ACTION rally promotes use of locally grown food at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN

Local faith-based activist group ACTION sponsored an outdoor rally at Youngstown State University to promote the use of locally grown food on campus, and challenged the university to take leadership in the issue community-wide.

If Youngstown State University increases the percentage of locally grown and produced food products it purchases, then maybe Mercy Health and other large food purchasers will follow suit, said Rose Carter, head of Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods at a rally Thursday at The Rock on the YSU campus.

Area advocates for re-localizing a part of the food chain say it provides healthy eating practices and an economic stimulus for those involved in producing the products.

Carter said the purpose of the rally on the YSU campus is to encourage YSU President Jim Tressel to “continue to honor his pledge to expand the purchase of local food for students and staff within the institution” made at ACTION’s annual fundraising banquet in 2015.

She praised YSU for purchasing 15-17 percent of its food products locally, which means being produced within a 150-mile radius of Youngstown, but said more is needed.

Read more about the campaign in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.