Washington, DC (PRWEB) April 21, 2017
The Campus Kitchens Project, the leading national nonprofit empowering students to fight hunger and food waste today announced the release of its new toolkit, “Rural Hunger Solutions.” The resource, which includes best practices for addressing rural hunger and food waste from leading universities across the country, is presented by CoBank, a national cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America.
At more than 60 Campus Kitchens across the country, students lead efforts to combat food waste and hunger by transforming surplus food from dining halls, community gardens, restaurants, and grocery stores into healthy meals. Each Campus Kitchen goes beyond meals by using food as a tool to promote poverty solutions relevant to the needs of their community.
In the newly released toolkit, student volunteers with the Campus Kitchens at Elon University, Troy University, Minnesota State University - Mankato, St. Lawrence University, Gettysburg College, The University of Georgia, and Washington and Lee University share their innovative interventions designed to address rural hunger and combat food waste at a local level.
“All too often, the rural communities that grow our nation’s food supply are disproportionally affected by hunger,” said Sarah Tyree, The Campus Kitchens Project board chair and CoBank vice president. “With the launch of this new toolkit, The Campus Kitchens Project has again demonstrated the unique power of our young leaders who not only recover wasted food to provide meals to those in need, but also in that process develop sustainable solutions to some of our nation’s biggest challenges.”
Lack of transportation and infrastructure in rural communities presents significant challenges to traditional food distribution models. With the support of CoBank, the “Rural Hunger Solutions” toolkit focuses on the creation of new and innovative programs that address the underlying root causes of hunger in these communities. Together, we have piloted and evaluated innovative programs created by leading universities in rural areas to address rural hunger at its source.
For more information on The Campus Kitchens Project, its CoBank-funded rural hunger outreach program, and other work visit http://www.campuskitchens.org .
About The Campus Kitchens Project
Founded in 2001, The Campus Kitchens Project is a national organization that empowers student volunteers to fight hunger and food waste in their community. On 60 university and high school campuses across the country, students transform unused food from dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers’ markets into meals that are delivered to local agencies serving those in need. By taking the initiative to run a community kitchen, students develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills, along with a commitment to serve their community, that they will carry with them into future careers. Each Campus Kitchen goes beyond meals by using food as a tool to promote poverty solutions, implement garden initiatives, participate in nutrition education, and convene food policy events. To learn more about our work or bring The Campus Kitchens Project to your school, visit http://www.campuskitchens.org.
About CoBank
CoBank is a $126 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country.
CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture and the nation's rural economy. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore. For more information about CoBank, visit the bank's web site at http://www.cobank.com.
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