The University of Guelph is top shelf when it comes to serving locally grown food.
The Meal Exchange’s Campus Food Report Card, supported by the Government of Ontario and in partnership with the Greenbelt Fund, put U of G atop a list of 10 Ontario universities for student satisfaction with the availability of locally grown food on campus menus.
“We feel great about it,” Ed Townsley, executive director of U of G’s Hospitality Services, said about the survey.
“It strengthens our belief that local food is important to students.”
U of G has made a concerted effort to “buy local” since about 2008, Townsley said. “We’ve invested in local food because we think it tastes better and it’s more efficient from a sustainability perspective and a cost perspective.”
In the report card, students gauged the success of Ontario universities in providing healthful, locally grown, sustainable and accessible food.
Four out of five of the 2,668 students surveyed felt that more locally grown food would make healthful food options more available on their campus. And three out of four felt it was important for their university to source and serve locally grown food.
The report found that many campus food service providers worked with food service companies and area farmers to offer local options.
Among students surveyed, 56 per cent said campus food services should provide more local options. Nearly one in four students was unsure whether food on their campus was made with local ingredients.
The share of locally grown food served on university campuses ranged from 10 to 49 per cent.
At U of G, about 45 per cent of food is local when in season, Townsley said.
The University obtains its food products from about 75 local farmers through the Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative, as well as 120 local businesses and all U of G research stations.
U of G has been honoured previously for its commitment to local food, including receiving an Ontario’s Local Foods Champions award.