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Pie Chart

College students spend a surprising share of their income on food—over 25% on average, as shown in the pie chart above—while thousands of meals go to waste every day. With students shelling out around $1,000 per semester just to eat, food costs quickly add up during their college career, leaving less room for essentials like rent, tuition, and savings for after graduation. At the same time, restaurants, grocery stores, and campus events regularly have surplus food, with nearly 29 servings wasted per gathering in urban and suburban areas. That’s almost 1000 perfectly good servings of food being thrown away while students stretch their budgets to afford their next meal. By connecting hungry Longhorns with these extra meals, we can reduce food waste, help students save money, and make sure no meal goes uneaten.

How It Works

Leftover Lasso makes it easy for hungry Longhorns to find free, surplus food from local restaurants while helping businesses reduce waste.

Are you a restaurant? - Log in to list your extra food for the day. If it’s your first time using Leftover Lasso, set your username, password, and your location. Once you’ve put your restaurant on the map, you can login daily to update what excess foods you have that are available for pickup. After that, just wait for students to arrive to take food that is extra or near expiring off your hands!

Are you a student? – View a live map of UT Austin and the surrounding area, showing restaurants offering free surplus food. Click on a pin to see what’s available and then you’re free to pick it up at the location shown! Make sure to bring your UT ID to show at the restaurant in order to pick up your food!

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