Food Recovery to Feed the Pack

Students work in the University Towers dining facility to pack lunches throuhg the Food Recovery Network restarted on campus. It's led by Abby Mulry and other students on campus. The meals were packed and taken to the Feed the Pack food pantry so campus community memebers dealing with food insecurity would have access to a meal. Photo by Marc Hall

By Lani St. Hill

At NC State, sustainability often starts with the simple idea of supporting one another.

That’s what Abby Mulry ’26, a biological sciences and international studies student, had in mind when she revived the Food Recovery Network at NC State, which had gone quiet during the pandemic. With support from NC State Dining and the University Sustainability Office, Mulry spent the summer reestablishing food recovery as a key part of campus life.

Thanks in part to facility updates at the Feed the Pack Food Pantry, Mulry shifted the Food Recovery Network’s focus to campus needs, aiming to help the nearly 30% of students facing food insecurity. Each week, Mulry and a team of volunteers recover unused food from University Towers Dining Hall or Fountain Dining Hall, transforming it into ready-to-eat meals for Feed the Pack. Mulry has also partnered with NC State Athletics to recover food from Carter-Finley Stadium after home football games.

The impact has been tremendous: more than 5,864 pounds of food, or about 4,900 meals, have been recovered this fall semester.

“Being part of the Food Recovery Network has been an absolutely incredible experience,” Mulry said. “Food is something that everyone can relate to and find value in, and the Food Recovery Network is a testament to how small actions add up to make a big impact.”

Mulry’s leadership in the Food Recovery Network is part of her role as a Sustainable Food Systems and Interdisciplinary Training Scholar through the Campus As A Classroom program. The role explores how sustainable practices strengthen food systems and communities by bringing people together for a shared purpose.

“I hope that this initiative inspires students to find community in helping their community,” Mulry said.

Students who want to join the Food Recovery Network should register at getinvolved.ncsu.edu and complete a short training.

Thanks to Mulry’s leadership, the revived Food Recovery Network is once again showing that sustainability can nourish the Wolfpack community in a multitude of ways.