Auburn's Campus Kitchen wins national contest for sustainability

Auburn University’s Campus Kitchen chapter has been awarded $4,000 by food company Sambazon as one of the four winners of their inaugural Greenhouse Initiative contest.

The contest was supported by the non-profit eco-education group, The Ecology Center.

The award was given to Kenzley Defler, senior in environmental science, who is the vice president of Campus Kitchens.

“We first found out about it from one of the interns at The Ecology Center,” Defler said. “(We) applied online.”

Any school club or group of people working to improve the campus and community were eligible to apply for the grant. The goal of the contest is to encourage sustainable efforts among campus groups.

Only schools where Sambazon’s acai berry products are served were eligible for the contest.

Campus Kitchen is a national student-led organization that can be found providing nutrition to those with food insecurity across the country. Leftover food at campus dining halls is collected by Campus Kitchen and redistributed.

Campus Kitchen is planning to use the grant money to purchase a golf cart.

“(The golf cart) is to help us reach one of our Campus Kitchen goals to be more sustainable,” Delfer said. “We just felt it would help with our pickups so we can use the golf cart to drive the University dining halls when we’re collecting that food.”

Delfer said they are looking for a solar panel golf cart powered by renewable energy as a more sustainable method opposed to them using their cars to pick up the food.

Through the grant, Campus Kitchens will receive a mentorship from the Ecology Center and Sambazon.

“We’re hoping to work with them and brainstorm any other areas that our group can increase our sustainability and improve our current operation,” Delfer said. “We’re always looking for ways to better ourselves.”