Local Offerings February 4rd – February 11th

Local Offerings for the week of February 4th – 11th

Availability is starting to pick up a bit over at Eastern Carolina Organics. Also we have more beautiful Savoy Leaf Spinach coming in from Tony over at Flora Ridge Farm. We’d also like to welcome Guilford’s own Frank Massey and his Grass Fed Beef to the list. We are really excited about working with Frank and his great tasting locally grown, antibiotic free, Grass Fed Beef.

• Red Baby Beets – Cottle
• Baby Arugula – Cottle
• Lacinato Kale – Cottle
• Purple Frosted Collard Greens – Cottle
• Rutabaga – Cottle
• Butternut Squash – Cottle
• Beauregard Jumbo Sweet Potatoes – Baily Brothers
• Purple Top Turnips – Cottle
• Savoy Leaf Spinach – Flora Ridge Farm
• Red Bibb Lettuce – Flora Ridge Farm
• Green Bibb Lettuce – Flora Ridge Farm

The following items are always in stock and always local:

• Heavy Cream, Half and Half, Buttermilk and Whole Milk – Homeland Creamery
• Flour, Cornmeal, and Grits – Booneville Flour and Feed
• Chicken – Hopkins Poultry
• Breakfast Sausage – Neese’s Country Sausage
• Grass Fed Antibiotic/Hormone Free Beef – Tomahawk Farm (Frank Massey)

Sustainability Update Winter 2010

So, this blog has been inactive for a few months. We were not operating for a few weeks for Christmas and with our local produce slowing to a crawl with old man winter setting in, I’ve been sort of struggling with finding things to post.

I thought I’d kick off the 2010 blogging season with a sort of update on where we are with a few projects here at Guilford Dining.

Earthtub

Composting of pre and post consumer food waste is in full swing. We are starting to get the kinks worked out and are operating with minimal odors. We are also very happy to announce that we are fully permitted and compost will be cleared for use on campus as well as in the community garden. This proccess requires testing of all finished compost batches for ecoli, heavy metals, pathogen levels, and manmade inerts. Although it’s been a rocky, sometimes smelly road, we believe we will be producing some quality compost. So far we have composted over 4000 lbs of food waste in the Earthtub and are still going strong. Without the help of our Earthtub and food waste pulper which reduces the food waste volume by 70% that would have been over 13,334 pounds of food waste into the landfill. Now those are results!

Local Purchasing

As I stated before local purchasing has definitely slowed down with old man winter setting in. We did add a new local grass fed be supplier in Guilford’s own Frank Massey. We will be purchasing roughly one whole cow a month from Frank and we’re very pleased with his product. Like all our local beef it is grass fed, pasture raised, and free of all antibiotics and hormones.

We’ve also started a purchasing a locally manufactured degreaser that is made from the by products of the biofuel proccess over at Piedmont Biofuels. It’s a great little closed loop system considering that Piedmont Biofuels recycles our fryer grease, and uses the by products to make this degreaser. The degreaser is all natural and much better for the environment than other degreasers.

We also picked up a local egghandler last semester in Pride of the Morning. All of our whole eggs (not the liquid ones used for scrambled eggs in the morning) are NC grown. Pride of the Morning will also hopefully be providing us with local produce when the season comes around again.

Some of you also might have also heard of or met our new farmer and friend Vern Switzer. Vern has been farming in the area nearly all his life and will be suppying us with a plethora of fresh produce come spring.

Also keep an eye out for Savoy Leaf Spinach from our friend Anthony Bono over at Flora Ridge Farm. Tony has been suppyling us with local non-cert organic hydroponic lettuce for almost a year, and is now growing spinach in his newest green house. You can also find Tony’s spinach and lettuce as well as Vern Switzer’s produce at the Greensboro Curb Market.

Going Green in the Grill

Many of our students and custumers have voiced concerns over the amount of paper waste that is produced in the Grill and believe me it makes me twitch daily. So we’ve come up with a few solutions to decrease that waste. First off we will be introducing the Ugly Mug Program which gives a discount to those who purchase coffee in a reusable mug. We also will be exploring a reusable take out tray that will be available for purchase in the grill, that you can bring back over and over again to have your order filled in. Also somewhere on the horizon are compost bins for the Grill. We are currently working out the logistics of ramping up composting in the Grill so we can get all of those great Vegware compostable products into our system.

These projects will hopefully be the start of a successful year of sustainabilty efforts at Guilford Dining.

Local Offerings 11/19

Local produce offerings are starting to slow down as the growing season comes to a close but we still have some nice items coming in from Eastern Carolina Organics. We have a whole mess of Local Heritage breed Turkey’s coming in friday for our Thanksgiving meal on Monday. We will also be offerings some other local goods for our Thanksgiving celebration on Monday. Stay Tuned!

