If you order a burger at the popular 100 Mile Grille food outlet in the University of Guelph\u2019s Creelman dining hall, Mark Kenny can tell you exactly where all its parts come from: the meat is procured from local farmers and formed into patties at the University\u2019s own meat processing facility; seasonal tomatoes and onions are grown nearby; the buns are made by a local artisan baker; and even the condiments, including spicy ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce, are made from scratch with local ingredients. To sweeten your accompanying tea or coffee, there\u2019s honey from the campus apiary.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood food is a lot of work, but it\u2019s very rewarding,\u201d says Kenny, procurement manager for Hospitality Services and a certified supply chain management professional (CSCMP). \u201cIt\u2019s worth it when we see the faces of the students as they taste what our chefs have made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenny\u2019s job is to source the raw goods to feed more than 20,000 staff, faculty and students in 17 outlets across campus, as well as specialty foods for catering events on campus. U of G\u2019s Hospitality Services is one of only three independent food service departments at a Canadian university that directly employs a staff member with CSCMP accreditation to purchase food and manage contracts; many other institutions use outside catering companies to feed students.<\/p>\n
U of G further sets itself apart by serving foods that are grown and processed on campus. Arctic char, for example, comes from the Alma Aquaculture Research Station, and more than 1,800 kilograms of honey produced at the Honey Bee Research Centre is served every year.<\/p>\n
Veggies that can\u2019t be used right away are processed on campus, vacuum-sealed and frozen for use over the winter, and a commercial-grade smoker adds flavour to mushrooms, ribs and chicken.<\/p>\n
Kenny\u2019s commitment to procuring locally means he knows many of the 75 nearby farmers who supply food to the University on a first-name basis. When he deals with larger distributors, he requests Ontario-grown foods whenever possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to share the stories of the food we are serving, and that means sharing the stories of the people who produce that food,\u201d says Kenny, who is active on Twitter (@100milemark) and often posts mouth-watering photos of the day\u2019s specials.<\/p>\n
Mark Kenny’s favourite campus meal: A \u201cRoyale with Cheese\u201d burger and fries from the Gryph \u2019N Grille food truck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Kenny balances his love of food with a solid business background and an artist\u2019s sensibility. He started working in restaurants at 14 and went on to earn a business diploma. He enrolled at U of G as a mature student and took courses ranging from film studies to art history, but before he could graduate, the food world lured him back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students here [at U of G] are educated about food,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve travelled; they\u2019re used to foods that would have been considered exotic not long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenny taps into the diversity of the chefs on campus to respond to that desire for variety. \u201cWe have chefs from 15 different cultural backgrounds here, so they can bring those flavours to our meals,\u201d he says. A popular dish on campus is fish moilee with Indian spices served at InFusion, a pan-Asian cuisine kiosk in the University Centre.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, pickles have been one of the tougher foods to source locally. Kenny searched for months before discovering Lakeside Packers in Harrow, Ont. \u201cNow we buy them by the skid.\u201d He also started ordering cheese from Bright Cheese and Butter in Woodstock.<\/p>\n
The only downfall to serving such great food is students don\u2019t want to leave. One student leaving campus told Kenny, \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to eat now \u2014 I\u2019m so used to the great food here.\u201d
\n\u2013TERESA PITMAN<\/p>\nFeeding 5,000 students<\/h3>\n
A quick bite of the menu served by Hospitality Services to 5,000 students on move-in day in September:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 27,000 brownies (made by U of G chefs)
\n\u2022\u00a0 8,000 apples (from Martin\u2019s Family Fruit Farm in St. Jacobs)
\n\u2022\u00a0 15,000 buns (made locally by Canada Bread)
\n\u2022\u00a0 2,400 tomatoes (from Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative)
\n\u2022\u00a0 1,020 kilograms of cold meats
\n\u2022\u00a0 900 kilograms of lettuce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you order a burger at the popular 100 Mile Grille food outlet in the University of Guelph\u2019s Creelman dining hall, Mark Kenny can tell you exactly where all its parts come from: the meat is procured from local farmers and formed into patties at the University\u2019s own meat processing facility; seasonal tomatoes and onions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null},"categories":[80],"tags":[212,211,42],"yoast_head":"\n
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