Sustainability for the everyday U-M student, staff, or faculty through campus food resources

By Emily L. Do, Communications Director for VCN

As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, there was a point that I struggled to maintain a lifestyle of lower waste while maintaining some sense of financial stability. Being a researcher in Earth and Climate, it has always been important for me to choose alternatives to high waste products and selecting my food from more local sources. However, this became difficult when I moved to Ann Arbor. With the elevated cost of living, longer commutes to grocery stores (4+ miles from my home, in fact), and seemingly few options for local produce and vegetables, I was at a loss as to how I could continue the lifestyle I had grown accustomed to. This is a problem that many people in the U-M community experience as well, with over 30% of students struggling in some way with food insecurity.

After talking to members of my co-op, I was directed to a convenient, cost efficient, and waste-reducing alternative to Ann Arbor’s grocery stores- the University of Michigan’s food pantry, the Maize and Blue Cupboard. After visiting the food pantry and volunteering there on occasion for the past two years, I wanted to highlight the efforts the cupboard has done to reduce food waste and energy consumption through local partnership, food donations, and composting- all while providing the U-M community with equitable access to healthy, nutritious, and nourishing food.

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Keith Soster, the Direct or Sustainability, Student and Community Engagement and Kelly O’Mara, the Maize and Blue Cupboard Program Manager. Together, we discussed how the cupboard redistributes approximately 1500lbs of produce weekly, most of which would be discarded. That’s almost 80,000lbs of food in one year! With the USDA estimating that 30-40% of food supply is wasted, it is essential that food pantries like the Maize and Blue Cupboard are given room in the conversation regarding sustainability and non-renewable energy use reductions.

Did you know that the food system uses almost exclusively non-renewable energy sources? Nearly 20% of the fossil fuels used in the United States power the various stages of food production, which includes the agriculture, transportation, processing, and handling of our food. While the cupboard began as an initiative to provide to the U-M community, it has reduced food waste and increased sustainability in Ann Arbor by doing so. Organizations like the Maize and Blue Cupboard redistribute food that would otherwise be wasted, which in turn, lessens the impact food waste has on our energy consumption. The food pantry also partners with local resources as well, such as the campus farm, a student-driven living learning lab for sustainable food systems. This partnership provides locally grown produce and vegetables to members of the U-M community, and is actively working towards carbon neutrality by 2026. By obtaining locally grown foods, the cupboard allows the U-M community to begin reducing our own non-renewable energy consumption by cutting production, handling, and transportation costs, all while providing resources to our community.

With all of the good work being done regarding responsible resource redistribution and food sustainability, the cupboard has reduced non-renewable energy consumption and reduced food waste. If you’re curious about how to help, the Maize and Blue Cupboard has that outlined already! Outside of donating and volunteering, though, Kelly and Keith want to stress the importance of destigmatizing food insecurity. All members of the U-M community are welcome, regardless of the reason that brings them to the cupboard.

In closing, I wanted to share something Keith had said to me. “If you don’t need the resource, be the resource”. While many may not need the resources provided by the cupboard, by supporting the Maize and Blue Cupboard either through donations, volunteering, or by spreading the news of this amazing resource in your networks, we are all contributing to a more sustainable future while providing the U-M community with equitable access to healthy, nutritious, and nourishing food that may otherwise go to a landfill.