A List
9/12/05

MORE LOCAL PRODUCTS BEING USED BY SLU'S DINING SERVICES

CANTON - St. Lawrence University students are getting a taste of the North Country on campus - literally. More and more local products have been added to the offerings in campus dining facilities and plans are under way to expand the program further. Last year, over $38,000 of the University's total food budget was spent purchasing local products.

St. Lawrence participates in the North Country Grown Cooperative farm to school program, buying local produce and other agricultural products. According to Director of Dining and Conference Services Cynthia Y. Atkins, some $6,000 was spent through the program during the 2004-2005 academic year, on products including fruit, vegetables, bison, honey and herbs. Another $6,500 was spent on locally produced maple syrup. St. Lawrence also purchased goat cheese from County Meadows artisan cheese makers Don and Shirley Hitchman in Canton and bottled water from Frontenac Spring Water in Clayton.

This year, dining services has switched to soybean oil, produced by and purchased from Ag-Pro in Massena, and has added products from the Carriage House Bakery in the Potsdam Co-Op for purchase at the Northstar Café in the Student Center. Breads from Alteri's Bakery in Watertown and are also purchased by the University, as is milk from Crowley Dairy in Plattsburgh, which has 95 percent of its sources in the North Country.

"Students want a lot of variety in their dining options," Atkins said, "and we want to have high quality, fresh foods available. The local products we're using have helped us expand what we offer. It's great to know exactly where the products come from, and that we're getting them from our neighbors and friends."

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