Tens of millions of people living in America right now are struggling to secure the food they need to survive and thrive.
According to the USDA, more than 10 percent of all households in the U.S. experience food insecurity and, according to Feeding America, 34 million people in the U.S. are facing hunger right now.
As if those statistics aren’t troubling enough, it is estimated that more than four million college and university students are food insecure and 2.3 million more students have marginal food security.
As part of Aramark’s ESG commitment to create a positive impact on people and the planet, the company addresses food insecurity from several angles, including effective operational and food management practices, minimizing surplus food waste, building strategic partnerships, leading food recovery efforts, providing meal plan scholarships, and fostering collaborative dialogue.
Fighting Food Insecurity on Campus
Aramark Collegiate Hospitality assists college and university students facing food insecurity in several ways.
A collaboration with Swipe Out Hunger offers an opportunity to donate meal “swipes” to students at participating locations. In addition, Aramark Collegiate Hospitality funds Swipe Out Hunger’s research and development efforts to explore future solutions.
The company also engages with the Food Recovery Network to support student-run chapters that minimize food waste by recovering excess produce from local farms and prepared foods from our operations.
As part of the company’s commitment to reducing food waste, Aramark works with Food Donation Connection to donate unused, unserved food across Aramark locations to qualified nonprofit organizations. This effort reduces food waste going to landfills and delivers food to nonprofits who serve people in need.
Aramark Collegiate Hospitality provides onsite operators with simple and effective solutions, including an Aramark Addressing Food Insecurity Toolkit, which enables surplus food donations, meal plan donation programs, and on-campus food pantry support. There are currently an estimated 800 food pantries on U.S. college campuses and demand is growing as pandemic-era resources are ending.
Aramark Collegiate Hospitality also advocates for legislative and regulatory changes, resources, and other efforts including the elimination of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirement for students.
Currently, nine Aramark-managed college and university campuses across the U.S. are authorized as SNAP EBT retailers, allowing students to use their EBT funds in Aramark-managed convenience stores on campus.
Making an Impact
To date, more than 160 Aramark Collegiate Hospitality locations offer at least one program to address food insecurity on campus; 78% of those locations offer more than one solution.
More than 69,000 meal swipes have been donated—and almost 194,000 pounds of food has been donated between surplus food and food pantry donations.
Aramark Collegiate Hospitality supports 118 on-campus food pantries, 57 on-campus gardens and 32 on-campus farmers’ markets.
More Ways Aramark Tackles Food Insecurity
Aramark developed a nutrition education curriculum as part of Healthy For Life, an initiative with the American Heart Association.
The curriculum is part of the SNAP-Ed Toolkit which helps agencies across the country find evidence-based interventions and help households make healthy eating and physical activity choices on a limited budget.
In addition, Aramark creates opportunities for employees to support their local communities through Aramark Building Community, the global volunteer program, including food drives and programs that empower, educate, and inspire people in the community to lead healthier lives.
