Food Resources

Students should be able to focus on feeding their minds and not worry about their next meal. If you are struggling to afford balanced meals, or finding yourself choosing between bills and food, remember you do not have to make that choice. There are resources available to help.

On Campus Resources

Open Seat

The Open Seat supplies any UW Madison student in need of access to nutritious and affordable food with free produce, dairy, hygiene, and canned goods.

Student purchasing lunch from Strada at the Wisconsin Union

BadgerFare

The Badger FARE Program, through the Office of Student Assistant and Support, connects students who are experiencing temporary and ongoing food insecurity with campus and community resources for long-term support, while providing them with funds that they can immediately use to purchase food on campus.

Fresh product in baskets freshly picked by student organization

FoodShare

FoodShare is a government program that gives cash benefits on a card that can be used for groceries. UW Students can be eligible for FoodShare.

Nutrition Access Program

Housing Dining’s Nutrition Access Program (formerly known as UW Frozen Meals Program) diverts unserved food from our dining locations and turn them into frozen, pre-packaged, and microwaveable meals at no cost to any UW-Madison student.

Slow Food UW

Slow Food UW is an established nonprofit organization on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus that is dedicated to providing good, clean, and fair food for all members of the community.

Food Recovery Network

The Food Recovery Network offers free, perfectly safe to eat, nutritious food at our community meals.

FRN is a student organization dedicated to minimizing food waste and helping alleviate food insecurity in our campus community!

The People’s Farm

The People’s Farm is a student organization focused on sustainable agriculture. At the core, the People’s Farm is a strong community. All the food grown is given back to the community for free; locality, community, and good food for all is the center of our mission.

Free Food Alert

Free Food Alert is a voluntary program that helps feed hungry people and takes action against food waste. UW–Madison is one of many universities that utilize Free Food Alert. Event hosts and food recovery program managers at UW-Madison use Free Food Alert to notify students, faculty, and staff when free food available on campus.

Goodie Bag

Utilizing the Goodie Bag app, the Wisconsin Union offers unsold food at significant discount.

Resource Map

This resource was developed by UW-Madison students to make navigating food resources easier for other students! Students from several campus organizations, such as The Open Seat, ASM Sustainability, The Basic Needs Team and the Office of Sustainability contributed to this project

How to Use: Click on any resource. On the left you will see a tab with the location, hours, website, a description, and eligibility requirements. To get directions, click on the direction symbol on the top right of this tab.

Contact: If you have any questions, contact basic.needs@finaid.wisc.edu. The team aims to keep this list up to date and accurate. If you notice any information that is incorrect or incomplete, please send an email.

Community Resources

Resources available beyond UW-Madison.

Students work together to cook meals in the Wolf Teaching Kitchen at the Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center

Recipe Ideas

Check out these recipes for cost effective and simple meals you can make at home and in your residence hall room.

A fried samosas being pulled out of hot oil during a cooking demonstration

Recipe Generator

Don’t know what to make with the food items available to you? Try this website. All you have to do is input your ingredients and it generates meal ideas for you.