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YSU now buys 15-17 percent of its food locally
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 on the issue communitywide.
If YSU 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 the rally Thursday at The Rock at YSU.
Area advocates for re-localizing a part of the food chain say it provides healthful eating practices and an economic stimulus for those involved in producing the products.
Carter said the purpose of the rally owas 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 to 17 percent of its food products locally, which means being produced within a 150-mile radius of Youngstown, but said more is needed.
“We’re asking that 25 percent of the food provided on the YSU campus be locally produced,” she said, and asked for a progress report by May.
Speaking for the university, Eddie Howard, associate vice president of student experience, said that working with its food supplier, Chartwells Dining Service, and the commitment it has to YSU, increasing buying locally produced food to 20 to 25 percent should be doable.
“I think we’ll be right where you want us to be,” said Howard, who did not, however, commit to 25 percent by May.
Howard said any local food producers interested in selling products to the university can contact YSU to learn the requirements.
The majority of food served within institutions such as YSU provides low-quality, low-nutrient food, said Jim Converse, Youngstown Farmer’s Market manager. Even fresh food travels 1,500 miles on average with very little profit going to local farmers, he added.
Increasing consumption of foods produced locally creases high-quality local jobs and keeps more dollars in the local economy, Converse said.
ACTION, which is spearheading the effort to address local food as an important part of creating local jobs and a healthier community, partnered in Thursday’s rally with the Gamaliel Foundation, which has more than 70 trainees here. Gamaliel, according to its website, provides training and consultation and develops national strategy for its affiliated congregation-based community organizations.