{"id":19746,"date":"2017-05-11T15:48:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T19:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=19746"},"modified":"2021-05-21T12:35:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T16:35:40","slug":"university-kentucky-campus-kitchen-fight-hunger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/university-kentucky-campus-kitchen-fight-hunger\/","title":{"rendered":"University Of Kentucky Campus Kitchen\u2019s Fight Against Hunger Beefed Up by Student\u2019s Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hunger is a continuing problem in the U.S. that remains largely hidden, even though <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outnumberhunger.com\/hunger-in-america\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over 42 million Americans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> suffer from it. While <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outnumberhunger.com\/hunger-in-america\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 in 8 Americans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> go hungry, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/business\/archive\/2016\/07\/american-food-waste\/491513\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">60 million tons of produce worth $160 billion pounds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are discarded annually in the U.S. What a waste! The reason for such waste sounds ludicrous, but it is nevertheless rooted in reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Americans won\u2019t buy produce that has the wrong shape or minor blemishes, so \u201cimperfect\u201d produce is being discarded at the source or by grocery stores. On top of that, the average American household throws away <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/retirement\/2016\/11\/03\/heres-how-much-the-average-american-wastes-on-food.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$640 worth of food<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> annually, while a single restaurant discards <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3067753\/at-this-new-york-restaurant-you-can-order-a-food-waste-dumpling\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">25,000 to 75,000 pounds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of food every year.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19747\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19747\" style=\"width: 854px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19747\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/OutnumberHunger.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"854\" height=\"290\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">OutnumberHunger.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s hard to fathom the magnitude of the waste when millions of Americans are still struggling with hunger. Fortunately, many organizations, including <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.campuskitchens.org\/locations\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">campus kitchens in universities and colleges<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, are involved in recovering food that would have been wasted and repurposing the food to help the hungry. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">University of Kentucky\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dhn-hes.ca.uky.edu\/CKUK\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Campus Kitchen<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is at the forefront of this effort. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>University of Kentucky Campus Kitchen<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Started in 2014, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dhn-hes.ca.uky.edu\/CKUK\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (CKUK) is housed in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the university\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ca.uky.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">College of Agriculture, Food and Environment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CKUK is a student-driven initiative with a slim budget, and relies on student volunteers to carry out their mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students collect food that would otherwise have been wasted from the university\u2019s dining facilities and nearby farms, farmers\u2019 markets, restaurants and grocery stores;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19748\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19748\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19748\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/University-of-Kentucky-1024x771.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"771\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19748\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Kentucky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students prepare healthy, balanced and nutritious meals with the food collected, using kitchen space in the university\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dhn-hes.ca.uky.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; and <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students package the meals and deliver them to organizations and low-income families and individuals. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Student volunteers also mentor and help equip the people in need with essential skills, knowledge and confidence for a healthy life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"UK&#039;s Campus Kitchen Uses Un-used Food to Nurture Lexington&#039;s Hungry\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bRPeHCAyvmM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tammy J. Stephenson, an assistant professor in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, spoke highly of CKUK and its achievements to TUN. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition is honored to serve as the home of the Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky,\u201d Stephenson said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNot only is CKUK reducing food waste and providing meals and nutrition education to those experiencing food insecurity, the student-driven organization also provides meaningful experiential learning and leadership opportunities to students from majors across campus. Through these experiences, students gain skills and knowledge to continue work in sustainability and finding solutions to end hunger, even after they have graduated from the University of Kentucky.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>Student research equips CKUK to help abate hunger year round<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since inception, CKUK has been making a difference locally. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Stephenson, CKUK \u00a0has rescued over 10,000 pounds of food over the past 3 years. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This semester alone, \u201cCKUK provided around 1,500 meals to those in need in central Kentucky,\u201d Stephenson said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that\u2019s not all. CKUK is now poised to help those in need even in cooler months when the supply of available produce dries up, thanks to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uknow.uky.edu\/campus-news\/graduating-students-research-leaves-mark-campus-kitchen-uk\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one student\u2019s research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That remarkable student is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anna Townsend, a graduating senior, who has been involved with CKUK since her freshman year and will leave a lasting impression on the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Townsend\u2019s research on indoor gardening, which involved growing different types of lettuces in container, vertical and hydroponic gardens and assessing their feasibility, will enable CKUK to produce fresh vegetables in cooler months. She used only containers donated by other CKUK volunteers for her vertical garden, which limits consumer waste and makes for a sustainable way to grow produce. