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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 24, 2014) — A new program on campus is fostering community outreach to those in need, educating students about hunger and nutrition and helping the university repurpose its food waste.
The new initiative is part of a nationwide program called the Campus Kitchen. Like the recently opened Big Blue Pantry, it is an organization with aspirations to bring awareness to issues surrounding hunger, albeit in a different way. The focus of the kitchen is on helping people on and off campus in the greater Lexington community while also trying to keep food from going to waste.
During the past several weeks of the fall 2014 semester, more than 100 students have signed up to collect un-used food from UK Dining as well as produce from the UK College of Agriculture Food and Environment’s Horticulture Research Farm to cook meals. They’ve delivered those meals to Lexington charities such as the Catholic Action Center, Salvation Army and Hope Center. Students have even prepared meals for Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy students (on campus for tutoring through the Center for Community Outreach) to take home in hopes they will share with their siblings.
UK sophomore Walter Brown, who is majoring in dietetics and human nutrition in the School of Human Environmental Sciences, serves as president of this student group. He says being a part of this program is about much more than learning, cooking and giving back.
Watch the video above to discover why Brown's background makes him so committed and how he hopes to change the perception of college students for the greater Lexington community.