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At the University of South Carolina, Aramark Collegiate Hospitality’s Carolina Food Co. and campus partners have built a comprehensive food recovery network that turns surplus food into meaningful support for the campus community. Through three initiatives—Garnet Bites, Feed the Flock, and a partnership with the student-led Food Recovery Network—surplus food from catering events, dining halls, and campus retail locations is safely recovered and redistributed to students.
Each program provides a different pathway for recovery:
- Garnet Bites connects students with surplus food immediately following catered events.
- Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, the Office of the Provost, the Department of Information Technology, the Gamecock CommUnity Shop, the Office of Sustainability, and Student Life developed Garnet Bites through a cross-campus partnership. Registered participants receive notifications when food is available and can pick it up as long as it remains within established food safety parameters.
- Feed the Flock transforms surplus prepared food into ready-to-eat meals.
- Feed the Flock is a partnership between Aramark Collegiate Hospitality and USC’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. The program takes surplus prepared food and safely upcycles it into ready-to-eat meals for the Gamecock CommUnity Shop. What began as a classroom experience has expanded into a larger campus effort, recovering food from dining halls as well as presidential catering events, culinary classes, Greek Village, athletics, and other campus sources.
- Food Recovery Network mobilizes student volunteers to collect and redistribute eligible surplus food across campus from Carolina Food Co. residential and retail dining locations.
“Together, these efforts demonstrate how collaboration, sustainability, food safety, and student well-being can work hand in hand to create a more thoughtful approach to food recovery at the University of South Carolina,” said Faren Alston Wells, Carolina Food Co. Marketing Manager. "The challenge we set out to address was twofold: reducing food waste while strengthening food security by expanding access to nutritious food for students."
Carolina Food Co.’s goal was to create safe pathways that could capture surplus food from across the campus dining ecosystem and redirect it to students who could benefit from it.
“Rather than relying on a single solution, we worked with campus partners to develop multiple approaches based on where the surplus originates: from catered events and dining halls to retail locations,” continued Alston Wells.
The collective impact of USC’s food recovery efforts has been significant and continues to grow. Garnet Bites has grown to more than 2,500 subscribers, supported more than 190 catered events, and engaged more than 220 trained notifiers across campus. Feed the Flock has provided approximately 5,000 ready-to-eat meals while diverting more than 7,500 pounds of surplus food from the waste stream.
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Since spring 2025, student volunteers with the Food Recovery Network on campus have recovered approximately 12,000 pounds of surplus food from across the university, with nearly all of those donations originating from Carolina Food Co. dining locations.
The impact and collaborative approach behind these food recovery efforts have also received industry recognition. Garnet Bites and Feed the Flock were recently highlighted in NACUFS’ Campus Dining Today, showcasing how The University of South Carolina and Aramark Collegiate Hospitality are working across departments to turn surplus food into meaningful student support.
Beyond the numbers and recognition, these initiatives have helped create a more connected and intentional approach to food recovery at USC. "What began as individual efforts has grown into a network of students, faculty, staff, and campus partners working together to reduce food waste while increasing access to nutritious food," said Alston Wells.
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