Dining service picks organic produce from campus farm
By: Nicole Williams
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Features
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The Organic Vegetable Project has staked out a section of the University Farm and will be growing fruits and vegetables for the Associated Students Dining Services, said Lee Altier, director of the project.
The program has big plans including completely meeting A.S. produce demands and having an on-campus market, he said.
However, it's starting slow, Altier said. The organic farms' production capacity depends on the number of hands available to plant and harvest.
"I think growing fruits and vegetables is just kind of a basic life skill," he said. "Kind of something that everyone should have in their tool box."
Students of any major can get involved by volunteering or signing up for PSSC 309, "Direct Work in Field/Row Crops," he said. The project will expand until it reaches its full 10-acre allotment.
Growing organically is important because it supports a more healthful product and protects the land, he said. However, buying organic food locally is the ideal.
"To me it kind of undermines concerns about carbon footprints if you're buying organic food that comes from thousands of miles away," he said.
But thanks to the collaboration of A.S. Dining Services and the Organic Vegetable Project, this May students will be chomping down on local organic food.
A.S. Dining Services will be incorporating all of the projects' produce into its program and will continue to serve its mixed greens throughout summer at Whitney Hall, Associate Director Jeffery Soon said.
A.S. is working with the project for a few reasons. Students have requested organic products, and supporting university-sponsored programs is a priority, he said.
Soon already purchases beef from University Farm and buying organic produce is the next step, he said. With the sustainability push on campus, there's an increase in need for products to be delivered locally.
"It's getting more and more important," he said. "It cuts out so many different costs, the biggest of which is fuel."
Whatever is best for the environment is best for the program, he said.
"I would much rather be more proactive and get as many of these (organic) products in as we can afford to right now," he said.
And if students want more organic products, then financial discussions must take place, Soon said.
Senior Shawn Fertig thinks selling the university's organic food to A.S. is a great idea, he said.
"It's a nice way to see the whole process," he said. "From planting the seed in the green house to growing it in the field to selling it at the BMU to consuming it."
And the organic food project is a way for students to get involved in that process, said Fertig, who helped plant lettuce that will be harvested this semester.
Many students outside Fertig's agriculture major hold misconceptions about where food comes from and how it's grown, he said.
Organic food is not just about carbon footprints or residue-free produce. It's about responsible land management and protecting existing ecosystems, said Katie Fugnetti, field manager of the project.
"I just had a bird make a nest in the middle of my (vegetable beds)," she said. "It's funny. I'm trying to move around these eggs while I'm weeding and fertilizing."
The care Fugnetti takes to protect the unborn chicks is what sets organic farming apart from industrial agriculture, she said. But often these management methods are less apparent to consumers than how much it costs.
Fugnetti hopes one day organic produce isn't more expensive than other produce, she said. The more mainstream it becomes the more the prices of organic food will fall.
But until sustainability becomes the norm, students have a choice to make, Fugnetti said. Whether people buy organic, their money is supporting certain practices.
"There's somebody on the ground somewhere growing that food," she said. "And there are effects all around how they're doing it."
Nicole Williams can be reached at
nwilliams@theorion.com
Related links
University Farm Web site
Organic.org
Chico Food Network
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
annie
posted 5/12/08 @ 5:34 PM PST
YAY KATIE!!!
ausumn work everyone, way to go!
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