UMaine System to buy more local food
Some 20% of food served at six of the seven University of Maine campuses will come from local producers within the next five years, the UMaine System announced Monday.
That’s when the UMaine System released a request for proposals for a dining and food service provider, requiring the winning bidder to slowly ramp up the purchase of local food over the next five years, according to the Bangor Daily News. The only UMaine campus that isn’t affected by this commitment is the system’s Orono campus, which uses its own provider.
UMaine System’s announcement is considered a major win for a group of Maine growers, harvesters and agricultural organizations that has been pushing for the commitment.
In the first year of the contract, the provider will have to purchase 15% of its food from local producers and that percentage will increase until reaching 20% in 2020. The newspaper said the 20% figure is equal to about $1.7 million in local food purchasing.
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