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SIUC head chef Bill Connors said he is always pushing for more locally grown produce to be used at the university.
Most of the university’s local produce comes from the Carbondale Community Food Co-op, which Connors said he made a deal with this summer. He said he is also hoping for local farmers to begin supplying the school with their vegetables and fruits.
On Aug. 18, Gov. Pat Quinn signed House Bill 3990, a legislation designed to help keep more of the food produced in Illinois consumed within the state.
According to a press release, the law established goals for state-funded institutions, such as universities, to purchase 10 percent of its food locally by 2020. Connors said SIUC is already at around 15 percent and hopes the number will continue to grow.
Connors said the law’s purpose was to increase demand for locally grown food as opposed to the commodity crops, such as corn and soybeans, which Illinois farmers grow. He said less than 8 percent of the state’s farmers are growing vegetables to put on the table.
Signs denoting locally grown tomatoes, melons and other produce are in the buffet lines of Lentz and the other dining halls, and some students are taking advantage of the opportunity to choose local.
Haley Conner, an undecided freshman from Du Quoin, said she knew the dining halls were offering produce grown in the area. She said she thought it was a good idea because it puts money back in the community and gives students a healthy choice, she said.
“It’s good economically for the university and the community,” she said.
Bret Dilts, a senior from Eureka studying civil engineering, said he also thought purchasing food from the community saved money. He said he would always choose locally produced food over something that had to be shipped.
The process does not come without its obstacles. Connors said staffing, particularly in cafeteria-style dining areas, can be a problem because cutting up the vegetables takes more time, putting more work on the staff.
He said purchasing regulations and insurance issues farmers face means they must pay more and fill out a number of forms to sell to the university. Many smaller farmers do not have the money for that, he said.
Connors said many times another vendor purchases the local produce and then sells it to the university, which is what the school does in its partnership with the Co-op.
Fruits and vegetables are not the only organic products the university offers. Connors said he began buying hogs from the university farms this summer, and all of the pork used in the dining halls comes from animals only a few miles from campus.
Tom Rosenthal, a swine specialist at the SIUC farms, said they sell about 24 hogs a month to the school. He said the pigs go to Open Gate Meats in Anna to be processed then return to the university. Using a company closer to the university saves money by cutting the miles the meat travels, he said.
Rosenthal said the swine center began supplying hogs to the dining halls this summer, but the process has been planned for more than a year.
“It seems to be working out really well,” he said.
Pork is not the only meat the dining halls receive from the farms. Connors said 12 to 20 cattle grazing on the university’s property would eventually return to SIUC as processed beef.
Connors said he does not consider the push to eat locally to be a passing fad. It helps keep money in the community, he said, but whether serving local produce can be sustained long term depends on the farmers.
“Here at the university, as long as I’m around, we will continue buying locally,” he said. “I’m always pushing for more and more and more.”
