UIC, Rush join forces to prevent food waste
CHICAGO (CBS) – Two iconic institutions in the Near West Side's Illinois Medical District are joining forces to keep good food from going to waste.
It's not a food drive, but there is a vehicle involved.
"It's kind of cool to drive around with all the attention but nobody really knowing what you're doing," said Lydia Vulich.
It's a compact vehicle that would catch your eye, but when Vulich is behind the wheel, the work she's doing is behind the scenes.
"The school work I'm doing is nothing compared to what I'm doing in the community right now," she said.
The junior at the University of Illinois Chicago is part of what's called the Food Recovery Program. It meets Vulich's goal of giving back.
"My family has always been huge advocates for decreasing food waste," Vulich said. "My mom volunteers at a food pantry. We're very much inclined to help food insecure people."
It also meets her university's goal of taking steps to be more sustainable.
"What we've found in our waste audits that about a third of what we throw out is food," said Andrew Mitchell, who oversees the program. "That's consistent with national numbers, but we want to find ways to save that food."
He added, "There's a great community here in the Illinois Medical District of people committed to sustainability, and where those efficiencies exists, we try to connect."
So Vulich is one of several students who spend a few days a week inside the university's tiny electric vehicle to run a route that makes a big difference.
The first stop for her on a recent route was Rush University Medical Center and the Panera on campus, which gives pastries and other items that would have been thrown out a second chance. Once that food was loaded, it was on to the hospital's cafeteria.
"We are heading down to the central kitchen to pick up our food recoveries from food nutrition," said Ian Hughes, Rush's sustainability manager.
Hughes said the hospital has repurposed its unused food before, but partnering with UIC has changed the game.
"Now we're picking up food two days a week from our central kitchen, and five days a week from Panera," he said.
They collected some prepackaged meals -- leftovers from patients including salad, sandwiches, and muffins.
"I absolutely love the fact that we're diverting this material from landfills, but also finding a secondary home for it and supporting those who are most vulnerable on the Near West Side is not only heartwarming, but it's wonderful," said.
With another half dozen boxes stacked in the back, it was time to head west on Harrison Street to Vulich's final stop: Franciscan Outreach. The contents of each box will feed people experiencing homelessness on the West Side.
"The food means a lot of feeding our guests," said kitchen manager Ladidrea Williams. "By this being a food desert, this area, we are allowed to give our guests fresh fruits and vegetables."
Beyond going green, Williams said the program is giving something the Franciscan community needs most.
"They're able to have daily nutrition from it," Williams said. "And it's such a big help and we appreciate the program."
And in that journey, start to finish, the students see the impact.
"It really just opens our eyes to what's going on in the community," said Vulich.
They're sustaining lives and the environment.
"It's just seeing how food can bring people together," she added.
The Food Recovery Network has been very successful nationally. There are 244 chapters with nine chapters in Illinois.
To learn more about Franciscan Outreach or to help their cause, visit FranOutreach.org.
