UW-Madison’s Memorial Union caters food for many events on campus, including large summer conferences. In July 2001, the Union served four mostly organic and locally grown meals to 1,000 plant scientists [...more]

Seasonal Regional Organic Vegetarian Dinner Frank’s Place dining hall, UW-Madison October 10, 2000 Menu: Vegetable stew Stir fry with rice Veggie burgers Potato and nacho bar Root vegetable mix Beets Acorn squash Cranberry wild rice Salad bar Dinner rolls Caramel apples Organic ice cream Cranberry topping Soy Delicious chocolate velvet frozen dessert Pear crisp Hickory brownie Apple cider Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 10th International Congress University of Wisconsin – [...more]

Every day, Northland College serves its students organic food that was grown right in their county. Northland is located in Ashland, a northern Wisconsin town with a very short growing season. Because of [...more]

There are two separate food service operations at UW-Madison, and both are involved in buying farmer-direct and organic foods. The UW-Madison Housing Food Service has brought local and organic foods to their [...more]

If colleges and universities purchased five to ten percent of their food directly from local farms, imagine the extra income that could end up in Wisconsin farmers’ pockets. The University of Wisconsin-Madison alone spends nearly $10 million each year on food for its dining services. The good news is that many colleges and universities in Wisconsin [...more]

Now more than ever, farmers are looking for new markets and customers who will pay a fair price for their products. Dining services at four colleges in Wisconsin are buying directly from farmers and paying premium prices for a wide variety of meats, vegetables, and fruit. Northland College, Beloit College, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and the [...more]

Colleges can support local farmers, highlight regional foods in their cafeterias, grills, and catering services, and educate future consumers about local, sustainably produced foods. This makes them an intriguing potential market for growers. Yet farmers selling to college food services can face challenges in working with institutional food-buying systems. Can it work? Yes—-if farmers focus [...more]

Anecdotal reports from producers, processors and marketers of sustainable agriculture products suggest that trade opportunities with college and university food services are difficult to establish and sustain. This study seeks to address the feasibility for sustained marketing relationships among sustainable farmers and institutions by investigating reports of successful trade relationships. The study provides market research [...more]