GCC Celebrates Harvest for Students Week, September 19-23

September 14, 2011

During the upcoming Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week September 19-23, and throughout the year, each meal served in GCC’s new Dining Commons is a tasty, teachable moment about locally grown food. The September 19-23 menu features meals prepared with locally grown ingredients – including vegetables, apples, maple syrup, flour, yogurt, and more.

Students, faculty, staff, and community members who visit GCC’s Dining Commons that week will see posters about farmers who grew those ingredients, signs indicating which dishes include locally grown food, and informational displays about GCC’s local-food-related efforts and area farms and organizations that support local agriculture.

On Thursday, September 22, GCC will hold several food demonstrations outside the Dining Commons, weather permitting. Conway-based orchard supply company OESCO, Inc. will demonstrate use of a backyard cider press and provide free samples of cider. The Solar Store of Greenfield will showcase cooking in solar ovens.

 Reflecting on the new Dining Commons, GCC President Bob Pura said, “Serving locally grown foods at GCC is a no brainer. We live in the center of an agriculturally rich community; this program just makes good sense for our students, faculty, and staff, as well as for the local economy. Many years ago, I was eating lunch in GCC’s cafeteria with a small group of faculty and staff. Professor Gretchen Watson said that it is a shame that GCC does not serve more locally produced foods. I made a promise to her that we would. Gretchen has since passed, but her idea is now firmly rooted in our approach to food services.”

GCC student Brianyn MacLeod looks forward to eating fresh farm food in the Dining Commons. She said, “One of the best parts about living in New England is the abundance of locally grown food. Now, I can enjoy some of that great food while at GCC and integrate learning about locally grown food into my educational experience.” Brianyn, 23, lives in Amherst, and is the mother of two young children who love weekly trips to Simple Gifts Farm to pick up their CSA farm share. This semester, Brianyn is enrolled in GCC’s new Introduction to Food Systems course and will complete an internship focused on sustainable farming and local food issues.

 Serving locally grown food in the Dining Commons in the newly renovated Core Building is only one way GCC supports the regional food system and local economy. Through agricultural focus groups, new academic classes, and food-and-farm related events, the College plays a role in supporting an educated, aware, informed, and food-secure community.

Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week is a state-wide effort coordinated by the Massachusetts Farm to School Project in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. During Harvest Week, schools and colleges promote the local harvest and serve fresh, nutritious meals prepared with foods produced by Massachusetts farms. 

One local farm supplying GCC’s Dining Commons is Four Star Farm in Northfield. The 250-acre diversified farm run by the L’Etoile family grows grains, turf, and hops. Liz L’Etoile said “GCC is setting an example of buying locally grown products and demonstrating the value of knowing who grows your food. Some people, who are not familiar with local whole grains, after experiencing a tasty dish at GCC, will be inspired to learn how to cook with grains at home.”

GCC’s Dining Commons Chef Manager Rosemary Gardner says “Many people want to know where their food comes from and to support local agriculture. Our goal is to have 20% of the food we serve come from local farms and food producers. Along with serving locally grown food, we recycle our Fryolator oil and are looking into composting possibilities.”

Carla Shafer, Wholesale Manager for Red Fire Farm in Granby and Montague, said Red Fire has the capacity to supply vegetables to GCC year-round. Red Fire grows over 40 different vegetables, each in a wide range of varieties. Many of these are distinctive and heritage cultivars not generally found in stores. This fall, visitors to the Dining Commons are likely to enjoy Red Fire’s winter squash, carrots, salad mix, parsnips, and native-to-Vermont Gilfeather turnips in their meals. Carla said, “Institutional customers like GCC have a significant impact on the viability of local farms, both directly by buying our produce and indirectly by encouraging people to buy locally grown food. The Dining Commons is setting an example of how to incorporate tasty, healthy, diverse food into everyday meals.”

Ben Clark of Deerfield’s Clarkdale Fruit Farms sees selling fruit to GCC as part of a cycle of support between area farms and area schools. Ben said, “We support local education and GCC is committed to supporting local agriculture. All of Clarkdale’s wholesale sales are within 10 miles of our orchards. That’s very low ‘food mileage.’ For GCC as a community-based educational institution, it makes sense to serve locally grown food and to help make the community aware of the value of eating locally and seasonally.”

For information about GCC’s Dining Commons, visit gcc.mass.edu/dining/

For information about Mass. Harvest for Students Week, see the Massachusetts Farm to School Project’s website at: https://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htm.

By Mary McClintock, '82

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