Let's have eco-org dinner! We'll glean surplus food so it doesn't go to waste from local, organic grocers, prepare a fresh and healthy meal, and come together to appreciate all that eco-orgs do for UMBC, and the world!

Our goals are:
- to bring together environmentally interested students and eco-orgs
- find out what groups are doing, discuss/plan ways we can collaborate to have a bigger impact
- make UMBC more aware and active around issues of the environment and climate change

Help us prepare homemade gleaned meal with free donations of surplus food from local organic markets! This is an extension of the weekly free food waste dinners for the students and homeless in Baltimore that Beyond Relief, The Garden, etc have been doing on Tuesdays. Volunteers are needed, who can learn about gleaning and help collect food, help with food collection, and help cook/prepare the meal.

In the United States, 40 percent of the food grown is thrown away. About 10 percent of this food is thrown away by grocery stores. A majority of this food is tossed because it is deemed too “ugly” to sell. This is a huge environmental problem as the organic waste in landfills releases methane into the atmosphere, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than CO2. At the same time 1 in 6 Americans go hungry and even when given access to food, do not receive healthy, nutritious meals.

- UMBC Eco-Ambassadors