At URI, we take the “eat local” movement seriously. So seriously, in fact, that some of our Food Agriculture Program students are growing, harvesting, and supplying our own dining halls with vegetables from the University’s agronomy fields.
“Students want more local fresh foods in the dining halls, and you can’t get any more local than campus-grown.” – Chef Jeff Marino
The URI Food Agriculture Program normally conducts research and “variety trials” on an assortment of vegetables to support local commercial growers, and much of that harvest goes to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. But when URI Chef Jeff Marino expressed an interest in buying campus-grown produce for student meals, he planted a new seed. “Students want more local fresh foods in the dining halls, and you can’t get any more local than campus-grown,” he said.
In 2010, under the leadership of Professor of Plant Sciences Rebecca Brown, students grew and sold tomatoes, squash and potatoes to dining services. In 2011, Chef Marino asked for several basil varieties for pesto, plus cherry and grape tomatoes, tomatoes for sauce and slicing. During the past winter months, Professor Brown and her students produced salad greens in newly installed “high tunnels” – unheated greenhouses that protect ground-planted vegetables from the winter weather. Chef Marino’s next big idea is to offer students a Farm-to-Fork menu made up entirely of foods grown on the URI campus.
The project will eventually lead to a true student farm as part of the University’s movement toward a degree program related to sustainable agriculture and food systems. Situated in a beautiful rural area between New York and Boston, URI is ideally positioned for the nation’s new emphasis on locally grown perishable foods.