Abby Gustafson is 19 years old, and a sophomore at UNCG. She majors in Nutrition and Dietetics and hopes to be a pediatric dietitian, working with malnourished kids and their families and eventually going to grad school to possibly study behavioral nutrition. Because of her passion for nutrition/food it would only make sense that Abby would be connected to the Food Recovery Network here in Greensboro.
The Food Recovery network is a student-based organization that takes the excess food from the UNCG caf, as well as local Greensboro events and festivals, and donates it to non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army and Urban Ministries. Here’s what Abby has to say about her work in the Food Recovery Network and how you can be apart of it.
“August of this year, when I transferred to UNCG; I joined the FRN Executive Board as one of their social media managers.”
“We work with local events going on in Greensboro; this semester, we’ve worked with the Food Truck Festival, the Folk Festival, the Women’s Cone Health 5k, and we ran the Fall Food Drive in September. We typically have an event for all members (other students and faculty are typically invited as well!) each month; in November, we’ll be having another food drive and a Christmas event planned for the members.”
“I joined the FRN because it’s an amazing organization with great intentions; so far just this semester, we’ve recovered over 2,000 pounds of excess food that has all been donated to local shelters. It’s such a simple way to help out the community, and it’s a great way to network with professors and students in the Nutrition department. Even if you’re not in the nutrition department, it’s an incredibly easy way to get volunteer hours, reduce food waste on campus, and feed our community.”
Others can join the FRN by messaging us on Facebook (@uncgfrn), Instagram (@foodrecoveryuncg), twitter (frn_uncg), or sending us an email at frn.uncg@gmail.com and asking to become a member, be put on the emailing list, or both! To volunteer, you don’t need to be a member; you can simply sign up to do food recoveries (on Mondays and Thursdays from 6-6:45 p.m.) using the monthly sign-up sheets (links can be found on social media: the link for November sign ups is here).
(Editors Note: Abby is also a new writer for HC at UNCG. Check out her first article here!)