Farm to Dartmouth Food Expo

Dartmouth Dining Services (DDS) will celebrate its growing relationship with area farmers during the Farm to Dartmouth Food Expo, a dining event at Homeplate at Thayer Dining Hall from 5 to 8 p.m. on May 17.

The event is for members of the Dartmouth community including students, faculty, and staff, but is open to news coverage. Please
R.S.V.P. to Steven Smith at 603-646-0912.

Served a la carte, the menu includes sliced tomato from Long Wind Farm ( East Thetford, Vt.), goat cheese and fresh herb stuffed chicken breast from Misty Knoll farm ( New Haven, Vt.), sautéed apples from Champlain Valley Orchards ( Shoreham, Vt.) w/ Maple Liqueur from Flag Hill Winery ( Lee, NH), and sweat cream ice cream from Walpole Creamery ( Walpole, NH).

“We’re proud to bring attention to area farmers and the high quality products that their farms produce,” says Tucker Rossiter, director of Dartmouth Dining Services. “This stuff is fresh—some of it is from only a few miles away—and that’s good for the College’s sustainability efforts and good for the taste of the food.” On some days, produce is picked from the fields in the early morning and on the salad bars and in entrees by lunch.

The event highlights the success of Dartmouth’s three year partnership with Vital Communities’ Valley Food & Farm (VF&F) program, which was launched by a grant from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Vital Communities is a non-profit organization that works with community members to foster the balance of cultural, economic, environmental, and social life in the Upper Valley. “We have surpassed our goal of building 10 new direct accounts, and now even more regional food comes from new distributors,” says Lisa Johnson, director of VF&F.

In 2006, the College purchased $260,301 worth of food from New Hampshire and Vermont farms, up from $230,739 in 2004. Ten years ago, the amount of food (other than milk) that Dartmouth purchased from area farms was close to zero, according to David Newlove, associate director of dining services. “We’ve come a long way,” he says. The number of farms and area distributors that Dartmouth works with has also increased, from 8 in 2004 to 23 in 2006.

Approximately twelve farmers are scheduled to attend the event to showcase their produce, talk with students, and sample some of the food themselves.