Starting this school year, Campus Dining Services at the University of Missouri is bringing in more locally grown fruits and vegetables. These products are available at four campus locations.  Dining adminstrators have been working closing with six to eight different farmers in Mid-Missouri through the farmers' market.

Eric Cartwright, the executive chef for dining services, says most of the produce being used is seasonal.  Currently, the dining halls have a lot of locally grown tomatoes and watermelon.  Cartwright is also expecting to see apples as the season turns. Cartwright says, "We'll get a delivery tomorrow, on Tuesday, and you come in for Tuesday dinner and that night you're eating fruits and vegetables that were in the feild that morning. It doesn't get much fresher."

While some people say buying local is good for the economy, Cartwright has a slightly different motive for the switch.  "It's all about the quality of products we can serve our customers," he said.

Campus Dining Services also began providing free range beef at the grill of one of their locations.  This beef comes from Missouri Legacy Beef outside of Salisbury, MO.

Mark Mahnken owns Missouri Legacy Beef.  He started working with the University about four weeks ago.  Mahnken says, "We deliver meat to the University every week, quite a few pounds of hamburger. We are providing them with their roast and their stew meat products."

Both Mahnken and Cartwright agree travel time is one of the advantages to buying and selling locally.  Mahnken says it cost less money for him to ship the beef to locations that are nearby.

Cartwright, on the other hand, is concerned with freshness and usability.  He says, "The product hasn't been damaged by traveling across the country or something so we're able to use everything that comes in the door so there's no waste."