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University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s student organization dedicated to food justice is rebranding after a decade serving the Detroit community.<\/p>\n
Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN) is the new name for Campus Kitchen, which is part of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Institute for Leadership & Service<\/a>. Organization leaders say the rebranding better reflects its work and mission.<\/p>\n Since its inception in January 2011, the organization has donated 92,900 pounds of food to several community groups near Detroit Mercy\u2019s McNichols Campus, and has hosted more than 2,500 volunteers for service opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cCampus Kitchen associated us specifically with reducing hunger and recovering food,\u201d said Grace Gamble, TENN\u2019s program manager. \u201cBut TENN provides more space for us to work within efforts in sustainability and urban agriculture, in addition to food recovery and food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n TENN\u2019s name emphasizes several key aspects related to the University and food justice in Detroit \u2014 Titan pride; striving for a food system grounded in equity; nourishing bodies, relationships, minds and the Earth through food, community engagement, education and practice; and being part of a greater network working together for a more food sovereign Detroit.<\/p>\n TENN launched as part of the Campus Kitchens Project, a national network of student-led organizations working to end food waste and hunger. Campus Kitchen Projects dissolved in 2019, and individual organizations were encouraged to partner with the Food Recovery Network, a nonprofit with similar goals.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing their faces when they realize that we came by makes it all worth it,\u201d said K\u2019leigh Olsen, a senior studying Social Work at Detroit Mercy and a TENN volunteer.<\/p>\n The Detroit Food Policy Council Reported in 2019 that 39% of Detroit households were food insecure, a figure Gamble says likely increased during the pandemic.<\/p>\n By working together with several organizations and groups, TENN is helping to ease food insecurity and inequities in the city.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile interventions in Detroit are in place to drastically reduce food insecurity, I think that there will always be space for student and community collaboration to create sustainable solutions within the food system,\u201d Gamble said. \u201cWe are also working to engage more in food sovereignty, which gives communities the voice to determine how each part of the food system functions in their locality, from production to access, to consumption to waste.\u201d<\/p>\n Detroit Mercy students involved with TENN have high hopes for the organization\u2019s future and continued impact on the community.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, TENN is hope for the future of our food system,\u201d said Makalah McDougal, a Biochemistry sophomore. \u201cI hope that we can continue to work with the community to meet their needs and build our relationship with them. I also hope we will be an active part in creating a more food-sovereign Detroit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope for TENN is to break ground to do more work in our community, and that our entire campus gets involved,\u201d added Nazifa Chowdhury, a senior studying Criminal Justice and Psychology. \u201cI hope to see our organization thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamble shares that vision.<\/p>\n \u201cFor TENN, success is building meaningful relationships between students, faculty, staff and our neighboring community,\u201d Gamble said. \u201cThese relationships are grounded in mutuality and allow us to collaborate with communities to develop sustainable interventions to food insecurity and environmental injustices.\u201d<\/p>\n Visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/tennetwork<\/a> to connect with TENN on social media, join the organization, learn about volunteer opportunities and much more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s student organization dedicated to food justice is rebranding after a decade serving the Detroit community. Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN) is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":6389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[520,627,784,294,385,334,3814,3816,3815,3817],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2021\/02\/tenn_full.jpg?fit=1920%2C759&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbwnTV-1F2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6392,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6388\/revisions\/6392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Students](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2021\/02\/tenn2.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1\")
Community impact was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as TENN donated 31,540 pounds of food in 2020. Food delivery efforts to Princeton Street Block Club and Developing Despite Distance were tripled during the pandemic, as TENN served 56 families through weekly deliveries.<\/p>\nFor more information about the Titan Equity Nourish Network, visit udmercy.edu\/tenn<\/a>.<\/h4>\n