Tucked in a cozy corner of the Science Center lies a mysterious fridge with a habit of refilling itself. Bundt cakes, ham sandwiches, and strudels attract late-for-class and late-night Swattie snackers from all corners of the campus as they grab a quick bite of free food. The magic is the newly launched Food Recovery Fridge.
The Food Recovery Fridge — located in the Science Center Room 199 lobby (the side closer to Singer Hall) — redistributes unused food from catered events on campus to members of the community at zero cost. This initiative was introduced by Swarthmore’s Office of Sustainability. President’s Sustainability Research Fellow Saumya Raj ’25 began working on the project during the 2023-24 academic year under the mentorship of Associate Director of Sustainability Clare Hyre. Saumya also mentioned the support of administrators Andrew Feick, Elizabeth Drake, and Anthony Coschignano in implementing the fridge. The fridge emerged from a key observation: while numerous catered events each week often left food behind and created waste, students faced late-night empty stomachs. The program helps close this gap by providing a designated refrigerator to safely collect and redistribute edible leftovers from events. This not only tackles issues of waste and peckishness but also encourages a cultural shift toward sustainability and resourcefulness on campus.
In the early stages of the initiative, the founder recognized the importance of connecting with other campus resources to bring their plan to life. Partnering with Swarthmore Dining Retail Manager Tim Smith and Green Advisors Addie Franklin ’27 and Yuki Yamada ’27, they assembled a team with diverse roles to support the food recovery and redistribution process. The Food Recovery Fridge became a collaborative project, with contributions from multiple groups across campus, all working towards advancing sustainability efforts.
“When we throw away food, we’re not just wasting calories or nutrients; we’re wasting the labor of those who grew it, the energy used to transport it, and the love used to prepare it. By building this system of food recovery, we’re reinforcing the idea that every meal matters,” said Saumya, a founder of this initiative. “Our goal has always been to merge sustainability with comfort and tackle the challenge of how to make sustainable living truly comfortable and accessible.”
The workings of the fridge are simple. After catered events, organizers will safely and hygienically place leftover food in good condition into the fridge. Each item in the refrigerator is labeled with information about the food, such as its type, any known allergens, and the date it was first served. Then, community members are able to make informed choices about what to take and enjoy a late-night snack or a quick morning breakfast. Gloves, trays, carts, tongs, and other serving utensils are provided to ensure a touch- and contamination-free process.
With the initiative established, more and more students have been seen carrying around different kinds of catered food not found at campus cafes.
“It’s really nice to be able to grab a quick snack whenever needed, or even a meal if the Science Center or other food places are closed,” said Violet Garibaldi ’28, a frequent user of the fridge. “It also just feels good to put perfectly good food to use instead of seeing it get thrown out.”
In fact, the popularity of this fridge has led to the speedy emptying of its contents, bringing to attention the impact of this initiative.
Yamada, a member of the food recovery team, said, “Sometimes the cycle goes so fast that there is no food left when someone visits the fridge! Seeing this, I feel the impact of this initiative. I had not realized that there were so many leftovers after the event until they started to be stored.”
To keep this momentum going, there are a few simple ways the community can support the initiative.
“If you are a student, staff, or faculty member, please take the time to stop by the fridge, get acquainted with our short list of steps for using the fridge, and enjoy some food! And if you are in charge of a club activity or event on campus, you can bring your food to the fridge! Just make sure to follow our steps for placing food in the fridge!” said Franklin, another member of the food recovery team.
Looking into the future, the food recovery team believes that the fridge’s impact will stay on the rise. They hope to gather feedback to make this initiative more effective, accessible, and impactful to the community.
“In terms of student feedback, we are in the process of creating a feedback form for people to tell us how they use the fridge,” Yamada said. “We look forward to receiving many responses and improving the project even more.”
Fantastic – loud applause to the organizers!