If you’ve dined in one of Penn State’s five dining halls, you may have noticed the screens above the trashcans that highlight the daily food waste produced. While some students may quickly glance at these screens as they toss their half-eaten food into the trashcan, nutrition majors Anna Janaszek and Addy Peat were shocked by the number on the screen, which appeared to be growing rapidly with each trip to the dining hall. 

Peat shared how the immense amount of food waste she and Janaszek were seeing in the dining halls inspired them to brainstorm a solution to address this university-wide problem. The pair wanted to devise a way to get more food into the hands of the students, instead of the landfill.

“It was pretty hard not to notice the amount of food that was thrown out at the end of each meal in the dining halls. I think that fueled the fire for me, and I was kind of confused about why that was happening,” Peat said. “At the same time, I also began to notice the increased need for food donations for the Lion’s Pantry and noticed that students were hungry and needed food. So there was an apparent misalignment, and this is what really motivated Anna and I to want to make a change.”

To address this misalignment between food waste and food insecurity on campus, Peat and Janaszek founded the Food Recovery Network (FRN). The FRN works to “recover” surplus meals from various locations on campus, repackage the food into nutritious meals, and distribute these meals to partners on and off campus, free of charge. 

The FRN has grown tremendously since its first meal recovery at the West Dining Hall in 2023, as the organization now collects meals from all five dining halls, the BJC, and Beaver Stadium. The network packages and delivers these meals to six distinct partners across State College, including the Lion’s Pantry, Abba Java, Out of the Cold homeless shelter, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, and the most recent addition of the State College Foodbank. 

“We began by considering populations in State College that would benefit the most from nutritious, complete meals. When we began researching different populations and organizations that could benefit, we were pretty surprised to see how many shelters are downtown, and the need within the community,” Peat said. “For example, I had no idea that there were two homeless shelters within walking distance from my house. I think reminding volunteers and all students about that is important.”  

The FRN is not only dedicated to distributing meals to those in need across State College but also works to foster a close-knit community for students at University Park. Fourth-year nutrition major Eliana Wong acts as the FRN’s event and program director and plans events to educate students on environmentally friendly food consumption practices. From holding low-waste cooking nights to food security roundtables, and even providing opportunities for students to simply unwind and have fun, Wong has created an atmosphere of collaboration and connection within the FRN. 

Wong not only leads the FRN as the event and program director but also spearheaded the network’s most recent, large-scale recovery at THON Weekend 2025. As a THON Hospitality captain, Wong was determined to tackle the sizeable amount of food waste generated by the event each year. To do this, she forged a partnership between the FRN and the BJC, which led to the recovery of over 700 pounds of food from THON Weekend 2025. 

She explained how this scale of food recovery had never been seen before, and expressed her gratitude to the Bryce Jordan Center staff for helping the FRN reach this monumental goal. 

“I knew wanted to make a change in THON hospitality in my role this year. It hurts my heart to see food go to waste, and last year, THON had to throw out so much food after the weekend was over. This year, due to our partnership with the FRN, there was basically no food wasted, which has never been seen before,” Wong said. “The BJC staff was amazing and they were able to store the meals for us, and at the end of the weekend, we were able to pick up and repackage the food. This was the first time that hot food was ever recovered from THON, and we recovered around 296 meals.”

Janaszek highlighted how the network’s “Group Scoop” event after THON Weekend was an inspiring, stand-out moment for her and the FRN executive team. These group scoop nights consist of student volunteers repackaging large containers of recovered food into portioned meals that can be distributed to the FRN’s partners.

“I was honestly surprised at how many people wanted to get involved with our group scoop night. As soon as we put up the sign-ups for the THON scoop night, they were booked immediately. It was just great to see everyone come together, and everyone was happy to be there,” Janaszek said. “We formed an assembly line of packaging pasta that was recovered from THON, moving down the line with someone putting meat on and then putting on the sauce. It was so much fun, and turned out to be an awesome bonding experience.” 

Despite Wong, Peat, and Janaszek’s background in nutrition, the FRN welcomes students of all majors and academic backgrounds to take part in its mission of zero hunger. The trio shared how getting involved with the FRN is not demanding on students’ schedules, as members can choose how much they want to participate in the recovery and distribution process. Students can select when and how they would like to help recover meals via the Signup Genius listed on the organization’s website. 

An idea that started in the dining hall has spread to feed hundreds across State College. The FRN’s partners have expressed their gratitude for the network’s contributions and emphasized the lasting, positive impact the FRN is leaving within the Penn State community. Peat described how rewarding it has been to see the FRN grow to become a reliable food outlet for locals to access healthy meals each week.

“We’ve heard that students and community members will plan their day around our schedule. So, as soon as we drop off our meals, they want to be there so they can have first access. For example, at St. Andrew’s, we run a community dinner every Thursday, and there is usually a line outside the door,” Peat said. “We hear every single week that the 70 meals we bring in are gone within 20 minutes.”

With each meal delivered, the network also works to destigmatize hunger both on and off the University Park campus. Food insecurity is not a phenomenon that occurs solely in the global south or in major cities. In a 2022 Penn State Food and Housing Needs Survey, 14% of students across all Penn State campuses indicated that they did not eat for an entire day due to not being able to afford food. 

Janaszek described how needing food assistance should not be a shameful or taboo topic. She hopes that the FRN showcases how improving food access can unite communities, and how easy it can be to decrease food waste while still providing fresh, nutritious meals for all students. 

“There’s definitely so much stigma surrounding hunger and food insecurity in general,” Janaszek said. “One of our goals is to normalize it, and show students that if you are hungry, you should eat.”

Wong, Janaszek, and Peat are each set to graduate this spring, leaving the FRN in the hands of the next generation of students passionate about feeding the local community.

Despite their Penn State chapters coming to a close, they collectively stated how the FRN is just getting started. Peat described how the network will continue to reshape the future of sustainability at University Park and act as a shining symbol of how one idea can spark positive, systematic change.   

“The FRN redefines what sustainability looks like at Penn State. The university does strive to have sustainable behavior in its operations. But sustainability can also be used as a buzzword. To make sure sustainability keeps its definition, there has to be a constant reminder of what that actually looks like,” Peat said. “So, the FRN, to me, is a reminder of sustainable behavior and how one group can cause a whole system to change. The FRN helps students connect to these numbers of food waste and provide a more personal way to cause change.”