UMaine system to buy locally sourced foods

The University of Maine System (UMS) board of trustees announced a new foodservice request for proposal on Aug. 31. The highlight of the 63 page proposal is that UMS will be purchasing 20 percent of food served on six of the seven campuses from local producers in the next five years.

This announcement comes after a coalition of food organizations and producers, called Maine Food for Maine System, issued a report in July urging the UMS board of trustees to bolster the growing agricultural sector of Maine’s economy.

In a press release issued on Sept.1, Riley Neugebauer, a member of the coalition called the new RFP a great first step.

“Maine students, farmers, and community leaders have spoken and the UMaine System has responded with an RFP that includes a 20 percent commitment to local foods,” Neugebauer said. “We’re glad to see this clear statement from the public University System, which will greatly benefit Maine’s producers and processors.”

“The University of Maine System has long played an important role as a partner to Maine communities and industries,” the report read. “Mainers are proud of their local food economy, and the University can play a key role in supporting and growing it.”

Food is labelled as local if it is harvested or produced within 175 miles of the campus where it is served. Other details of the contract ensure that deals made between local food producers and the school are exclusive, barring them from dealing with other universities in the system.

The coalition’s report called for four major steps to be taken by the UMS board. They are pushing for a commitment to purchasing 20 percent “real food”, which refers to products that are local and community based. There is a group based around this challenge, named the Real Food Challenge. According to the Real Food Challenge website, the group’s large network of student activists are looking to shift money from large, industrial farms to local farms.

University of Maine Presque Isle student Bobbi-Jo Oatway, who is involved with the group, believes that language used in the RFP was not strong enough and wants local farmers to benefit from these large contracts.

“We value these farmers and want to promote this kind of agriculture,” Oatway said. “When you buy local, organic and avoid conventional agriculture you are helping to shape the kind of world you want to live in and leave for future generations.”

Neugebauer, a Farm to College Project Manager for Farm to Institution New England, said that this wording can be misleading. For example, instead of sourcing produce from many local farms, the 20 percent could be reached from buying from Oakhurst Dairy or other large, established companies, making it easily attainable.

“Rather than just having the 20 percent goal be fulfilled through purchasing from one or two businesses,” Neugebauer said in an email. “We’d like to see that spread around to benefit more producers in the state.”

The coalition would also like each campus use the Real Food Calculator, an online tool that allows institutions to track their food purchases. This tool can also be used monitor progress toward goals and improve food transparency.

As well as implementing the rules, the coalition urged to form a group led by students and administrators to make sure the contract is being adhered to.

Neugebauer added that the promotion from being used in a school setting would also be a valuable asset for farmers in the area.

“It allows for more interaction between our local food producers and our universities in the state, which can ultimately create stronger connections between our food businesses, the faculty and student researchers at the various universities, and the other work going on to support our food system,” Neugebauer said.