Produce:

Organic Napa Cabbage – Gladheart
Organic Arugula – Cottle
Organic Red Russian Kale – Cottle
Organic Red Mustard Greens – Cottle
Organic Green Leaf Lettuce – Hunting Creek
Organic Green Peppers – H&H
Organic Spaghetti Squash – Feather Farm
Organic Beauregard Sweet Potatoes – Ward Organic
Organic Cherry Tomatoes – M&M Farm
Red Bibb and Green Leaf Lettuce – Flora Ridge Farm
Savoy Leaf Spinach – Flora Ridge Farm

Meats

Heritage Breed Turkeys – John Marshall
Ground Beef – Piedmont Prime LLC
Chicken – Hopkins Poultry

Local Offerings 11/12

Winter sure does seem to be blowing in on us this afternoon. That certainly won’t keep the local produce coming from our friends at Eastern Carolina Organics. Gladheart’s Broccoli is back and new from Vern Switzer are Mustard Greens. Soon enough Vern will also be bringing us broccoli, cauliflower, and kale.

Produce:
Organic Green Beans – Hilltop/Cottleh
Organic Broccoli – Gladheart
Organic Napa Cabbage – Gladheart
Organic Globe Eggplant – M&M
Organic Arugula – Cottle
Green Leaf Lettuce – Timberwood/Hunting
Organic Red Radish – Cottle
Organic Rutabaga – Cottle
Organic Acorn Squash – Cottle
Organic Purple Top Turnips – Cottle
Organic Grape Tomatoes – Cottle Strawberry
Non-cert Organic Green Leaf and Red Bibb Lettuce – Flora Ridge Farm
Mustard Greens – Vern Switzer

Meats (always in stock):
Ground Beef – Piedmont Prime LLC
Chicken – Hopkins Poultry (Locally Processed, all NC Grown)
Breakfast Sausage – Neese’s Country Sausage

Other Products (always in stock):
Flour and Grits – Boonveille Flour and Feed
Whole Milk, Butter, Half and Half, Heavy Cream and Buttermilk – Homeland Creamery

Local Offerings

More beautiful Fall crops are filling our coolers. I’ve included some pictures of Vern Switzer’s gorgeous bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and collard greens.

Local Offerings – November 5th

Produce:
Organic Green Beans              Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Napa Cabbage          Gladheart Farm (165 Miles)
Organic Globe Eggplant        M&M Farm (27 Miles)
Organic Green Kale                 Pine Knot Farm (65 Miles)
Organic Arugula                       Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Green Leaf                  Hunting Creek Farm
Organic Rutabaga                     Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Zucchini                      Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Acorn Squash            Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Purple Top                  Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Organic Grape Tomatoes       Cottle Strawberry (171 Miles)
Organic Purple Top Turnips Cottle Organic (171 Miles)
Green Bell Peppers                   Vern Switzer (33 Miles)
Red Bell Peppers                        Vern Switzer (33 Miles)
Organic Bell Peppers                Vern Switzer (33 Miles)
Sweet Potatoes                            Vern Switzer (33 Miles)
Collard Greens                             Vern Switzer (33 Miles)
Green and Red Bibb Lettuce   Flora Ridge Farm

Meat:
Chicken                                            Hopkins Poultry, Brown Summit, NC (Locally Processed, All NC grown)
Ground Beef                                   Piedmont Prime LLC (86 Miles)
Beef Flank Steaks                         Piedmont Prime LLC (86 Miles)
Beef Tenderloins                          Piedmont Prime LLC (86 Miles)
Beef Brisket                                     Cane Creek Farm (42 Miles)
Sausage and Bacon                      Neese’s Country Sausage (12 Miles)

Other Products (always in stock):

Flour and Grits                               Booneville Flour and Feed
Goat Cheese                                     Celebrity Dairy

Local Offerings 10/22

Our coolers are packed with beautiful Fall crops. We have some beautiful Red Mustard Greens from Cottle Organic, Broccoli from Watauga River Farm, and the last of Vern Switzer’s Tomatoes, and Eggplant.

I snapped a few pictures of some of our products listed below.

