On the Web:
www.miis.edu
www.transfairusa.org
www.uncommongrounds.net

Doing the Right Thing at Stanford
Nadeem Siddiqui came to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, as executive director of dining services in 2002. He'd made his mark at Cornell University, where many of the most innovative foodservice directors seem to have spent some time, as an advocate for local foods. In California, he's using Stanford's national reputation to set an influential example for supporting organic and locally grown foods.

When you're spending millions of dollars on food each year, that kind of attitude can rock the foodservice world. "Organic food is a passion I feel strongly about, and I think it's the right thing to do," Siddiqui says. "Someone once said that the right thing is never the easiest, and trust me, it hasn't been easy to find the resources and support to do it in the right way."

Tapping Siddiqui's experience at Cornell in working with local growers, Stanford created an agreement just a few months ago in California's Central Coast region with a cooperative of about 17 farms. "We're experimenting with organic foods for some of our facilities," Siddiqui says. "We're moving ahead with the concept and we've tried it for a couple of months. We're hoping we can do a small farmer's market on campus and invite local farmers to educate and expose people."

Even at prestigious Stanford, budgets are a constraint. "Cost is the challenge. Organic is more expensive and budgets are tight for students, so the volume isn't there. The farms we're working with are working on a competitive pricing structure for us that will be a few cents higher, but still doable," Siddiqui says.

With USFoods as Stanford's distributor, Siddiqui also navigates challenges with delivery schedules of smaller farmers and the insurance liability requirements of the institution. "No one here is hostile to the idea of organic," he says. "Administratively you have to have certain insurance, and the large companies have a monopoly because of that. And there are issues with delivery. You have to find ways to be creative, find ways to help small farmers get the insurance, do the paperwork, have equal footing, if you will, in the market."

What makes this possible? "100 percent support in what I'm trying to do," Siddiqui says. "We hope to start changing the mindset of other schools or businesses or universities who might have a negative feeling or negative trend toward organic. We think we can help make the change and do the right thing the right way, and it's important to Stanford dining."

Though organic is a relatively small piece of Stanford's foodservice program right now, there is a campus farm run by students and, it seems, a momentum that will move things quickly in the direction of more organic offerings. "I think there are a lot of misconceptions that organic food is not available or too expensive," Siddiqui says. "We all have to work hard to dispel misunderstandings."

Siddiqui advises parents of school-age children to talk to the school board and the people who operate foodservice programs, helping them understand organic benefits. "Take time," he says. "It doesn't happen with one e-mail. You really have to be persistent and believe in what you believe in. You'll get many 'no's' but out of one hundred no's you might get one yes.  "And it does filter out to other schools. It's not for personal gain, but out of respect for where you live, and where you work, and the earth. These are very positive issues with organic."

On the Web:
http://www.stanford.edu
Article on Nadeem Siddiqui: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/october9/dining-109.html

State Schools in the Running

Private universities and colleges are not the only institutions that have established organic food purchasing programs. The University of Wisconsin at Madison is just one example; the university foodservice program offers locally grown, organic blue corn tortilla chips, as well as locally grown apples, beef, and potatoes. Special dinners feature organic and locally grown foods to help raise awareness and educate students.

The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at UW-Madison credits student interest in organic and locally grown foods with creating sufficient demand. As with many states, the decline of rural communities and farms is a political and social concern for many residents, and university support for these enterprises can make a vital difference.

On the Web:
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
www.wisc.edu/cias/news/organic_dorm.html
The College Food Project
Extensive information and data on local buying at the University of Wisconsin
www.wisc.edu/cias/research/colgfood/econimp.html