University of Michigan's decision to buy more local food will boost farmers, processors

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said one of the university's new environmental sustainability goals is to buy at least 20 percent of its food from local and sustainable sources by 2025. The university's initiative fits in with the broader "buy local" movement that's sweeping the food industry.

“From the residence halls to the unions and hospitals, the university is introducing new purchasing guidelines,” U-M said in a statement.

The goal means that the university will more than double its purchases from local and sustainable sources, said Drew Horning, deputy director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, the group that spearheaded the research for the university’s initiative.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman announces new sustainability initiatives during a speech given at the Hatcher Graduate Library on Tuesday.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

“When we had a group go out and try to document the percentage we have coming in from these sources already, it was in the single digits,” Horning said. “But we didn’t get a complete response rate back.”

Local food usually means that the food must be procured within a 250-mile radius of the campus, Horning said. However, U-M has broadened the definition to include the entire state of Michigan.

Many other universities have similar sustainable food goals, including the University of California, Appalachian State University and Emory University, which has a goal for 75 percent local or sustainably grown food by 2015.

But Horning said although some universities have higher goals, U-M has developed stricter policies for determining what can be considered local and sustainable.

“Even if we’re buying something like a can of soup that is processed in a manufacturing facility with a 250-mile radius, we will only count that towards our goal if at least 50 percent of ingredients also come from within that radius,” he said.

“So not only is it being packaged here, but the ingredients coming from the local area,” he continued.

Horning said the goal doesn’t include third party venues, such as catering companies.

“If we use a local caterer, that wouldn’t count toward our goal,” he said. “We wouldn’t exclude a caterer for not using local ingredients, but when we go out for contracts, this is going to be a consideration.” He said the food initiative is important for a lot of reasons, including the impact on the natural environment, the local community and local food providers.

“The food initiative is a goal that people can very easily identify with,” he said. “It’s one of the things that is very visible.”

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.