UMass As A Local Hero

Every day, Alicia LaRosa fills her plate with food in the Franklin Dining Common at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As she passes by the pasta, veggie medley and pizza, she hardly notices the “Be A Local Hero: Buy Locally Grown” stickers stuck to the glass around the rows of food. She meticulously piles sautéed carrots and broccoli onto her plate, trying to fit them in between the mashed potatoes and the grilled chicken. Before she leaves, she’ll sort through fresh fruit like apples and pears and grab a banana to bring back to her room for later.

"I always eat some type of fruit or vegetable when I eat at the dining commons. They're always fresh and served really well," she said.

That sticker means that her mashed potatoes were grown off of Route 116 in Sunderland; her green beans were co-grown in Hadley; the apples in her apple pie were picked in Belchertown.

But that little sticker also represents a commitment the university made to its community. Because of that sticker, the school commits a portion of its food budget to local farms, helping their survival and the local economy.

According the Ken Toong, the Director of UMass Dining Services, UMass bought 25 percent of its produce locally. UMass’ goal for this year is 27 percent, up seven percent in the last five years.

“We buy a lot more in September and October because it’s the time of year that they harvest but as the year goes on we can buy less and less. But during the winter we adjust our menu to get food like winter squash,” Toong said.

A majority of the produce comes from a 15 mile radius around the school but they also buy from other places in Mass. The effort has increased over the last five years. This year alone, UMass will inject $300,000 into the local economy.

Because UMass buys from places so close, they can always get an up-to-date list of what is fresh and when to buy it.

“Once a week the farmers give us a list of what’s available. That way we get an idea of what we can get now before it turns bad. We can also get a feeling of when the frost is coming,” Toong said.

Two of the obstacles UMass faces when it comes to buying local are price and consistency.

“It’s a challenge sometimes," Toong said. "We want to use as much as possible but the growing season out here is short. Students want more variety so we need to find a happy balance between seasonal and off-season foods."

Students who frequent the dining commons appreciate the variety and freshness.

“I love when they have fresh fruit,” UMass student Tressa Gamache said. “You can tell that it’s local by how fresh it is.”

UMass is also on the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources list of schools purchasing local foods. The MDAR started the Farm-to-School Project aimed at increasing the interest for schools to serve local produce in their cafeterias. They do so by matching schools with the right farmers for the food that they need.

According to Toong, UMass works closely with Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and Amherst College to get the buy local movement going in the Five College area. But he believes UMass has a special role because of its size.

“We’re more aggressive," he said. "We need to have more of a leadership role. We’re a big university.”

UMass' major role in the buy local movement is important to farmers. With more than14,000 students with meal plans who attend the Dining Commons everyday, the food grown on local soil rarely goes to waste. Because UMass is such a major part of the area, Toong believes that it is important for them to set an example for other schools.

“It’s the right thing to do to support farmers, they appreciate what we do. Our mission is to support the local community.”