This March, a team of five OSU Eco-Reps was awarded first place in the Best Idea category at the Food Future Hackathon, hosted by Arizona State University, the Food Conservation Alliance, and the Environmental Protection Agency, among other organizations.
The Food Future Hackathon challenges teams of high school and university students across the country to devise innovative approaches to tackling the food waste crisis. Reducing food waste saves money and is a significant step toward decreasing carbon emissions, global hunger, and environmental degradation.
To reduce food waste and improve environmental and social sustainability, the Eco-Reps proposed a new program: Crop Circle. This program would allow students to pick excess and imperfect food off the fields at farms and use it in their school cafeterias. By connecting farms to schools, food waste is reduced while schools save money and obtain fresh produce.
Click here to learn more about Crop Circle.
Justin Foster, a fourth-year Political Science student, says his inspiration for this idea came from years of picking fruits at a local strawberry field in his hometown. “Involving students in such a fun outdoor activity while simultaneously educating them about food waste seemed like a natural step to take,” Justin conveyed.
Summer Wong, a first-year Political Science and Sustainability student, indicates she wanted to educate students about ways to reduce their food waste and eat more sustainably. This led the Eco-Reps to incorporate student involvement in the solution to wasted food on farms.
Emma Russu, a second-year Biology student, was inspired by her summers as a child spent picking blueberries and raspberries on U-pick farms in Oregon and not having much fresh produce in school lunches. Emma reflects, “I thought combining the two of those could solve many problems and benefit everyone.”
The Food Future Hackathon evaluated submissions on several criteria, including feasibility, innovation, sustainability, and effectiveness in reducing food waste. The Eco-Reps were awarded first place in the Best Idea category for Crop Circle.
In reflecting on this experience, Avery McDowell, a first-year Apparel Design and Sustainability student, informs, “working on this project was such a great experience. It was challenging to produce a developed idea along with a presentation in the short time frame that we had, but we are all passionate about sustainability in communities, so it was worth the hard work we put into it.”
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to work as a team and develop a solution to such a huge global issue,” Elice Wright, a second-year Environmental Sciences student, noted. “When researching for our project, I was surprised to learn that 30% of food waste is actually sourced from farms before it even reaches consumers. Tackling this issue at its source was, therefore, key to developing our solution.”
Congratulations to Justin, Summer, Emma, Avery, and Elice!
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