KNOW Food Waste (or KFW) is a student organization at The Ohio State University working towards reducing, repurposing and educating about food waste on campus. It was founded by three food science students with the goal of inspiring individuals to think about their food waste footprint and to take action (Read more about our story here). KFW operates to reduce food waste based on EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy: reduce first, then reuse and lastly recycle.
KFW is made up of three committees:
Education and Outreach: Our E&O Committee aims to educate the Ohio State community about food waste through seminars, field trips, social media, podcasts and more
Repurposing: The primary goal of our Repurposing Committee is to reducesourcefood waste in cafe’s at Ohio State and in consumer households through hosting food drives, community refrigerator, and upcycling.
Composting: Our Composting Committee seeks toimplement composting initiatives across the OSU community and help establish OSU Dining Operations aszero waste (redirection of 90% or more waste away from landfills).
Meetings
New for the 2020-2021 school year, we will be hosting regular general body meetings on the third Monday of every other month (September, November, January, and March) from 5:30-6:30pm. Meetings will be held in person with an online option available through Zoom for those who would like to attend virtually. To receive the Zoom link for attending a meeting virtually, please sign up for our KFW listserv here or reach out to secretary, Allison Howell (howell.497@osu.edu).
Membership
Interested in joining out efforts to fight food waste? KFW employs an open membership model, and we welcome prospective team members to join at any time during the school year. Simply reach out to a committee lead or attend one of our bi-monthly general body meetings to learn more about what each committee is doing! You can sign up to receive updates on all things KFW, including upcoming meetings, events, and opportunities for participation here.
Events
Each of our three committees plans various events to further spread the food-waste fighting spririt across campus and our community. Information on Upcoming events can be found on our website as well as on our Instagram @knowfoodwasteosu.
Have an idea for an event you think would be right for KFW?
Please reach out to the committee lead that most closely aligns with your event idea or if you are unsure, reach out to club president, Izabelle Vose (vose.6@osu.edu) and club secretary, Allison Howell (howell.497@osu.edu), and they will connect you with the appropriate committee.