Tips and Advice for Dining Service Administrators
by Adriane Dellorco, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
You're a wonderful person!: If you are a dining service administrator who is browsing this website, kudos for you! We need more dining service administrators like you who are willing to put in a little extra effort to purchase local foods.
Local does not necessarily mean more expensive!: In-season local produce is typically comparable to or even less than the cost from your main produce distributor. Local does usually mean higher quality because of its freshness.
Buying local food for colleges is still an experiment that has little precedence: Try to be patient and flexible with the process.
Don't let busyness be the reason for not purchasing local foods: I know that dining service administrators work extremely hard and are very busy people. If you feel too busy and overwhelmed to deal with local foods purchasing, ask those local foods advocates that are bugging you to buy local for help. Those pesky local foods advocates will surely be willing to help in whatever way they can, and often have some pretty smart ideas about making a local foods purchasing system work.
Local farmers may not be accustomed to selling to corporations: Small farmers are used to cash-and-carry delivery systems where they are paid on the spot upon delivery. This sort of billing structure may not be appropriate for your dining service. Make it very clear to farmers upfront about the rules and procedures for billing and delivery.
If you don't like it, complain!: If you are disappointed with a local farmer's product, communicate with the seller so the situation can be improved. A local farmer would prefer constructive criticism to simply being cut off as a supplier without any explanation.
Plan with local farmers for the coming season: Organize a yearly winter roundtable discussion between the dining service and local farmers. Such a meeting would give the dining service a chance to make requests for products and anticipate when they will be harvested. Local farmers would also be better prepared for the coming season, offering a more reliable product.
Let students know that you are purchasing local foods: Advertise which dishes have local ingredients and from what farms. Organize a yearly local foods meal to demonstrate your commitment to local foods.