,MONTREAL - McGill University is increasingly eating local thanks to the the MacDonald Campus farm in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
The farm, along with other previously-underused agricultural resources, is helping McGill achieve its targets which calls for 75 percent of its campus produce served in the summer to be grown within 500 kilometers.
Those targets fall to half in the fall and one-quarter in the winter.
"What we wanted to do was to bring the flavour of Montreal on campus and also to encourage the local economy," explained McGill Food and Hospitality Services' Mathieu Laperle.
The farm’s contribution to feeding McGill’s hungry bellies has risen ninefold since the policy was introduced three years ago, as 45,000 pounds of MacDonald farm produce is now consumed on campus every year.
One university chef said that the initiative not only helps the local agriculture producers out, but it also adds flavour.
“There's nothing better than something that was picked yesterday ripe and eating it the next day,” said McGill Executive Chef Oliver de Volpi. “We're trying to be a much more interesting destination for the students than just a school cafeteria.”
The program is expected to expand next months to include eggs. The university will soon only purchase eggs laid within the three days prior, a considerable reduction in the current three-week old egg limit.
