AU students are generally happy with Bon App?tit, the school's food service provider, and its socially responsible practices despite students at more than 200 colleges protesting their campus food providers.
Schools such as University of Portland and University of California are protesting their campus food providers, specifically Aramark and Sysco, for buying food overseas to save money instead of supporting local farmers and artisans, according to Time magazine.
Students say practices like these promote unfair global agriculture where food travels 1,500 miles before it ever sees a plate, according to Time.
The University of Portland and other universities are now promoting "Eat Local" practices. The University of Portland has recently dedicated 40 percent of its food budget to local and regional produce purchases and students are excited about the change, according to Time.
"We're helping smaller farmers instead of big corporations," said Alex Samuels, a freshman at the University of Portland.
Bon App?tit already supports local farmers and a dedication to social responsibility at AU and all schools where it provides food. The company buys as much as it can locally within budget and what's available. Produce is first bought from four or five local farmers and the rest is bought from companies, especially produce which is not grown locally like avocados and bananas.
"Bon App?tit spends 20 percent of its budget on local foods," said Maisie Ganzler, director of communications for Bon Appetit.
Bon App?tit also sponsors Farm to Fork, the station in the Terrace Dining Hall where produce from local farmers is displayed. There is a Farm to Fork item daily in TDR.
Recently, TDR hosted the Eat Local Challenge, where a whole meal was made out of products grown within 150 miles of AU. Similar events also took place at ballparks, businesses and other universities across the nation who get their food supplies from Bon App?tit.
"We did this to enforce our commitment to social responsibility by supporting local farmers first," said Yvonne Matteson, the resident district manager of Bon App?tit at AU. "It was an extreme way to show what is really available around us."
Bethany McMillion, a sophomore in the School of Communication approves of the buying habits of Bon App?tit and its goals to help local farmers.
"I support getting our produce from local farmers because so many businesses push out the little guy," McMillion said.
Bon App?tit hopes that its patrons take notice of its socially responsible practices.
"We need to market them better so that students and patrons know about our social responsible practices," Matteson said.
