4/9/01 (Article for OSAP newsletter by Adriane Dellorco)

After a year of meetings, research, and organization by OSAP and Oberlin students, CDS has finally come to realize the importance of local foods and has generously purchased a $5000 share in OSAP for the coming school year. In addition, CDS has offered to subsidize OSAP for the extra $2 million in insurance coverage that OSAP needs to have in order to sell to CDS. OSAP has decided to include other local growers and producers in on the action by purchasing from them and covering their insurance costs. OSAP will receive a 20% commission by growers who sell to CDS next year, which will hopefully help OSAP get its financial feet on the ground. OSAP has put a lot of energy into making CDS accessible for local farmers, and thus the 20% commission is aimed at contributing to all the volunteer efforts of OSAP members and to get OSAP out of debt. OSAP's brokerage position is a temporary one because we all know that OSAP is not in the business of making money off the back of poor farmers.

The situation in CDS is somewhat tenuous because we will not be sure who CDS's new management provider will be until May. They have narrowed the selection to 3 firms: Bon Apetit, Chartwells, and Parkhurst. Thus our current management provider, the notorious Sodhexo Marriott (infamous for its association with private prisons, poor labor praactices, and terrible food) is not in the running, and that means things will definitely be looking up for local foods! Since we are not sure how these new companies will deal with local foods for the coming year, we are telling local growers and producers that CDS can be a venue to sell bumper crops, but not as a gauranteed market as of yet. CDS is completely committed to OSAP, however, and Gerry has already started planting lots more seeds to sell to CDS next year. By linking local foods with the huge institutional buying power of CDS, we are onto something monumental in the revolution of local foods.