The Feed
Local Foods Flourish in Campus Kitchens |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 17 2009 |
For a very limited time only, farm-fresh Wisconsin produce is being served at Union Station, Sandburg Café, Kenwood Inn and other dining spots on campus.
While it may already be too late to try the tomatoes, onions and cucumbers that make up Wisconsin’s late-summer harvest, Restaurant Operations expects one or two more shipments of seasonal squash, apples and root vegetables from the Badgerland Produce Cooperative in Montello, Wis.
As the first UW-System school to join Gov. Jim Doyle’s “Buy Local*, Buy Wisconsin” Initiative, UWM receives a weekly shipment of produce from the coop. All items are hand-picked the morning of the auction, which also is the day the produce travels 178 miles* to UWM. Every box has a grower’s tag, so every item can be traced back to an individual farmer.
Mother Nature dictates the produce selection: “We pick from a weekly report that lists the produce available, based on the growing season,” says Scott A. Hoffland, director of Restaurant Operations at UWM.
‘Buy local’ goes nationwide
Many colleges and universities are catching on to the “buy local” movement and replacing a portion of their total produce supply with locally grown goods.
Hoffland says that Wisconsin growers may never be able to provide the tons of fresh produce that UWM serves yearly. The coop deliveries will account for less than 5 percent of UWM’s total produce purchase for 2008.
Instead, most produce travels to UWM from Arizona, Texas and South America. “It’s the same produce we buy all the time in grocery stores,” Hoffland says.
“We’re not trying to revolutionize the way people eat on campus,” adds UWM Sustainability Coordinator Kate Nelson. “We’re just trying to introduce a more ‘Wisconsin’ identity to the food here.”
A matter of taste
But even in small doses, experts say the local produce being served at UWM is making a difference.
“The quality of this produce, in terms of taste, is obvious,” Hoffland says. “And I’m confident what we’re doing is contributing to the state economy.”
Freshman and Appleton native Patrick Frawley agrees.
“This squash is my favorite thing I’ve eaten here, as far as vegetables go,” says Frawley, who dined on sautéed zucchini at Sandburg Café last week.
“Think about,” adds the Appleton native, “it’s good to save gas and it’s good for the economy to buy locally. I’m impressed we’re doing this.”
“I probably don’t think about ‘buy local’ and where my food is coming from as much as I should,” says Mike Marten, a freshmen who also lives and eats in Sandburg Halls, where Hoffland says Wisconsin acorn squash was a top seller. “But I appreciate that the university does.
“My mom used to serve fresh vegetables from her garden and this tastes good, fresh, like I remember from home.”
By November, the university will have served the last of its Wisconsin produce for the year. Hoffland hopes to increase the amount of farm-fresh produce UWM serves next year.
*Definitions of the term “local” vary. Some say produce purchased and served within a 150-mile radius of where it was grown is local. Others use a 65-mile radius. The average apple travels 1,555 miles, according to a study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
Last changed: Apr 17 2009 at 4:33 PM
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