Weybridge House to go fully local in '09-'10 academic year

Author: Jaime Fuller

Next year, Weybridge House - the academic interest residence in environmental studies - plans to take its environmentally conscious cuisine to the next level by only purchasing local food with their budget, curtailed at approximately $16,000 ($8,000 less than their proposed budget in September 2008). This means bumping up the amount of produce the house residents buy from the Middlebury College Organic Garden (MCOG) and dairy products they get from local purveyors.

"Previously, we had an arrangement with Weybridge where they would come in the fall and they could pick things and we would charge them a flat rate like the Community Sponsored Agriculutre (CSA)," said Jay Leshinsky, advisor to MCOG. "This year, we met ahead of time and decided to plant crops for Weybridge they couldn't easily get from local farmers."

Some of the vegetables that MCOG will provide for Weybridge next year are onions, butternut squash, carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, turnips and broccoli. Weybridge residential advisors Amanda Warren '11.5 and Michaela Skiles '11.5 hope that with their three large freezers - one purchased just last Sunday - and new food preservation equipment, they will be able to eat without buying much food during the winter.

"Right now, we try to buy as much of our food locally as possible," said Skiles, "but we were limited especially in the wintertime because we didn't plan ahead or save stuff over the summer and fall."

However, Weybridge now has two future house residents working as MCOG interns this summer who will be involved with cultivating and preserving food for the 2009-2010 year, and other house residents plan to help out over the course of summer break. Weybridge is also working out deals with local farms like Golden Russet in Shoreham, Vt. so they can buy large quantities of produce wholesale in order to save money. They have also purchased a CSA share in local "mom and pop operation" Popoma Farms - owned by Charlie and Karen LaRoy - where Weybridge House purchases all of its eggs, which is much more economical than purchasing them from the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op.

"Organic, free-range eggs are usually $5 a dozen, and we are getting them for $3.50," said Warren. "We have a great relationship with the farmer. She shows us pictures of her children."

Buying all local does mean that the environmental studies house will be unable to buy many traditional staples like white flour, olive oil, chocolate, nuts and coffee. However, they plan to make an exception so they may purchase spices, and will have to vote as a house on whether to allow sugar into their menus.

"It's more convenience things, rather than taste things, we'll have to cut," said Warren.

Although their push to eat all local is great for the environment and the local economy, it also helps Weybridge modify their lifestyle to accommodate their reduced budget. Last November, the Community Council voted to reduce Weybridge's budget by $5,000 to $19,000 for the 2008-2009 academic year. The house's budget for 2009-2010 will be approximately $16,000.

"We're probably going to end up spending less money, much less," said Warren. "If we hadn't decided to do this local project the budget situation would have been a much bigger challenge because we would have had to ration out the money each week. Now we will have to ration food instead of money."

Putting in extra hours during the summer will also mean that the house will need to spend much less time preparing and shopping for food during the less than hospitable Vermont winters.

"Over the summer, we'll get a load of broccoli, and we'll have to cut it up and put it in a bag and freeze it," said Warren. "In January, that's going to be our least time- and labor-intensive month because we'll just be eating from the freezer."

"We won't need to do any Co-op shopping," added Skiles. "We won't be spending any money except on eggs, milk and cheese."

During Winter Term, the members of Weybridge House applied for an Environmental Council grant to help pay for equipment they would need to preserve and store food, including their new chest freezer, food dehydrators and food storage bins. They received $1,034 - exactly what they asked for. Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben has been a big source of support, helping the academic interest house apply for grant money as well as persuade the administration of the house's value on campus.

"We had that scare earlier this year where they were going to cut our budget 100 percent, and [Bill McKibben] had our backs," said Warren. "He actually spoke directly to [President of the College Ronald D.] Liebowitz. When we were writing the EC grant, he said we could put his name on anything."

Warren and Skiles hope they will be able to publicize their transition to local food in order to show other colleges and families that it is possible to eat sustainably, even when facing economic hardship. The group hopes to publish reports and cookbooks about their experience of eating all local after completing their trial run the next academic year.

"It's going to be a pretty interesting case study of eating locally on a budget," said Warren. "I hope that we are going to be able to prove to the community that it's not just for the elite anymore."

Leshinski also hopes that other colleges can learn from what Weybridge is attempting next year.

"Weybridge could be a model for small dining halls and groups at other colleges," said Leshinski. "It would be great if they could write about what they did so it is available for other people to see and say 'oh, we can freeze broccoli and do this too.'"

Other colleges that have taken steps toward buying more local food include Yale University, Williams College, U.C. Santa Cruz and California State University at Monterey Bay.

Skiles and Warren are excited for next year, especially after they have put so much time and effort into preparing for their project, and will spend many more hours this summer in preparation. However, they believe it is worth it to be able to live a lifestyle they thought was only possible after graduating from college.

"If you're agriculturally minded, you see college as being the thing that you have to do before you can live the lifestyle you want to live," said Warren. "The most amazing thing about Weybridge for me is that, in collaboration with a lot of wonderful people, I have figured out a way to live exactly the way I want to be living at this point in my life.

"I'm really excited for the first meal next year, when everything is finally put together. It is going to be really rewarding."