By Karen Coppock
At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Assistant Professor Tyler White had a goal to reduce food waste and address food insecurity on UT’s campus. Working with other UT staff, White created the food4VOLS program. “Our program started in August 2021,” said White. “I came up with the idea and implemented it, thinking I could incorporate it into part of my normal classes here.”
White explained that “food4VOLS spun out of a meeting with Jay Price, who’s with Sustainability here at UT.” UT has a composting program, and Price noticed that much of the food coming from Vol dining was usable. Initially, they thought about 8,000 pounds of unused food could provide 2,000-3,000 meals from August to May. “Was I wrong!” laughed White. “In the fall of 2021, I think we collected 20,000 pounds of food and made like 6,000 meals!”
Currently, food4VOLS employs a full-time coordinator and also has an AmeriCorps member. The program relies heavily on daily volunteers – UT students and staff and community members are a big part of food4VOLS’ success. Using a box truck and a refrigerated van, staff and volunteers make rounds each day, collecting unused and overproduced food from UT dining halls and restaurants. On average, food4VOLS collects more than 500 pounds of food per day, typically in four categories: protein, vegetable/produce, starch, and desserts. “We reclaim it, and we bring all of this food back to the Culinary Institute and repurpose it into microwaveable meals,” said White. “The idea was that broke college students have spent all their money and they can’t eat1, so all they do is live on ramen. That’s why we made [the meals] microwavable – because in the dorms, they’re limited to basically having a microwave.”
The food is stored in commercial refrigerators at UT’s Culinary Institute until it’s repurposed. The extra food provides good nutritional options for students, rather than simply offering typical vending machine fare. He added, “We label all our meals [with] allergens and ingredients. Our coordinator is a trained executive chef.” They work with chefs on campus if there are questions about ingredients, and food service staff contact food4VOLS if they have extra food.
Although food4VOLS is located within the Culinary Institute in UT’s College of Education, Health, and Human Science, UT does not centrally fund it. “We are completely self-funded,” explained White. “We do rely on donations.” White estimates each meal costs about $0.27. Even though the food itself is donated, food4VOLS purchases containers and utensils, as well as seasonings and sauces, and staples like rice and potatoes. Other expenses include maintenance and gas for the box truck and van.
The food4VOLS program has six different distribution sites on campus in areas that don’t have dining options, such as academic buildings, with the idea being that UT’s campus is very large, so it can be difficult to get to a dining hall or restaurant between classes or meetings. The program provides a refrigerator and microwave at each location, along with utensils. Students, faculty, or staff members can walk up, take a meal, and heat it up with no questions asked.
“Since we’ve started, we have collected more than 530,000 pounds of food, so we average more than 100,000 pounds a year,” said White. The program has been so successful at repurposing unused food into meals for hungry college students that they now partner with Second Harvest, KARM, The Dream Connection, and other community nonprofits to feed people in Knox, Blount, and Sevier counties. Additionally, food4VOLS was recognized with one of the 2024 Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards. Montana State University and the University of South Carolina are implementing their own versions of this program.
The abundance of reclaimed food means food4VOLS can meet their primary goal of feeding UT students and help their nonprofit partners address food scarcity in the community. For example, the program is piloting a new offshoot, food4VOLS Jr., this summer. “We’re partnering with Transforming Western Heights and sending meals twice a week… for kids [to] take meals home,” explained White. “Either it’s their lunch [or they] make it their dinner or maybe a weekend meal.”
From a simple desire to end hunger on UT’s campus, food4VOLS has developed into a thriving community outreach program. For more information, check out their website at cehhs.utk.edu/rhtm/food4vols, or see the sidebar for ways to support their mission.
How to Help
• Volunteer – Although UT students are the primary volunteers, community members over 18 are welcome. For more information or to sign up, visit givepulse.com/event/609211-2025-summer-food4vols.
• Donate funds – Because UT falls under the 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, donations are tax deductible. Donations made through Big Orange Give drive or the UT Office of Advancement can be designated for the food4VOLS program at give.utk.edu/campaigns/42950/donations/new?designation_id=food_4.
1A study revealed that in the University of Tennessee System, 33.8% of students were food insecure. This means one out of every three students at UT identified themselves as food insecure (Wooten et al., 2019).