Office of Sustainability
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Food Team

The Food Team aims to address and improve food waste, food access, and food education on the UW–Madison campus.

The team works with student organizations and campus entities to generate and implement strategies to improve access to sustainable, culturally significant, and nutritious food. The Food Team also promotes and shares sustainable practices that individuals can employ on their own.

Food Team
From left to right: Melina Nguyen, Rory Tevlin, Bailey Tomsich, Chandler Wells, Winston Thompson, and Elisabeth Bautista

Goals

Flowers and jarred pickled vegetables on a table

  • To improve student, staff, and faculty’s access to healthy, culturally significant, and nutritious foods
  • Connect like-minded members of UW–Madison who are working to better our food system
  • Educate the campus community on sustainable food options on campus
  • Decrease food waste on campus through innovation, education, and awareness
  • Work on the areas of food access, education, waste, and sourcing

Seasonal Food Guides

Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall

Current Projects

  • Food Waste Survey:
      • Following the implementation of Leanpath technology at Rheta’s Market, Green Fund staff conducted a survey in partnership with University Housing Dining. The survey captured feedback from Market staff on the technology and food waste. The Food Team supported the survey roll-out.
  • Free Food Alert
    • In an era where food waste and sustainability are critical global issues, hope emerges from the halls of education. UW–Madison is taking a pioneering step towards combating food waste by offering a pilot program of the Free Food Alert system to the campus community. Read about the initiative here.
  • Food Access Survey: 
    • The Office of Sustainability is preparing a survey to evaluate the food access levels of students. The information gathered from the survey will be shared with campus food organizations to better allocate, provide, and communicate food resources to students. The Food Team supports the development and implementation of the survey.
  • UW–Madison Food Resources:
    • Click here to take a deeper look at food access resources at UW–Madison and surrounding communities.
  • Chadbourne Garden Bed:
    • The Food Team collaborates with University Housing Dining to grow edible flowers and herbs outside of Chadbourne Residence Hall. This Green Fund project coordinates with The People’s Farm to host workshops during the growing season centered around food systems and agriculture.
  • Cook with Us TikTok Series:
    • The Food Team shares their favorite seasonal and sustainable recipes through TikTok videos posted on @sustain_uw.

Interactive Food Resources Map

An image of the Food Resources Map website.

The Office of Sustainability Food Team developed this interactive map for students, staff, faculty, and community members to learn about food accessibility resources. The map features food-producing gardens, off-campus food resources, farmers’ markets, and more. Descriptions, locations, dates, times, and direct links are provided for each resource. The Food Teams aims to expand food accessibility, increase food education, and reduce food waste on campus. If there is a relevant resource that you would like featured on the map, please contact foodteam@g-groups.wisc.edu.  

Cookbook Cover

Office of Sustainability Cookbook: 

The UW–Madison Office of Sustainability Cookbook started as a passion project for Food Team interns. Upon recognizing that many of the OS staff and interns are passionate cooks and gardeners, members of the Food Team wanted a way to share some of their knowledge, insight, and favorite recipes with the greater UW–Madison community. The cookbook features vegetarian, vegan, culturally significant, and seasonal foods to encourage readers to eat sustainably. 

Check out the digital cookbook here! 

Get Involved

  • Additional resources: