chapters across the province dedicated to recovering food waste and combating food insecurity.

Ariyan explained how the dining hall kitchens are left with ready-made meals, which Cornell FRN donates to the Friendship Donation Network – a donation center that “rescues fresh, nutritious food that would otherwise be thrown away.” Donations are then distributed to hunger relief programs in Tompkins and nearby counties.

Ariyan said she has seen firsthand FRN’s impact on FDN, with Cornell being one of the few donors to provide full, ready-to-eat meals to the center.

“Many people from addiction recovery centers, homeless shelters or just other people in need can come to this center to get food,” Ariyan said.

Anaïs Ozer ’26, director of volunteers at Cornell FRN, explained that FRN has two types of volunteers: recovery volunteers and recovery drivers. Recovery volunteers go to the dining halls in groups to collect and package unserved food before meeting the recovery drivers at a designated meeting point. The recovery drivers then take the packaged food to FDN and weigh and cool the recovered food.

Cornell FRN is currently recalling food from four dining halls on campus: Morrison Dining, North Star Dining Room, Jansen’s Dining Room and Becker House Dining Room.

FRN conducts chargebacks twice a week at Morrison Dining and once a week for each of the other three. Ozer explained that FRN hopes to expand its operations with more dining halls, but there are not enough volunteers.

“It was a really big deal when we had to recover from Morrison and especially get a place to store all the (food) containers and bags in (the dining hall),” Ozer said. “The biggest thing we struggle with in food recovery is making sure we have enough people to drive and volunteer, and if we had more volunteers, especially with cars, we could do a lot more.”

Madeleine Rodoski ’27, a recovery officer for FRN, said contributing to FRN’s efforts only requires a small investment of time to make a difference.

“I wish more people would get involved and know how easy it is,” Rodoski said. “It’s such a small time investment: You just sign up for one or two (recovery) a semester to help move (eat). We usually meet around 7:30 or 7:40 PM, and we’re done by 8:00 PM. I wish people would get involved in that way and learn more about (FRN and sustainability).

Ariyan said she feels FRN’s work is overlooked because most students don’t consider how much food waste Cornell produces.

“Almost no one knows we exist, and many people don’t even realize how much food goes to waste,” Ariyan said.

Rodoski echoed this sentiment, contextualizing Cornell FRN’s efforts as just one part of combating food waste.

“I wish (people) knew how much (food waste) they produce,” Rodoski said. “I see people in the dining room throwing away food or just not eating it. Even though we are recovering a lot of food, I wish they could see the quantity. I wish people were more aware of food waste; it is a part of sustainability that is (often) overlooked.