Food Waste Warriors
Forty percent of food produced is wasted, composted, or goes to the landfill. 25% of that food waste could feed every food insecure, hungry individual in the world. California State Senate Bill 1383 requires all cities to reduce the amount of organics disposed of in landfills 75% by 2025. Professor Yinghua Huang’s hospitality courses are assigned to this Food Waste Warriors project to contribute to these efforts. This project combines hospitality, marketing, and management with the aim to create a high impact, real-world experience for community engaged learners and also have an extended benefit to the community. The research, materials created, and solutions offered from this project enable local participating businesses and organizations to reduce their food waste and serve more people in need.
Students learn about food management systems, the different places food ends up, and ways to decrease inefficiencies. Collaborators include local restaurants, soup kitchens, farm-to-table growers, grocery stores, novelty stores, and non-profit organizations. One partner, Grocery Outlet, discovered they could save expenses by redirecting excess food to soup kitchens instead of discarding it. Another project partner, the non-profit Hunger at Home, received help from SJSU studnets in the form of fundraising event planning. This community-based organization’s work became much more prominent this spring due to the massive increase in Bay Area families requiring food assistance.
Project Impacts
87% of SJSU students want to participate in more service-learning activities
75% of students indicated that engaging with local organizations helped them understand concepts of hospitality marketing
83% of SJSU students reported that topics covered in class prepared them for this project
Students Engaged
Businesses and nonprofits engaged
Hours of Student Service
Value
Faculty Lead
Yinghua Huang (Hospitality, Tourism, and Event Management)