The first annual Tufts Harvest Food Festival will bring students locally grown and organic foods in Tufts Dining Halls this week.
Organizers kicked off the festival last night by showing the documentary film "Supersize Me." Other events throughout the week will introduce new locally grown and organic products and highlight the ones that are already available on campus.
"We have vendors coming to both Carmichael and Dewick and the campus center representing various organic and natural food products," Dining Services Nutritionist Julie Lampie said. "They're going to be sampling some of the products that we currently buy and some that we don't."
Amy's Kitchen, Annie's Homegrown, Stonyfield Farm, and Steaz Green Tea Soda are just some of the companies that will be exhibiting and sampling their foods.
Lampie said that the event will also highlight the benefits of buying locally grown foods. "In addition to being responsible by buying locally, we feel that if you have less traveling involved with produce, that it's going to retain more nutrients," she said.
It is difficult to offer locally grown produce during the school year at Tufts, Lampie said. "The problem with sustainable agriculture in Massachusetts is that when you come to the fall, you're limited as to what you can provide."
The Harvest Food Festival will offer squash and apples, two of the major locally grown crops this time of year. "Very little else is available," Lampie said.
"We're going to do a make-your-own caramel apple using apples that are locally grown." The apples will be from Connemara House Apple Farm of Danvers, Mass. Connemara House provides most of the pears and apples served on campus.
Buying locally grown and organic foods also give students an opportunity to try more nutritious foods. "There are eight companies in America that dominate between 50 and 75 percent of the market, and these companies supply junk food that is making it harder for people to stay healthy," said Jim Tillotson, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Tillotson said students are more likely to eat healthily if such options are available. "Every morning, when I go to lecture my students, what greets me is a Coke machine and a vending machine full of snacks," he said.
"When companies like Coke and Pepsi supply 75 percent of soft drinks, a national liking for these products is developed. Restaurants will supply what the public wants, and the public wants sweet, salty, fatty tasting food," Tillotson said.
The Harvest Food Festival will give special publicity to locally grown and organic foods that are already available on campus.
Some new healthy options, including cereals, trail mixes, nuts, and organic frozen yogurt, have been available in the Jumbo Express convenience store for the past month, which was previously stocked exclusively with junk food. "They have been selling very well," Lampie said.
"I am always on the run, so it is easier for me to have a snack in my room while I am doing work rather than go to Dewick, where I socialize and have the chance to go up for multiple courses," freshman Leslie Neems said.
Director of Dining Services Patti Lee Klos said Tufts dining halls offer a variety of choices and that "no food is bad, and all things can be taken as long as it is in moderation."
"I'm proud [of] the dining program at Tufts because I really feel that we have enough of the right kinds of foods for all different people," Klos said. "Anywhere you go, there will be eating issues, and there is junk food everywhere. Unfortunately Tufts is not immune to these problems and environments, but we do offer enough options to be conducive to health."
Neems said she appreciated seeing nutrition facts in the Dining hall and added that she would like to see them for things like salad dressing or cereal.
"The dining hall is definitely a good place to eat," sophomore Derek Rice said. "I think it's really cool that it isn't just fried food and pizza."
The Harvest Food Festival is sponsored by Tufts Food Awareness Project (TFAP), a partnership between the Center for International Environmental and Resource Policy, Tufts Institute for the Environment, and Dining Services.<$>
