KINGSTON, R.I. – June 11, 2025 – Applications are open for Food Recovery for Rhode Island at the University of Rhode Island (FRRI), a community education program for Rhode Islanders offered through URI Cooperative Extension. The six-week course includes online coursework and field experiences that can be completed at participants’ convenience.
Attendees learn how to make the most of their grocery purchases, preserving and storing them properly. Through hands-on experiences exploring the local food system on farms, community gardens, and in kitchens, participants will:
- Gain skills in canning, pickling, dehydrating and freezing the harvest
- Improve their home composting
- Get involved with community composting
- Rescue surplus food
- Network with inspiring organizations making changes at the grassroots level
- Learn about employment helping schools establish share tables and compost sorting stations in the cafeteria
The reasons for making changes are clear. Wasted food is the most common item in Rhode Island’s Central Landfill with 100,000 tons entering the landfill each year. Yet 38% of state residents experience food insecurity and the demand for food assistance has increased 9% in the past year. Each month, approximately 84,400 Rhode Islanders seek assistance at food pantries across the state.
All Rhode Islanders benefit from reduction of greenhouse gasses by diverting material from the state landfill. In the meantime, community members also benefit when food can be diverted to hunger relief agencies, helping to bolster the state’s emergency food system.
One participant, Laurel Spears, is using what she learned in her work at the Tomaquag Museum, teaching the indigenous community about modern composting methods, exploring traditional food preservation techniques, and promoting the importance of foraging, growing, and utilizing produce in its entirety.
“URI’s Food Recovery Course expanded my awareness of how much food ends up in our landfills and the impact this has on both our communities and environment,” says Kristi Maresco of South Kingstown, who completed the program last year. “The course provided me with the knowledge, tools and confidence to assist my family and to divert edible food to those in need and food scraps to a regenerative home. My home food habits have been transformed and I am now aiding a local organization in transforming theirs. When kept out of our landfills, food, no matter what state it is in, is life!”
Community needs, community impact
To date, 200 Rhode Islanders have enhanced their food literacy through the Food Recovery for Rhode Island program; they can then volunteer and can help educate others on how to adopt conservation behaviors and participate in projects that hit pause on the current food-to-landfill system. Course alumni stay engaged and continue learning through events like apple picking sessions, potlucks, and even a Zero Waste Trivia Night at a local brewery.
Thanks to the program, last year more than 230,000 pounds of surplus food went to hunger relief organizations and over 87,000 pounds of wasted food was diverted from the landfill through community partnerships with Food Recovery volunteers.
A new partnership with the Rhode Island Schools Recycling Project also diverted more than 65,000 pounds from the landfill, with more than 8,300 pounds of surplus food going to children and families instead. An additional partnership with Harvest Cycle helped convert 4,000 pounds of food scraps into compost.
The Food Recovery program offers solutions to tackle food waste at home and helps attendees contribute to solutions within their communities. Participants get to pick a track that aligns with their interests: food recovery in the kitchen, composting, or recovering food in a school setting.
This year’s program takes place September through October 2025, including online coursework and in-person field experiences on evenings and weekends. The course is open to all Rhode Island residents 18+. Apply for early acceptance by July 1; the final deadline to apply is August 1. Cost for the course and training materials is $255; financial awards are available. Apply or learn more at uri.edu/coopext/foodrecovery or contact [email protected] or (401) 874-2900. Follow at @foodrecoveryforri.
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