Local Produce:

• Organic Basil – Faucette Farms (18 Miles)
• Organic Red Beets – Gladheart Farms
• Organic Brocolli - Watuaga River (117 miles)
• Organic Arugula – Cottle Organics (171 miles)
• Organic Yellow Squash – Cottle Orgaincs (171)
• Organic Covington Sweet Potatoes– Baily Brothers
• Organic White Turnips – Somerset Farms (224 miles)
• Green Peppers – Vern Switzer (34 miles)
• Eggplant – Vern Switzer (34 miles)
• Tomatoes – Vern Switzer (34 miles)
• Zucchini Squash – Vern Switzer – (34 miles)
• Green Beans – Vern Switzer (34 miles)
• Red Bibb and Green Leaf Lettuce – Flora Ridge Farm (59 miles)

Local Meat (always in stock):

• Chicken – Hopkins Poulty – Brown Summit, NC (All North Carolina Grown and locally proccessed)
• Ground Beef – Piedmont Prime, LLC – Galax, VA
• Breakfast Sausage and Bacon – Neese’s Country Sausage – Greensboro, NC

Other Products (always in stock):

• Heavy Cream, Half and Half, Buttermilk and Whole Milk – Homeland Creamery – Julian NC (28 miles)
• Flour and Grits – Booneville Flour and Feed – Booneville, NC  (55 miles)
• Chevre Goat Cheese – Celebrity Dairy – Siler City, NC (42 miles)

Earth Tub > Emptied

Guilford Sustainability Coordinator Jim Dees and I emptied the first  batch of comost from the Earth Tub today. It didn’t turn out to be nearly as big a job as we thought. We were able to get the entire thing emptied and loaded on to a golf cart trailer in under two hours. Also because we were able to leave it in the tub for a little longer than expected due to external factors, the compost was close to finished. We ended up a little heavy on the carbon side on our ratio but we think the overall prodcut is pretty top-notch especially for our first batch.  In the roughly 2 weeks were composting we were able to proccess over 1700 pounds of food scraps.  I snapped some photos from the unloading for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

Sort of an action shot of the auger pushing out the compost. The picture doesn’t capture it, but it was really sort of a dramatic scene with the auger churning the compost and the sunlight shining through the steam that was literally billowing out of the hatch.

Unloading the compost at the Pines.

This is where we’re finishing the compost at the newly renovated bin system near the Pines House.

Finished product. Almost looks like we know what we’re doing right?

This Week’s Local Offerings and Feed the Difference!

This Tuesday, October 6th, Guilford Dining with Meriwether Godsey will hold the second annual Feed the Difference Harvest Meal. We will be featuring an almost completly local menu with a variety of menu options to satisfy your hunger.

Some of the local items you’ll find at Be The Difference and through out the week are listed below.

Produce:

Tatsoi Greens Cottle Organic (117 miles)
Organic Globe Eggplant Cottle Organic (117 miles)
Organic Arugula Timberwood (49 miles)
Organic Yellow Squash Cottle Organic (117 Miles)
Organic Okra Timberwood Organics (49 miles)
Organic Star Watermelons Baily Brothers
Organic Acorn Squash Cottle/Wieble
Organic Covington Sweet Potatoes Cottle Organic (171 miles)
Red Bibb and Green Leaf Lettuce Flora Ridge Farm (59 miles)
Puple Top Turnips Timberwood Organics (49 miles)

Local Meat (always in stock):

Chicken – Hopkins Poulty – Brown Summit, NC (All North Carolina Grown and locally proccessed)
Ground Beef – Piedmont Prime, LLC – Galax, VA
Breakfast Sausage and Bacon – Neese’s Country Sausage – Greensboro, NC

Other Products (always in stock):

Heavy Cream, Half and Half, Buttermilk and Whole Milk – Homeland Creamery – Julian NC (28 miles)
Flour and Grits – Booneville Flour and Feed – Booneville, NC (55 miles)
Chevre Goat Cheese – Celebrity Dairy – Siler City, NC (42 miles)

Greening of a Loading Dock (Part IV)

We’re finally wrapping up this little project. All of the plants are in the ground and the Earth Tub is fully assembled. We’re still waiting for the electricians to get it fully installed and churning. Then all that’s left to do is finish the fence. We also clipped our first herbs today! Enough basil for tommorow’s Herb Crusted Fish.

This is arugula and is sort of an experiment. We started it from seed, and I’m not sure how much we’ll harvest.

What a haul!

Michael Pollan: Diet Reform = Healthcare Reform

In an NYT op-ed piece from last week, Michael Pollan lays out his argument as to why we spend twice as much per citizen on healthcare than European countries. It’s not only because of our system’s inefficiencies, but because Americans are increasingly fatter.  According to Pollan, “Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.” Out of the $2.3 trillion we spend on healthcare per year, we spend a staggering $147 billion on obesity, and $116 billion on diabetes.  President Obama has made some allusions to addressing the problem, including the idea of a new local farm distribution center to get fresh vegetables to schools, and even a possible soda tax. In any case, I think Pollan is right. If we want to cut down our healthcare spending, we need to fix this country’s food system.

Read the article for yourself HERE