Dining Services makes good use of leftover food

DEPTFORD — What happens to the more than two tons of bagels, lo mein, fish and other food waste that students scrape from their trays in the five residential colleges, the Graduate College and Frist Campus Center?

Most students have either not given the question any thought, assumed that the food is discarded as trash or heard wild rumors about pigs and farms.

"Good question," said Steve Moore '04, when asked where the food waste goes. "I have no idea."

Said Olivier Kamanda '03, "It gets thrown in the garbage, I think."

"We've heard rumors that all the food we dump out goes to pigs but I don't know if it's true or not," said Jen Albinson '05.

Ready for the raw, unseasoned truth?

Neil McIntire drives his truck to the University five days a week from his pig farm — McIntire Farms — which is about 50 miles south of Princeton, in Deptford. McIntire also visits area hospitals, prisons and supermarkets to collect food waste.

"It's a job that continues seven days a week, 365 days a year," he said. "The pigs need to eat."

After bringing the food back to the farm, McIntire steams the garbage for three hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, letting it sit overnight before feeding it to his pigs.

"Nothing goes to waste," he said. "People eat the tomatoes and lettuce. We feed the leftovers to the pigs and then we eat the pig. It's a great big circle."

The farm itself has been around for more than 90 years, passed down from one generation to the next. But the University's partnership with McIntire Farms began just eight years ago, said Stu Orefice, director of dining services.

"The program started in 1994, and it was phased in slowly so our staff and students had time to adjust to the separation of waste," he said.

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Along with the pigs and environment, the University has also benefited from its relationship with McIntire.

"There are some financial benefits," said Orefice, explaining that McIntire charges the University less than it would cost to send the waste to a landfill.

Meanwhile, some of the untouched food from the University, is donated to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, said Kathy Vandetrift, assistant director of the kitchen.

"No other area colleges donate to the soup kitchen," she said.

According to the Student Volunteers Council website, student drivers bring unused food from the dining halls and some eating clubs to the soup kitchen every Tuesday and Friday morning.

Among other area colleges, Rutgers University's food recycling program most closely resembles that of Princeton. Instead of a pig farmer, a cattle farmer picks up the barrels of solid food waste daily where it is then used as feed, John Nason, sanitarian at Rutgers, said in an email.

Princeton, though, seems content with its current situation — and so do McIntire and his pigs.

"I have the smartest pigs in the world because they do eat from Princeton!" exclaimed McIntire, his assertion echoed by boisterous oinks in the background.