The University of Montana Wednesday said that it’s now buying more than $1 million worth of local food a year.
Director of UM Dining Mark LoParco said the numbers for last fiscal year have just been tallied, and they show that the school spent $1.2 million for Montana-grown food.
LoParco says that’s nationally significant.
"The University of Massachusetts just got some national recognition for purchasing $1 million in local food. Their revenue at their campus is $85 million. We purchased $1.2 million on a $12 million budget. They’re doing great work, and we’re doing even better work here in Montana."
The university started prioritizing local food purchasing in 2003. Back then, the school only bought about a quarter of a million dollars a year for it. Since then, the university has been able to bring on a full-time sustainability manager to help with purchasing, and there are now significantly more local food vendors, particularly the Western Montana Cooperative, LoParco says.
"We buy local because it’s fresher, fewer food miles. More and more, the guests that we serve today are wanting to know exactly where their food comes from, and we’re able to tell them."
LoParco says he especially likes when students come to school in Missoula and see that the food they’re eating was raised by their neighbors.
"It’s quite a source of pride, and something that’s really important in the state of Montana."
LoParco says the university would like to spend even more of its food dollars locally, but there are barriers.
"Carrots we buy coins, sticks, sliced, diced, you name it, but we buy it all value added. That doesn’t come from Montana. So, there’s another $250,000 - $300,000 that we spend a year that could be spent in Montana."
LoParco says it’s a lack of food processing facilities in the state that prohibit him from buying more local value added food.
The University of Montana currently buys from 138 local farmers, ranchers and food producers, and that includes all of the beef the school buys, which are raised on ranches with sustainable practices within 500 road miles of the school.
