You've all done it. The waiter carries out the food to your table, sets it down in front of your growling stomach and bulging eyes, and suddenly, you realize the steak is cooked a bit too much to your liking. Politely (or perhaps not), you have the food sent back and a new meal is promptly returned to your table at the standard you requested.
So what happened to that first meal?
Chances are it's decomposing in a landfill, providing sustenance to the ground or a raccoon.
It is with this knowledge that several concerned students have brought Campus Kitchens to Auburn, which will seek to save that food from the landfill and deliver it to the plates of people who need it.
"I stumbled into the 'Intro to Hunger Studies' course and realized I had a deep passion for issues concerning hunger," said Ashlyn Yuratich, junior in anthropology and vice-chair of the Campus Kitchens task force. "We decided to do a semester-long project that would be sustainable on Auburn's campus."
Yuratich and several classmates in a hunger capstone course decided to choose Campus Kitchens, a national program that is fighting world hunger.
The premise behind Campus Kitchens is obtaining the large amount of food that is thrown away every day on campus and delivering it to the hungry citizens of a particular community.
Campus Kitchens task force chair Daniel Ballew, senior in building science, said the program is in the pilot phase.
The first Campus Kitchen event was Friday.
"We want to start small and move out," Ballew said.
Currently, the food is only being served from the leftovers of Sewell Hall.
"Eventually, we want to have food coming in from restaurants all over Auburn," Ballew said.
While Auburn may not have big-city characteristics like widespread homelessness and housing projects that make hunger visible, the group stresses there is a great need for a program like Campus Kitchens in Auburn and the surrounding area.
"Forty-five percent of Lee County's population west of Auburn lives below the federal poverty line, and the declining economy only increases the need," Yuratich said.
The task force members share a central goal of curbing hunger in Auburn.
"The fight against world hunger has been on the forefront of my mind for the last four years," said Emily Butler, senior in health and family development studies and a task force member. "I had the opportunity to partake in several international trips that opened my eyes to the global issues concerning our world."
For Ballew, the motivation runs deeper.
"Ultimately, it comes down to my relationship with Christ," Ballew said.
While the first kitchen was held in Sewell Hall, Ballew said they will be having them in the new Auburn Arena in the future.
As the program gains momentum, more opportunities for students and community members to volunteer will become available.
"I'm planning a kickoff day which will be held on MLK Day of Service, Jan. 17, 2011," Yuratich said. "This will be open to everyone in the community to come get involved with Campus Kitchens and learn the importance of service."
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