Sodexo, the catering service that provides meals in the Commons in Marbeck Center for Bluffton University, cuts down its food waste and donates excess food to local soup kitchens and food banks after large catering events around campus.
Executive chef for Sodexo at Bluffton University John Combs. Photo by Olivia Tennefoss
Sodexo is a company based out of France with almost 460,000 employees in 72 countries. One of the company’s missions, according to its corporate website, is to impact neighborhoods and their health, both for themselves and for the planet. Sourcing locally, eliminating waste and influencing sustainable living is something they pass down through every one of their business installments.
John Combs, the executive chef at Bluffton University, said he plans to donate leftover food after catering events around campus at least three times during the next school year. These events would include homecoming, Christmas dinner and graduation, he said.
In the event that the kitchen may order the wrong type of canned goods, they donate those cans to the food bank in Bluffton, Ohio. Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Lima, and City Mission in Findlay are the two recipients of donations of excess food from Bluffton University.
“I think it helps them out because, for one, it saves them from going out and buying anything or even prepping anything because usually what we give them is ready to roll,” said Combs.
There have also been occasions where Sodexo has donated older pots and pans that could no longer be used in the university’s kitchen to these kitchens that could still utilize them.
This kitchen is using many local ingredients from Ohio with a mindset of eliminating food waste. They work every day to better their community and take pride in the food they cook, Combs said.
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