Campus Kitchen

Campus Kitchen Saint Louis University (CKSLU) has been a part of SLU since 2001 and is a student-led volunteer organization dedicated to fighting for food justice in and around our neighborhood.

Volunteering Information

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For the 2024-2025 academic year, our shifts are as follows:

About the Kitchen

Campus Kitchen addresses food justice issues by reducing food waste and providing meals to those who are hungry. Using donated food that would otherwise be wasted, volunteers — mainly SLU students, staff and faculty — prepare, package and deliver about 400 meals a week to people who are food insecure. These are men, women, children and seniors who live independently in homes across the street from our SLU campus, as well as those who live in nearby emergency shelters and transitional housing. In addition to meals, we provide our excess fresh produce to various nonprofit organizations. The efforts of Campus Kitchen volunteers feed about 600 individuals each week.

Our food-recovery efforts recover about 1,000 pounds of food weekly from our community partner, Trader Joe’s. This food would be thrown away as unsellable products for various reasons (e.g. a smashed box top, one bad apple in a five-pound bag, too close to the “best by” date). We also partner with DineSLU to recover additional food and work together to reduce food waste.

Campus Kitchen Saint Louis University also provides an environment for community-based learning and community building. Students have opportunities to investigate and promote various food justice and hunger advocacy initiatives and form meaningful personal relationships with those they serve. Once a month, we develop and participate in a Beyond the Meals program, which may be anything from a game night to a yoga class, as an empowering way of fostering these relationships. Hunger is not simply an empty stomach; it is often accompanied by isolation and loneliness. CKSLU volunteers strive to deliver companionship and conversation in addition to meals.

USDA Civil Rights Statement

SLU Campus Kitchen is a recipient of food from the USDA.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the state or local agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
Email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.