BOSTON–The Henry P. Kendall Foundation announced the winning teams of the New England Food Vision Prize, an effort to encourage college and university campuses in the region to work together to increase the amount of regionally-produced food on campus menus. Last April, the Foundation challenged food service leaders from the region’s more than 200 college and university campuses to submit bold, collaborative, catalytic ideas for consideration of awards of up to $250,000. Five winning ideas emerged.
“For more than 60 years, the H.P. Kendall Foundation has supported visionary projects and leaders,” said Foundation Executive Director Andrew Kendall. “By leveraging the large-scale buying power of the region’s colleges and universities, we can create the consistent long-term demand local farmers, fishers, and ranchers need to sustain and grow their operations. The ideas represented by this round’s winners reflect the kind of ingenuity we need to build a healthier, more sustainable food system in our region.”
The Foundation received ideas from teams representing 37 New England higher education institutions. Fourteen teams representing 30 schools and several community partners were invited as finalists to submit full proposals. Today, the Foundation announced each of the following five teams will receive a $250,000 prize to implement their proposed projects:
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Northeastern University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Eastern Connecticut State University will join forces with Chartwells, Ipswich Fish, the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, Red’s Best, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, New Bedford Port Authority, and Buyers & Sellers Seafood Auction (BASE) to improve sourcing and purchasing systems. System changes will allow greater incorporation of traceable local fish on campus menus with an emphasis on underutilized and abundant species. The institutional partners have committed that 75% of all fish served on each campus will be locally sourced.
Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University will team up to develop products for Farm Fresh Rhode Island that are specifically targeted to the large-volume needs of institutional dining and will replace current purchases with items that are abundant locally in New England. Central to the team’s project is the opportunity to use significant amounts of B-grade or surplus produce that might otherwise be composted or go to waste.
Smith College, Westfield State University, Hampshire College, and Mount Holyoke College will work with The Hotchkiss School, Whippoorwill Farm, and Adams Farm to develop a replicable model for upscaling the procurement of whole animals for nose-to-tail utilization in campus dining. The project will support farmers in the region to adjust their production and delivery to meet institutional demand and enable the institutions involved to process and store large volumes of beef and pork in a way not possible today.
Harvard University, Boston College, and Tufts University will work with the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, Costa Fruit & Produce, and CommonWealth Kitchen, to bridge our region’s seasonal growing gap with strategic storage and processing solutions. New England farmers will be incentivized to expand acres of farmland in production and campus consumers will be able to enjoy more of the region’s bounty year-round.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Northeastern University, and Eastern Connecticut State University will work with Chartwells, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Sardilli Produce, and Dole & Bailey to introduce students to the use of kelp in recipes and meals, broadening consumer knowledge, increasing demand for an abundant New England sea vegetable, and expanding the versatility of kelp as a staple ingredient in the dining choices available at these campuses and beyond.
The New England Food Vision Prize is designed to accelerate progress towards the New England Food Vision, a regional goal to produce at least 50% of New England’s own food by 2060, while supporting healthy food for all, sustainable farming and fishing, and creating thriving communities. One high-leverage strategy to accelerate the region towards this goal is to unlock the market power of large food purchasers, like colleges and universities. The Prize is designed to support ideas that result in higher procurement of regional food by institutions, more regional food on campus menus, and increased demand for regional food by students while on campus and beyond the campus as alumnae.
Campus food service directors were eligible to submit ideas for consideration. To qualify, ideas had to meet five areas of criteria:
- Collaborative: Project teams were required to identify and collaborate with partners that will advance the goal.
- Replicable: Ideas for the New England Food Prize had to think beyond the dynamics at play on any one campus.
- Sustainable: Good ideas are based on a systems-approach and designed to last.
- Measurable: Applicants shared ways they plan on quantifying and qualifying progress on increasing regional food procurement and generating increased demand for regional food.
- Movement-building: Ideas for the Prize demonstrated how they will contribute to the growing movement demanding local food through organizing, engaging, advocating, or educating.
The Henry P. Kendall Foundation is a New England philanthropic enterprise that is part of a strong and rapidly expanding network aiming to create a resilient and healthy New England food system.
–Henry P. Kendall Foundation