small farm food in a dining hall? what? impossible, they say!

From Bon Appétit's website - check out their student garden guide:

Palo Alto, Calif. (September 22, 2009) — Bon Appétit Management Company is taking action to help student farmers launch careers in sustainable agriculture.

 

Bon Appétit has developed a guide for aspiring student farmers to help them build good business relationships with their best potential customers—the college food service providers that are right in their backyards. The guide will be made available to students in garden groups all over the country and on the company’s website. www.circleofresponsibility.com/student-garden-guide

 

Students who learn to farm can make both an immediate and a long-term contribution to American food security. Small, independently-operated farms are the backbone to a sustainable food system and they are in peril. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 1% of the population of the United States is involved in farming, compared to 40% at the turn of the 20^th century. This number promises to dwindle as existing farmers retire (more than 40% are 55 or older).

 

It’s not as if young people aren’t interested in farming. Students are flocking to farm internships. And with the rise in the Real Food movement, colleges are the ideal place to begin a new agricultural revolution. Many campuses have land available for student use and college food service providers can be willing buyers for student-grown produce. Bon Appétit Management Company has long purchased produce from student-run farms at many of their 400 cafés across the nation, including Minnesota’s St. Olaf College, Colorado College, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, Mills College in Oakland, Calif. and others. The company is pleased to offer the guide to students everywhere as a way to help lower the barriers to entry for young farmers.