Over 40% of food produced in the US goes to waste, while 1 in 6 americans experience food insecurity. In the city of St. Louis, that number is over 1 in 4.
Campus Kitchen seeks to address these problems, by recovering food that would otherwise go to waste and using it to prepare meals for the food-insecure of St. Louis. Through volunteer efforts we are able to serve 180 meals each week to Our Lady’s Inn (pregnant women’s shelter), Peter and Paul’s Safe Haven Program (long-term shelter), and the Alberti Program (weekend education program for St. Louis youth).
The Campus Kitchens Project is a national organization with kitchens at 59 schools across the United States. The organization was founded in 2001 based off of the DC Central Kitchen. The Campus Kitchen at Washington University in St. Louis is entirely student-run and provides service leadership opportunities for students while also giving them a chance to take on a central role in fighting hunger in St. Louis. Volunteering with the Campus Kitchen is a wonderful way to learn and practice cooking skills and meet new people with shared passions, all while working toward reduction of hunger in St. Louis. We encourage anyone with an interest in cooking, fighting food waste, helping others, or simply hanging out with friends to check out one of our shifts.