Graduate Student Partners with Poly Pantry, Centerpointe to Reduce Food Insecurity
Student scholar Faheem Gulzar is tackling food insecurity and promoting sustainability through a powerful community-driven project in collaboration with Poly Pantry and Centerpointe.
Gulzar, a mechanical engineering master’s student, is part of the Afrofuturism Initiative, a program dedicated to advancing Black student success and uplifting Black excellence across various academic and community spaces. The initiative celebrates the principles of imagination, technology, liberation, and the future, all of which inform Gulzar’s innovative approach to addressing food insecurity.
The Afrofuturism Initiative provides scholars like Gulzar with the resources and mentorship needed to bring their passion projects to life. In Gulzar's case, his project, titled "Eco Sankofa," seeks to address the interrelated issues of food waste, insecurity, and sustainability. Drawing inspiration from the Afrofuturist concept of Sankofa, which emphasizes the importance of learning from the past to inform a better future, Gulzar combines sustainability with a commitment to honoring and integrating diverse cultural practices, particularly African and African American traditions, into the conversation around food.
“We must reduce food waste, integrate cultures through food, and rethink food waste management practices,” said Gulzar, whose project revolves around food recovery and redistribution, promoting sustainability and cultural diversity by reducing food waste and supporting students in need.
His initiative involves recovering untouched food and redistributing it to students facing food insecurity on campus in a hygienic and sustainable manner. The project is currently in its pilot phase, with partnerships between Poly Pantry and Centerpointe. Poly Pantry, the certified food distributor, has funded 200 boxed meals to kickstart the initiative, while Centerpointe provides food handling services. During his research, Gulzar discovered that approximately 50 students on campus face hunger each day, motivating him to expand the project and help as many students as possible. The initiative aims to offer healthy, nutritious meals while decreasing food waste and promoting community well-being.
At this past summer's Afrofuturism Symposium, Gulzar presented his findings on food waste, revealing that 80 billion tons of food are wasted every year. He emphasized that to truly address food insecurity, it is crucial to not only reduce waste but also to recognize the importance of cultural knowledge and practices related to food. His project seeks to integrate these cultural insights while also creating a more sustainable food distribution system on campus.
Faheem is now seeking volunteers to assist with meal preparation and packaging. Volunteers can help during shifts from Sunday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., until all meals are distributed. Those interested in volunteering can register through the provided link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hu1zfIbe64TNpsfxSmb7ina8u-3eaYOOuLldUT8jmgo/viewform?edit_requested=true