Written by Lizzie Falconer
Photos courtesy of Geraldine Moreno
At dinnertime on a Wednesday night the main foyer of Carson Dining Hall is usually crammed with anxious freshman waiting to eat. Wednesday, November 3rd local farmers joined the crowd to share their fall bounty. Replacing the normal menu items of pizza and pasta were crab cakes, lamb kabobs in a demi-glace, pizza with goat cheese and chanterelle mushrooms, and granola baked apples smothered in caramel. The locally produced feast wasn’t just a one night deal, but a hint at a much bigger food revolution happening on campus.
The yearly Farm to Fork Dinner is a showcase of food that is locally grown in the Willamette Valley. It is also the highlight of the weeklong University of Oregon Housing project Farm to Table and the cap to Project Tomato. This second annual pre-orientation trip took incoming UO freshman around the Willamette Valley to learn about sustainable agriculture, pick tomatoes, and make the organic tomato sauce that would be used on pizza in the dorms for Farm to Table week.
“The goal of the [Farm to Fork Dinner] is to celebrate our local harvest and engage students in the topic of sustainable and local agriculture,” says UO central kitchen chef Doug Lang. “The menu is based entirely on what’s available. Crab cakes were made with Oregon shrimp meat, crab meat, and Dover sole; the lamb kabobs are from Anderson Ranches (located in Brownsville, Oregon, and free of growth stimulants, hormone implants, feed additives and antibiotics).” Even the sunflower seed and cranberries in the granola were locally grown, he adds.
“Locovore” is the nickname for people who choose to eat locally grown food. But what are the benefits of eating locally? Nicki Maxwell, the membership coordinator of Slow Food Eugene, had some answers in the form of Italian history. “About 25 years ago, the first McDonalds opened up in Italy, and a man by the name of Carlo Patrini decided it was time for a revolution: anti-fast food.”
Thus the slow food movement was born, based on the principles of eating food grown locally, seasonally, and sold at a price fair to farmer and workers. There is also an emphasis on creating community support for local farmers and producers. This movement has spread across the world, opening chapters in 150 countries. The movement encapsulates the goals of the Farm to Fork dinner. By letting students try local foods, the proponents of the movement hope to spark an interest in changing how people eat.
Many students were involved in putting on the dinner including those from Professor Geraldine Moreno’s freshman seminar, Consuming Agendas: Food and Social Activism, and Anthropology 365 course, Food and Culture. Professor Moreno’s students made flyers, posters, and PowerPoint presentations for the event, which she believes will help them become activists to change the way we eat.
“We can vote with our fork!” she says. “Every decision we make around our food is personal and political.”
