Students launch campus food drive to reduce food waste and support local families
Okayama University of Science students are working with Food Bank Okayama to collect donated food for local community meal programs
image: Members of the food drive initiative at Okayama University of Science. From left: student Tsubasa Kimura; Chie Itoyama, chairperson of Food Bank Okayama; Lecturer Shanhui Zhang of the Faculty of Management; Chinese international student Mingzhen Li; Sri Lankan international student Linara; and Professor Makoto Uchida.
Credit: Okayama University of Science
Third-year students in the Faculty of Management at Okayama University of Science (OUS) have launched a food drive on the university’s Okayama Campus in cooperation with the nonprofit organization Food Bank Okayama. The initiative aims to reduce food waste while supporting families in need through local community meal programs for children.
The students began setting up food collection boxes on campus on October 6. Donations will be accepted once preparations are complete, and the food drive will continue through December. Collected food will be donated to nearby community meal programs and other organizations supporting local residents.
The initiative was developed by four students, including Tsubasa Kimura, as part of “Social Good Lab,” a problem-based learning course in the Faculty of Management. Looking for a way to contribute to the community while addressing food waste, the students developed the project in consultation with Food Bank Okayama.
On October 6, the students joined Food Bank Okayama representatives, including Chairperson Chie Itoyama, to install one of the cylindrical food collection boxes in the Student Commons on the first floor of Building A1.
Two additional collection points are being established in front of Grand Mart on the first floor of Building A3 and in the student lounge on the first floor of Building C1, bringing the total to three locations across campus. Posters explaining the purpose of the food drive will also be displayed at the collection points.
The food drive will accept unopened, nonperishable foods that can be stored at room temperature, have at least two months remaining before their best-before dates, and carry Japanese-language labeling. Fresh and perishable foods will not be accepted.
The students plan to collect donations from each box every Friday.
“I hope we can reduce food waste in our society, even if only a little,” Kimura said. “I also hope this initiative will help more people learn about the work of food banks.”
Itoyama welcomed the students’ involvement in the initiative.
“I am very happy that students have taken an interest in food banks and are getting involved,” she said. “I hope this will also help raise awareness among younger generations.”