01.27.2005, 03:32 AM

Colleges Buying More Food From Farmers
From Associated Press

Mealy apples, boxed mashed potatoes, frozen veggie mixes and suspicious meats drive many a college student to the cereal and bagel bins.

But dining halls from Bates College in Maine to the University of California at Santa Cruz are improving their food and helping their local agricultural economies by going straight to the farm.

They're seeking out small and medium-sized farmers near campus for fresh produce, meat and dairy products. Most of the farmers grow organic crops or use pesticides sparingly and practice methods of sustainable agriculture, such as crop rotation.

About 200 colleges nationwide purchase at least one product from a small farm in their community or state, according to Kristen Markley, National Farm to College Program Manager of the Community Food Security Coalition.

The hook, many say, is that locally grown food just tastes better.

"Produce that's meant to be transported is grown for durability," Markley said. "Local farmers grow varieties that are delicious, but not as durable."

Last year, Yale undergraduates would often doctor their school-issued ID cards to get into the one dining hall that regularly cooked with farm-fresh ingredients.

"It's not as much of a problem this year since we spread the menu to all the college dining halls," said Melina Shannon-Dipietro, Associate Director of the Yale Sustainable Food Project.

Buying locally also helps satisfy student demand for vegetarian, vegan and organic options, and reduces or eliminates the fuel, packaging and refrigeration needed to transport perishable foods.

And replacing hardy but spiritless produce with local varieties - luscious heirloom tomatoes and sweet Rome apples - encourages students to munch on more fruits and vegetables.

"This is the time to show students healthy choices so they can develop food habits that are good and long-lasting," said Jennifer Wilkins, Director of Cornell University's Farm to School Program.

As sales of organic produce have skyrocketed and restaurants have turned to local farms for haute cuisine, Shannon-Dipietro even sees the move as a recruiting tool.

"Twenty years ago it was important how good academically a college was. Now it's overall quality of life that's also important and food is right up there," she said.

Advocates of buying locally, many of whom are students, also hope to sustain the ever-shrinking population of small to medium-sized farms.

"Colleges are lucrative customers for farmers because they buy in bulk on a regular basis and have good credit," said Jack Duff of Blackberry Meadows Farm, an organic vegetable farm in Natrona Heights, Pa.

Last fall, Meriden farmer Wayne Young sold almost 4,000 pounds of apples and pears per week to Yale. "It helps," Young said.

Interest in farm to college programs perked up three or four years ago, said Gary Valen, director of operations for Glynwood Center, a sustainable agriculture organization in Cold Spring, N.Y.

Valen co-founded the first university-based local food project in 1986 at Hendrix College in Arkansas. When the program started, only 6 percent of the school's food came from Arkansas despite its heavy farming, he said. By 1989, it was 30 percent.

"Now it's a movement that's sweeping the country," Valen said.

This fall, at the urging of students, the University of California at Santa Cruz started a new contract to source at least 2 percent of its produce from small farmers operating within a 250 mile radius of the campus. Kenyon College began supplying its two dining halls with apples, potatoes, squash, lettuce, berries and other produce from small farmers in Ohio.

Tufts University, Cornell University, Vassar College, Middlebury College, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Ohio University are among other colleges committed to buying as much as they can from local farmers.

Christine Schwartz, dining services director at Bates College in Maine, said buying from Maine farmers costs about the same as buying exclusively through a major food supplier. Twenty percent to 30 percent of Bates' food budget goes to products produced in Maine.

Bates' dining hall staff is accustomed to chopping lettuce and peeling potatoes, rather than ripping open prepackaged salads and boxes of dehydrated spud flakes. Schools with fledgling programs must consider additional labor costs involved, but many say it's worth it.

"The staff say the work is turning their job back into a profession. They missed really cooking," said Shannon-Dipietro.

Supporters say buying fresh local food isn't just another culinary flash in the pan. "I think this represents a shift in how we think about health, school meals, food service and the food system," Wilkins said.