Dining Services offers local produce

Sunday, July 25, 2010

KU Dining Services is providing fresh, local produce through a new program called Farm to Cart. Students and faculty can buy fresh fruits and vegetables and other products from local farms every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Market in the Kansas Union.

Contributed Photo

Farm to Cart kicked off June 2, a year after Dining Services’ primary food provider, Sysco, began buying produce from local farms. Dining Services director Nona Golledge said Dining Services spent about a year setting up Farm to Cart before offering it to the University.

Stephen Webb, a junior from Lawrence, said it was a great idea to have fresh and local food on campus.

“It’s good to make healthy choices like that,” Webb said.

Every Friday, Sysco sends a list of available products to Dining Services. Dining Services then selects the items it wants and posts a list of available items on its website, www.union.ku.edu/dining, to let people know what the cart will offer in the coming week. Golledge said the price of items varied based on what Sysco charged.

“We are very competitive with what’s out there in other markets,” Golledge said.

Because the student population is low during the summer, customers have mainly been faculty and staff so far. The business for Farm to Cart has been slow, but Dining Services is working on making sure more students are aware of this new program. Golledge said the cart would stay at The Market until growing season ends when the weather gets colder.

Christina Fischer, a resident of Boulder, Colo., came to campus for her niece’s orientation. Fischer said the cart looked great and she might buy some products if she got a chance.

Unlike Webb and Fischer, Hiromi Hori, an undergraduate student from Nara, Japan, said she preferred the grocery store over the Farm to Cart program because grocery stores offered more variety.

Golledge said if the Farm to Cart program gained popularity with students, Dining Services would certainly look into expanding its offerings in the future.

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