Value proposition

Fight waste. Feed people.

Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit that unites 4,000 college students, dining providers, food suppliers, and local businesses in the fight against climate change and hunger by recovering perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to local nonprofits who feed people experiencing hunger.

Founded in 2011 at the University of Maryland, FRN’s innovative model was created by a group of students who witnessed fresh food being thrown away every day at their campus dining halls, destined for landfills, while community members went hungry. Over the last ten years, FRN has grown into the largest student-driven movement against food waste and a leader in the food recovery space.

Our programs are on nearly 200 campuses in 46 states and the District of Columbia, and we have recovered and donated more than 6.9 million pounds of food to date – the equivalent of 5.7 million meals donated to individuals and families experiencing hunger.

At a systems-change level, we seek to recover surplus food to feed everyone who is hungry in the United States.

Food recovery, Food waste, Hunger, and Student Leadership