Big Red Goes Green
Take a look at your D-Hall plate. Do the greens pushed to the very edge of the circle look greener this week? “They’re a nice, classy shade of green,” upper Matt Kang noted, complimenting the chlorophyll-suffused, renewed color of the leaves in the salad bar.
Last Thursday during lunch, you may have seen Don Grandmaison, the Sales and Marketing Manager of Lēf Farms, showcasing their three unique blends. The most popular blend is called Spice, including arugula and seven other mild mustards. Another blend is labeled Smooth, with ten varieties of sweet lettuces and crunchy mustard greens. Their third blend, Balanced, is an equal amount of red and green baby kales. This display marks an important turning point for Exeter’s salad bar. Formerly importing greens solely from the west coast, the two campus dining halls have decided to import local greens from Lēf Farms of Loudon, New Hampshire’s, putting the company’s recently harvested vegetables on rotation in Elm and Wetherell.
Since Lēf Farms is based an hour from campus, the greens can be delivered to campus within a few days of harvesting, arriving clean and fresh. “The goal is for us to harvest today and deliver to you within 24 hours,” said Grandmaison. “We try to reduce as much waste and handling through the distribution channels as possible,” he continued, referencing the company’s goal to reduce food miles. Lēf Farms’ greens are unique; they are grown using nutrient film technique (NFT), a hydroponics style growing process. Hydroponic farming uses nutrient rich water instead of soil to cultivate crops. Plants can thus be grown indoors, with supplemental lighting during winter months to heat and enable photosynthesis. Outdoor growing company Pleasant View Gardens acquired this unconventional, yet brilliant idea five years ago, when its owner aimed to grow crops year round in New Hampshire, where the growing season is a usually a mere four to five months. “By using this method of growing, we can extend it year round and produce baby greens right in our backyard even when there is a foot of snow,” said Grandmaison.
“Instead of the greens on your plate driving 3000 miles they now only arrive from 30 miles away, saving lots of fuel, energy, and of course, tasting fresh,” he said.
The quick turnaround from harvest to plate showed in the Exonians’ reactions to the new greens. While enjoying the arugula-rich Spice blend, upper Caroline Matule said,“As a huge salad person, it’s really nice that the greens are now fresh and taste great.”
An unexpected advocate of greens even complimented the new leaves. “It’s as good as a salad can get,” added Kang, who typically chooses meat over salads and still seasons his Lēf Farms’ salad with protein powder.
Not only is hydroponic farming beneficial to students’ taste buds and overall health, it also promotes the Academy’s initiative to address one of the most demanding problems of this generation: climate change. 90 percent less water is consumed in the process of growing the plants hydroponically, and the water and nutrients are recycled after helping a plant grow. Moreover, Lēf Farms is committed to producing all of their greens completely pesticide-free, preventing hazardous fertilizer runoff into bodies of water, which is a common issue associated with more traditional methods of growing. Charlie Polland, the Sales Representative at Sysco, PEA’s food supplier, said, “We’re all about sustainability, and I’m trying to keep up with the generation.”
Of course, the greens from Lēf Farms come with a price. A normal pound of lettuce costs three dollars, while a pound of hydroponically grown lettuce costs six, but they are worth it. Since Lēf Farms greens are so fresh, they will last longer, which will help to reduce food waste in the kitchen.
Wetherell dining hall manager Heidi Brousseau maneuvered the budget to incorporate Lēf Farms into the dining hall.“I wouldn’t use the term cutting,” Brousseau said. “It’s all on how you manipulate where you’re going.” Polland emphasized that Sysco’s first priority for supplying the dining hall is to consider the caliber of the food for the students. He said, “It’s about the quality and the freshness of the product and the nutritional value, and we’re getting that from local farmers like this.”