"UniversityOfCalifornia" news and stories

The University of California at Santa Cruz (my dad's alma mater!) has just taken their commitment to serving good food on their campus to a new level. In a revolutionary (for the University of California system at least) farm-to-college program, they've contracted to buy organic produce from seven local farmers for their five on-campus dining facilities.

Since the Santa Cruz purchasing department wasn't set up to buy individually from smaller farmers, they've created a consortium called the Monterey Bay Organic Farming Consortium (MBOFC). One of the member growers acts as coordinator, "delivering the produce to the campus dining halls three or four times a week, invoicing the university and distributing payments to the growers." Colleges and universities have a huge amount of impact on food purchasing, if a good number of other institutions were to start sourcing their food in this way, it could have a huge impact on the food production market in this country.

[via The Ethicurean]

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