More than 80 people, including members of the Cornell community and 40 local and regional farmers, attended Cornell Dining's Local Food Growers Dinner Jan. 25 at Robert Purcell Community Center, showcasing a tasty menu of local ingredients and getting Cornell chefs and local growers together to increase the amount of food Cornell Dining purchases locally.

"It was the beginning of a dialogue," said Doug Lockwood, office manager for Cornell Dining and assistant to director of Cornell Dining Colleen Wright-Riva. "We wanted to bring farmers to Cornell and let the farmers meet the chefs and let the chefs meet the farmers."

"Cornell Dining is committed to the local community and to working collaboratively with its produce vendor [Ithaca Produce] to enhance its relationship with local farmers," Wright-Reva said. "There is no better way to start a dialogue between farmers, chefs and Ithaca Produce than over a meal -- we are delighted that we were able to showcase some of the wonderful products available in this community."

The menu was a "best of" showcase of dishes using nearly all local ingredients, from a butternut squash bisque and a farmer's salad (featuring goat cheese from Lively Run Goat Dairy) to a vegetarian cassoulêt, Cornell apple cider glazed pork steam ship round and desserts like Indian Pines apple pie and Cornell Dairy ice cream.

Cornell Dining has been pursuing several initiatives to get more local and regional produce on its menus -- from its Farm to You program and its relationships with Ithaca Produce, Cornell Cooperative Extension's Farm to Institution Program and student group activities such as the Farm to Cornell program and the New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG).

The speaker at the dinner was Joel Salatin, a third-generation farmer in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He had spoken earlier in the day about sustainable agriculture in a talk sponsored in part by NWAEG.

Last year, Cornell Dining directed its fruits and vegetables supplier, Ithaca Produce, to buy 20 percent of its food locally (in New York state or within 100 miles). In 2006, the university's dining system purchased about 23 percent of food locally, compared with 7 percent in 2005. This year's goal is 30 percent. This represents considerable spending power and a boost to state and regional farmers -- Cornell spends about $10 million a year on food for its 31 dining locations across campus ($1 million alone for produce purchases).

The initial goal is to increase the amount of local produce purchased by Cornell Dining. Lockwood said the effort would expand into cheese next and then into meat, as well as some processed foods, such as frozen vegetables, that are local or regional in origin.