Abstract for: The Leftovers Project: Feeding Students by Mitigating Food Waste

The Leftovers Capstone Project addresses sources of food waste in JMU Dining facilities. Food insecurity is experienced by approximately 39% of the JMU student population as determined from a survey performed by the JMU Student Support Hub in 2019. Food insecurity is a problem that many people face around the world, and solving this social issue is one of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development goals. This project models the food production and dissemination system in the university and how it contributes to food waste on campus. Through the course of model construction, the project team communicated with various stakeholders, including but not limited to: JMU Dining Services, Aramark, the JMU Pantry, the Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World, Community Engagement and Volunteer Center (CEVC), and the Basic Needs Advisory Board.  The resulting system dynamics model (JMU DinSim) simulates the current JMU food production and consumption structure to suggest potential strategies to repurpose perishable food to aid students in the JMU population that face food insecurity. Through implementing proposed policies, food insecurity at JMU can be driven down from 39% to 33%. The remaining leftovers can also be allocated to feed those in the local community. Such a model would help stakeholders to make better policy decisions in regard to hunger prevention, mitigating waste, and expanding current student aid programs. The university directly benefits from waste reduction, spending less on food purchases and composting scraps. There are also indirect benefits to be gained from a better fed student population, including increased school prestige and improved student performance.