College uses “food detective” to identify the source of its food

CHICO, Calif. — Chico State’s food service providers have been taking the lead in working toward sustainable goals that have been set by the state of California.

A new food policy was approved by the California State University Board of Trustees and Gov. Jerry Brown last year. Under the new guidelines, each campus will have until 2020 to ensure that at least 20 percent of all food spending goes to farms and businesses that meet sustainability criteria laid out by a student group known as the Real Food Challenge.

As of now, food services mark puts its progress toward this criteria at 8 percent.

“I would not be surprised if we come in closer to 12 percent” said Corinne Knapp, retail manager of Associated Students Dining Services.

During the past few years, food distributors have been pressured by many of their clients, including the CSU system, to clearly indicate where their food comes from on the label.

Since not every distributor provides the information, Chico has instead enlisted the help of self-described “food detective” Grace Kerfoot to find out where the food comes from.

“I look through all of the food products that come onto our campus, and I research them to see if they have a qualification in the categories,” Kerfoot said.

These categories include being local, using fair trade and being humane.