BINGHAMTON, NY – Have you ever had French fry casserole? To make it, you mix gravy, meat and French fries, put it all in a pan, top it off with cheese and bake it. Sound weird? Imagine if you were hungry – truly hungry — and didn’t know when your next meal would come. Suddenly, French fry casserole sounds a whole lot more appetizing, doesn’t it?

French fry casserole is just one of the many food options made available to the hungry in the Binghamton area thanks to the Food Recovery Network (FRN) at Binghamton University. The program, launched in spring 2014, takes unused food from the dining halls and distributes it to non-profits, where it is consumed — with gratitude — by hungry people in the community.

Sabrina Scull, a senior environmental studies major, leads the Binghamton University chapter (the FRN, founded at the University of Maryland in 2011, is a national organization made up of more than 140 colleges and universities.) She became interested in diverting food waste after taking classes like Sociology of Food.

"I learned so much about food waste and hunger, and how it’s really more of a problem of allocation than being too little food," Scull said. "I found that all really fascinating, and I was basically given the opportunity to do something about it."’

Seven days a week, dining hall employees across campus store all food that can be used as leftovers in their cooler (cream soups, gravies, beef stroganoff and rice are off the list). The following morning, a truck driver stops at each facility, picks up any food waste from the previous day and takes it to the College-in-the-Woods (CIW) dining hall.

Based on a schedule managed by Scull, student volunteers come to CIW at various dates and times throughout the week. Once they arrive, they walk into the freezer, take different pans out and repackage it into disposable containers. They then track the food’s weight, quantity and temperature. Once everything is documented, they repackage the food and place it back in the freezer. Volunteers of America Upstate New York (VOANY) or the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) haul it away in big trucks and repurpose it for meals.

Bill Hughes, food service manager for VOANY, picks up food from CIW five days a week. Thanks to the FRN, he can now provide more choices. He appreciates all of the food that Scull and her crew can donate.

"One pan alone feeds a lot of people, but 10 pans feeds that many more," Hughes said. "If anything is given, it’s a blessing. If anything is received, it’s with a lot of care."

How much of an impact does the FRN make? Think about it like this. If you gave a person a 4 oz. piece of chicken breast, a 4 oz. portion of rice and a 4 oz. portion of spinach, you’d have a "fairly nice plate of food," said College-in-the-Woods Chef Manager Herb. Based on this 12-oz portion size, the Food Recovery Network fed 9,702 meals in the fall 2014 semester alone.

"As a chef of fine dining for 35 years, my hat goes off to every person at Binghamton University — from chefs to dishwashers," Hughes said. "I can’t say enough."