{"id":31301,"date":"2024-04-15T13:51:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T17:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?p=31301"},"modified":"2024-04-15T13:51:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T17:51:30","slug":"kate-flynn-turning-leftovers-into-long-lasting-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/2024\/04\/15\/kate-flynn-turning-leftovers-into-long-lasting-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate Flynn: Turning leftovers into long-lasting impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Student
Student Kate Flynn cuts the ribbon at the opening of the Black Bear Community Fridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the United States, more than 133 billion pounds of food are thrown away each year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>, food waste is responsible for 33% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Maine, and about 11% of emissions nationwide. <\/p>\n

Kate Flynn, a fourth-year political science student at the University of Maine, was exposed to the extent of food waste across the state and nation during a class project that dealt with nutrition insecurity and the redirection of excess food to where it is needed most. Her project inspired her passion for making a difference in how people can access food. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to frame it as connecting excess or surplus food to where food is needed because frequently, the phrase \u2018food waste\u2019 has a negative connotation. It is \u2018wasted food,\u2019 because the majority of food waste is perfectly good and edible food that is falling through the cracks of our food access system,\u201d said Flynn. <\/p>\n

In 2022, Flynn applied for an internship with the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions\u2019 Food Rescue MAINE<\/a> food waste solutions research program. Flynn\u2019s research focus was developing food waste solutions that would help to feed more Mainers.   <\/p>\n

Working with various stakeholders, including the Black Bear Exchange, Sodexo\/UMaine Dining, Maine Hunger Dialogue, the Wilson Center, Black Bear Mutual Aid group, UMaine Green Team and other hunger and food waste focused organizations, Flynn launched a community fridge pilot on the UMaine campus. The Black Bear Community Fridge & Pantry officially opened in November 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to not just decrease the stigma around asking for help and getting help with food, but also make food more accessible,\u201d Flynn said. \u201cThe fridge is meant for everyone. The Black Bear Exchange food pantry also does incredible work for UMaine students and the greater Orono area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excerpted from a UMaine News article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the United States, more than 133 billion pounds of food are thrown away each year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food waste is responsible for 33% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Maine, and about 11% of emissions nationwide.  Kate Flynn, a fourth-year political science student at the University of Maine, was exposed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"mitchellcenter","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/author\/mitchellcenter\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":613,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":613,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31304,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31301\/revisions\/31304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}