Growing a new attitude toward local food: College Boreal studying local food sources as part of a procurement initiative through Mohawk College.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: SUDBURY

Feeding students at post-secondary schools is just as important as teaching them.

College Boreal is aiming to not only provide students with nutritious, locally sourced food, but teach them food sustainability and ultimately create a Northern food culture.

Getting locally sourced food, however, can be an issue, especially for Northern colleges.

College Boreal is among four colleges in Ontario participating in a procurement initiative led by Mohawk College to see how much locally sourced food they can access from nearby farms.

Algonquin College in Ottawa, Fleming College in Peterborough and Humber College in Toronto are also part of the initiative.

"Right now we are doing a food audit to give us a sense of what and where we can get," said Marc Despatie, director of communications at College Boreal. "It's not just about cost and nutrition, but carbon footprint as well."

He explained, for Northern colleges like Boreal, sourcing local food is difficult due to distance from farms. Even though local food has been experiencing a resurgence, he said many of the farms are small hobby farms and do most of their sales at local markets or sell direct to families.

"We are not close to the bread baskets like colleges are in the south, and for our campuses in Timmins and Hearst, it's even more challenging," he said. "We are looking at everything, from potatoes, which can be bought and stored almost any time of the year, to fresh produce and berries. With those they are not available year-round. Do we get fresh and can them at the college, then don't buy anymore over the winter from elsewhere?

"These are questions we want to answer before developing a framework."

The college, through their Boreal Coop, already sources some food from local suppliers, such as Eat Local Sudbury, Flanagan's and Valley Growers. Chef lean Huneault said the framework is looking at logistics unique to the college, such as the population swings between summer and winter, distance to nearest food sources, storage and safe handling, and if they can grow some of their own food on campus.

"We started working with local sources last year and this year as well," he said. "I have to be careful and make sure they are following the standards. Leafy greens are best in the summer, but things like carrots, potatoes, apples and all types of squashes can hold pretty well. I have to see what I buy as an investment."

What constitutes local also has to be addressed. Huneault said they have to...