News
THE SHIFT TO NEW ENGLAND GROWERS & VENDORS
Produce
Since 2014 we have strengthened our existing partnership with Joe Czajkowski Farms (MA) by working together to grow more food and freeze for a later date. After a successful pilot program in 2014, we will continue freezing strawberries and blueberries with Joe Czajkowski and Franklin County CDC this year and beyond.
We use this IQF (or, individual quick frozen) product for smoothies, desserts, and fruit compotes during the winter months, when we really appreciate the local produce! This pilot went so well, in fact, that we will begin testing local IQF broccoli and cauliflower product this fall as well.
Additionally, thanks to some ingenuity from Joe Czajkowski, we also source local, hand-cut French fries and sweet potato fries from Joe’s farm at Hampshire DC year-round.
As of Fall 2015, we now source potatoes, carrots, and apples from only local farms, year-round. We work with Joe Czajkowski and FreshPoint Connecticut, our produce distributor, to learn about any local/regional bumper crops and to quickly work them into our menu.
Since 2014 we have strengthened our existing partnership with Joe Czajkowski Farms (MA) by working together to grow more food and freeze for a later date. After a successful pilot program in 2014, we will continue freezing strawberries and blueberries with Joe Czajkowski and Franklin County CDC this year and beyond.
We use this IQF (or, individual quick frozen) product for smoothies, desserts, and fruit compotes during the winter months, when we really appreciate the local produce! This pilot went so well, in fact, that we will begin testing local IQF broccoli and cauliflower product this fall as well.
Additionally, thanks to some ingenuity from Joe Czajkowski, we also source local, hand-cut French fries and sweet potato fries from Joe’s farm at Hampshire DC year-round.
As of Fall 2015, we now source potatoes, carrots, and apples from only local farms, year-round. We work with Joe Czajkowski and FreshPoint Connecticut, our produce distributor, to learn about any local/regional bumper crops and to quickly work them into our menu.
Happy chickens roam free at the UMass Student Farming Enterprise farm.
Animal Proteins
UMass Dining is pledging to serve 100% antibiotic-free (ABF) chicken in all of our dining commons and retail operations across campus.
As part of the dining program’s ongoing partnership with NatureRaised Farms, part of the Tyson Foods family of companies, UMass Dining is one of the first universities and the largest college and university foodservice program in the country to take this groundbreaking pledge.
The decision was made following a 2015 survey (completed in April 2015) of 4,000 UMass Amherst students, that revealed the student body believes in the importance of responsible food sourcing. This new initiative will add to the local supply bringing total consumption of no-antibiotic-ever chicken and turkey to more than 750,000 pounds annually.
We have also made major strides in our distribution network to source local meats. By connecting Misty Knoll Farms (VT) with our main broadline distributors - Performance Food Group (PFG) - we made it possible to quickly and easily source fresh, local chicken with a click of a button. Any foodservice provider that sources from PFG now has access to Misty Knoll chicken as a result.
UMass Dining also sources from PT Farms (NH) for local, high-quality pork and beef products directly from the farm. Because UMass Dining places high-volume orders, we guarantee that PT's trucks will head south to the Amherst area, meaning that other, smaller-volume institutions close by UMass may have access to their products as well. Increasing the region's accessibility to fresh, local foods in one of our main goals.
Currently we source about 700-800lbs of beef and pork from PT Farms per week and about 1000 chickens from Misty Knoll every month, and we have aspirations to shift more of our animal proteins to local sources over the coming years.
Our orders sometimes arrive as primal units, which are broken down to various cuts by our staff. This has given our staff the opportunity to learn butchering skills all thanks to this unique partnership. We're experimenting with recipes that allow us to reduce the portions of meat we serve. For example, we make a local mushroom/beef blend slider that we grind and blend-in house for the best ingredients and quality.
UMass Dining is pledging to serve 100% antibiotic-free (ABF) chicken in all of our dining commons and retail operations across campus.
As part of the dining program’s ongoing partnership with NatureRaised Farms, part of the Tyson Foods family of companies, UMass Dining is one of the first universities and the largest college and university foodservice program in the country to take this groundbreaking pledge.
The decision was made following a 2015 survey (completed in April 2015) of 4,000 UMass Amherst students, that revealed the student body believes in the importance of responsible food sourcing. This new initiative will add to the local supply bringing total consumption of no-antibiotic-ever chicken and turkey to more than 750,000 pounds annually.
We have also made major strides in our distribution network to source local meats. By connecting Misty Knoll Farms (VT) with our main broadline distributors - Performance Food Group (PFG) - we made it possible to quickly and easily source fresh, local chicken with a click of a button. Any foodservice provider that sources from PFG now has access to Misty Knoll chicken as a result.