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vertical garden is \u201cvery malleable\u201d and \u201ccan work in a room, outside of a building or by a window,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19749\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19749\" style=\"width: 827px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19749\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/University-of-Kentucky-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"827\" height=\"825\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19749\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Kentucky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAnna\u2019s research this semester will guide CKUK\u2019s future efforts in gardening and having a sustainable source of fresh produce to complement the meals prepared with recovered foods.\u201d Stephenson, who also serves as Townsend\u2019s research advisor, told TUN. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>What inspired Townsend?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TUN spoke with Townsend directly to find out more about her involvement with CKUK and her inspiration for the research project. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Townsend got involved with CKUK in the second semester of her freshman year because she loves to cook but had no access to a full kitchen living on campus. But then she learned<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cabout the prevalence of hunger in Lexington, the state of Kentucky, and across the United States\u201d through her involvement with the organization. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Townsend\u2019s newfound knowledge spurred her on to volunteer her services to two other organizations in her sophomore year. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, she went to Washington, D.C. with the university\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ukasb.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternative Service Breaks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during spring break of her sophomore year, where she volunteered with poverty- and hunger-relief organizations. She then spent the summer of that year as a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shepherdconsortium.org\/shepherd-internship-program\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> intern with the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/vcgn.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vermont Community Garden Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which increased her interest in \u201ccombating hunger and poverty by establishing community gardens at affordable housing sites.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These experiences motivated Townsend to take on more challenges at CKUK, so she became a cooking and recovery shift captain. Now in her senior year, Townsend serves as vice president and garden fellow of the organization. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>What made Townsend focus on indoor gardening research?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Townsend chose indoor gardening as her research project for a very simple reason. CKUK is able to recover produce from late spring through early fall, but there isn\u2019t any produce to recover during cooler months, so it\u2019s harder to help those in need during that period. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In late fall of 2016, therefore, Townsend got together with Amanda Hege, advisor to CKUK and director of community outreach for the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, and Connor VanMeter, president of CKUK, to d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">iscuss the establishment of a garden fellowship, so CKUK could \u201cexplore and advocate\u201d sustainable agriculture by way of indoor gardens. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CKUK applied to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/sustainability\/student-sustainability-council\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Student Sustainability Council<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for funding, which was presented by Townsend, and $2,000 was awarded to fund the fellowship and start-up and operational costs of indoor gardens. Though the fellowship began in January 2017, Townsend began to plan the indoor gardens in December 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The establishment of indoor gardens at the university will help CKUK feed the hungry even in cooler months. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBy establishing an indoor garden, we are able to grow some vegetables, fruits, and herbs to maintain healthy, nutritionally dense meals for our clients,\u201d Townsend said. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>One person can make a difference<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Townsend\u2019s efforts and achievements prove that one person can have a positive impact. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cAnna is an excellent reminder of the impact one person can make by pursuing a passion,\u201d <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hege told TUN. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBy working with the Campus Kitchen at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, she saw a need for supplying fresh produce year-round and found a way to use her knowledge and experiences to fill the gap. We look forward to continuing to empower students as they follow Anna\u2019s footsteps and foster the gardening and sustainability programs she created.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Townsend believes that sustainability programs have an impact not just on the environment but also on students. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Sustainability programs are critical for maintaining both awareness of burgeoning environmental issues, as well as developing leadership, professionalism, and creativity in students. These programs teach students how they can make a difference in their community through service and research.<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBy establishing indoor gardens for CKUK, I am more confident in my skills as a researcher and advocacy for preventable issues, such as food waste and hunger. <\/span>As a result of my research, CKUK is able to support sustainable agriculture in several ways: maintaining indoor and outdoor gardens to provide food for healthy meals, teaching students about gardening and nutrition, and presenting this research at conferences to inspire other organizations and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hunger is a continuing problem in the U.S. that remains largely hidden, even though over 42 million Americans suffer from it. While 1 in 8 Americans go hungry, 60 million tons of produce worth $160 billion pounds are discarded annually in the U.S. What a waste! The reason for such waste sounds ludicrous, but it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":19756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,233,638,230,640,229,643,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news","category-sustainable","category-food-security","category-news","category-sustainable-agriculture","category-lead-stories","category-university-action","category-university-of-kentucky"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg",830,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies-224x144.jpeg",224,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies-300x193.jpeg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg",830,533,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg",830,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg",830,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg",830,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Susan Chu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/susan-chu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Hunger is a continuing problem in the U.S. that remains largely hidden, even though over 42 million Americans suffer from it. While 1 in 8 Americans go hungry, 60 million tons of produce worth $160 billion pounds are discarded annually in the U.S. What a waste! The reason for such waste sounds ludicrous, but it&hellip;","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/veggies.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}