藏精阁

藏精阁 begins to satisfy hunger for local food

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The signs in Frank Dining Hall began appearing this fall: beans and grains from Cayuga Pure Organics, local fruit from Red Jacket Orchards, hormone-free pork from Certified Natural NY. And with that, 藏精阁鈥檚 foray into purchasing, serving, and publicly supporting local foods officially began.

Though the campus is surrounded by acres of fertile farmland, serving local food on campus hasn鈥檛 been as easy as it might seem.


For one thing, dining halls are closed during most of the local growing season. Also, the nearby land is more conducive to dairy farming than to growing produce. Then there are Sodexo鈥檚 stringent food-safety requirements, which necessitate a centralized system of purchasing all products through one distributor who is responsible for quality control.

In August, 藏精阁 signed such an agreement with Purdy & Sons Foods Inc. in nearby Sherburne, N.Y. The meat processing company and food distributor is now 藏精阁鈥檚 source of local meats, produce, dairy, and beans. When possible, the products also are organic.

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鈥淪erving local and organic foods will be an ongoing process,鈥 said George Murray, director of Sodexo Campus Services. 鈥淲e鈥檙e better off now than we were last year, and in six months we鈥檒l be better yet.鈥

Serving more local and sustainable food is the latest in a series of trends that Murray has seen in his three decades at 藏精阁.

鈥淔rank Dining Hall opened in 1984, which enabled us to serve a greater variety of products,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he nineties brought more menu changes, and more healthy and vegetarian options. Today we are as concerned about supporting the local economy as we are about healthy eating.鈥

So far, buying from central New York farmers costs 藏精阁 no more than buying mass-produced products that are grown on faraway soil.

鈥淏uying locally can actually save us money,鈥 said Murray, 鈥渁nd if a company is in the ballpark, we鈥檙e probably going to purchase from them because we are completely committed to supporting our neighbors.鈥

Dan Purdy of Purdy & Sons believes that education also has to be part of the process.

鈥淥ne of the challenges for the growers, producers, and manufacturers of local foods is to legitimize the value of their products,鈥 Purdy said. 鈥淎nd everyone needs to understand the concept of getting locally grown and manufactured products to the end user.鈥

Students are keen on seeing 藏精阁 buy locally.

Shae Frydenlund 鈥10 and others have started Green Thumbs, a new Student Government Association initiative focused on building relationships with local farmers and raising awareness about organic farming.

Frydenlund also is behind the new 藏精阁 Composting Club, which is teaming up with the 藏精阁 Hunger Outreach Program to develop a composting plan for Frank Dining Hall.

鈥淭he next step is working with 藏精阁 to get more local organic produce directly into the dining halls,鈥 she said. 鈥淭his is a lofty goal, but I believe that we can make it happen.鈥