UMass Dining also sources from PT Farms (NH) for local, high-quality pork and beef products directly from the farm. Because UMass Dining places high-volume orders, we guarantee that PT's trucks will head south to the Amherst area, meaning that other, smaller-volume institutions close by UMass may have access to their products as well. Increasing the region's accessibility to fresh, local foods in one of our main goals.
Currently we source about 700-800lbs of beef and pork from PT Farms per week and about 1000 chickens from Misty Knoll every month, and we have aspirations to shift more of our animal proteins to local sources over the coming years.
Our orders sometimes arrive as primal units, which are broken down to various cuts by our staff. This has given our staff the opportunity to learn butchering skills all thanks to this unique partnership. We're experimenting with recipes that allow us to reduce the portions of meat we serve. For example, we make a local mushroom/beef blend slider that we grind and blend-in house for the best ingredients and quality.
Dairy & Eggs
Since 2015, UMass Dining has more than tripled our volume of local and sustainable milk from Mapleline Farms by serving their product throughout all dining locations. Not only is the milk produced, bottled, and distributed just a few miles from campus, their dairy products come from Jersey cows, known for their high-quality flavor and the animal's gentle demeanor. Students can now find Mapleline's quality milk (and even chocolate milk!) at all Dining Commons.
We buy 100% local and cage-free eggs for all four Dining Commons. These eggs come from Pete & Gerry's Farm (NH).
Since 2015, UMass Dining has more than tripled our volume of local and sustainable milk from Mapleline Farms by serving their product throughout all dining locations. Not only is the milk produced, bottled, and distributed just a few miles from campus, their dairy products come from Jersey cows, known for their high-quality flavor and the animal's gentle demeanor. Students can now find Mapleline's quality milk (and even chocolate milk!) at all Dining Commons.
We buy 100% local and cage-free eggs for all four Dining Commons. These eggs come from Pete & Gerry's Farm (NH).
Modeling Sustainability, Health, and Wellness
Creative menu design is a cornerstone of our initiative.
Hampshire Dining Commons was designed as a campus eatery that would serve healthy and sustainable food, minimize waste and energy usage, and encourage students to learn about sustainable food systems. We seek to find the middle ground where sustainability, healthy food, and affordability all meet in the middle.
As a result of our efforts, we are proud to announce that our Hampshire Dining Commons is one of the only dining halls in the country to achieve LEED Gold status for energy performance.
In addition, we were Gold Winners of the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) Sustainability award for 2014.
We employ a number of creative strategies to serve healthy and sustainable foods that we can afford. Our chefs are designing our 21-day rotational menu cycle around the availability of local produce and other foods.
At the same time, we're educating our staff about seasonality so they are better equipped to order what is locally available, year-round.
As a result of our efforts, we are proud to announce that our Hampshire Dining Commons is one of the only dining halls in the country to achieve LEED Gold status for energy performance.
In addition, we were Gold Winners of the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) Sustainability award for 2014.
We employ a number of creative strategies to serve healthy and sustainable foods that we can afford. Our chefs are designing our 21-day rotational menu cycle around the availability of local produce and other foods.
At the same time, we're educating our staff about seasonality so they are better equipped to order what is locally available, year-round.
Providing Hands-On Education for Campus Dining
In the summer of 2014, hundreds of dining and university staff joined us at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to learn more about why and how campuses in New England and beyond can deepen and strengthen the ripples of awareness and advocacy for regional food systems. Both of our annual summer conferences address sustainability, health, and wellness.
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Chef Culinary Conference: For the 20th consecutive year, the 2014 Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference took place June 15th - 20th here on the picturesque University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus. This year, the Chef Culinary Conference aimed to accelerate food service concepts into the next generation - one that embraces health, sustainability, and food ethics, to meet the increasing diversity of consumer preferences. The 2014 conference featured unique sessions hosted by the nation's leading experts and innovators in their respective fields and, as always, we have provided numerous presentations & workshops led by a variety of accomplished chefs.
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A mouth-watering dish from the Chef Culinary Conference in 2014.
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Revisioning Sustainability Conference: At the Revisioning Sustainability Conference, we gathered to explore real world examples of innovative food systems sustainability programs that embody whole-systems regeneration in practice. At this premiere gathering of food sustainability and permaculture professionals, we brought together 175 campus and community leaders from permaculture initiatives, programs such as the Real Food Challenge, sustainable procurement professionals, progressive administrators, and student advocates from campuses nationwide, in order to collectively develop new ideas, strengthen existing networks, and gain tools that will aide in the cultivation of a truly regenerative world.