Cans of green beans and corn are the kings and queens of the shelves in UF’s food pantry.
They reign everlasting as they watch boxes of macaroni and cheese, pasta and rice disappear from their kingdom before the sun sets.
“Everything that isn’t green beans goes pretty quickly,” said Wyatt Kelch, a student employee at the Field and Fork Pantry.
On the shelves of the pantry, foods high in protein and grains are the first to go, the 20-year-old UF civil engineering sophomore said. Foods easy to prepare go quickly.
The on-campus food pantry, which opened in the Fall, offers free, nonperishable food to UF students, faculty and staff members.
Tanja Philhower, the assistant dean of students, said the pantry is holding a food drive until April 1.
“We’re just trying to establish those kind of consistent drives that will keep the pantry in people’s minds,” she said.
Philhower said the food pantry has received more than 26,000 pounds of donated food, but it has given more than 25,000 to UF students and faculty.
Mitchell Kaye, a 19-year-old UF marketing junior, began Flex Philanthropy last year, a food drive that encouraged UF students to use their dining hall flex bucks to buy food. He’s now working with the pantry.
“At the end of the day, you can never tell who’s hungry,” he said.
For now, the kings and queens of the food pantry will sit on the shelves of their thrones, awaiting company in their realm.
Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004.
