Sodexo has started a new program, GOALympics, to lower food waste at Simpson College and every other university it partners with. The program aims to reduce food waste by 50% in the next 3 to 4 years. After transferring from Kansas City, Sodexo manager Ken Coder has high hopes for the program.

“GOALympics is a way for teams across the segment, which are the universities, to show what they are doing to reduce our waste,” Coder said. Coder also expressed some concern with the current programs in place to reduce waste at Simpson.

“In a lot of conversations, it’s about asking folks about the programs that are in place, which we don’t compost, and the recycling is basically the cardboard that we put in the bin,” Coder said. “But you can’t tackle everything at once, with our waste being 50% post-consumer and food waste being 30% of that.”

He has been talking about whether donating leftover food is possible and if there are farmers in the area who can take leftover food and use it as compost or for any livestock they might have.

“There was discussion at the sustainability meeting; Makayla (Paulsen) grew up as a pig farmer, which is a possibility instead of sending it to compost as a way of diverting it away from the landfill,” Coder said.

The program will happen weekly on Wednesdays in Pfeiffer Dining Hall, where they will attempt to collect the food waste to attempt to recycle it. Sodexo and Coder are working with Dean of Students Matt Hansen, Brian Schultes of campus services and Student Body President Makayla Paulsen to get this program off the ground.

“Working with Matt Hansen and Brian Schultes has been really refreshing because we share a common goal; it’s like the trifecta coming together. Makayla has also been a huge help in leading the student voice on this,” Coder said.

Matt Hansen spoke on the Simpson side of the GOALympics and how Sodexo’s plan aligns with the college’s on reducing waste over the course of their partnership.

“I learned of this program in two ways, one from Ken Coder, who I meet with regularly, and also because I am instrumental in the Food Advisory Council, and this really aligned with what we are trying to do,” Hansen said. “This is a campus-wide effort, and we don’t have a lack of food; we have a lack of food for the right people.”

Hansen also discussed some plans Simpson has separate from the GOALympics, which could benefit both Sodexo and the college.

“We were really looking at how to do a compost of some sort, and it brought in the question of critters, where are we going to put it, and really the volume of how much we as a college can compost,” Hansen said.

He also emphasized the usage of the food pantries on and around campus, mentioning The Helping Hand of Warren County and the food pantry located in Smith Chapel as other resources that could be used to help support this program and get any food that isn’t eaten to the right people in the community.