Schools
UVM Dining Puts Local Food in the Spotlight During Eat Like a Local Week
Eat Like a Local Week connects UVM students with the Vermont farmers and food makers behind the meals served across campus
Burlington, VT — As part of Sodexo’s Eat Like a Local Week initiative, celebrated across Vermont and New England, University of Vermont (UVM) Dining Services gave students a chance to taste Vermont food and meet the people who produce it. The Sept. 14–18 celebration included a Taste of Vermont Dinner and Farm Fest, where 25 local farmers and food makers shared products served on campus throughout the year.
The events offered a closer look at UVM Dining’s year-round commitment to local food. Through its Vermont First program, UVM Dining purchases food from Vermont farms and businesses for dining halls and retail locations across campus.
From July 2024 through June 2025, UVM Dining purchased $2.5 million in food grown or manufactured in Vermont. That represented 21.4% of its total food spending and included purchases from 105 local producers.
Dairy led UVM Dining’s local purchasing, with 45.2% of its dairy spending going to Vermont producers. Local meat accounted for 41.9% of meat spending. Vermont ground beef is the default for burgers at Vermont Burger Co. and across UVM’s four dining halls, while local pulled pork and ham are also served on campus.
Bakery products have become another growing part of the program. UVM Dining has expanded its use of Vermont-made breads and baked goods, including Stewart’s Bakery burger buns and sliced breads. Local products now account for 27.8% of its bakery purchases.
Those regular orders matter to producers. “Partnering with UVM on our local organic dairy products has been fun and rewarding,” said Pete Miller of Miller Farm in Vernon. “When we’re on campus students always light up when they see us. It has also been a financially grounding relationship, allowing us to depend on those consistent orders.”
Meeting the Makers at Farm Fest
This year’s Farm Fest was UVM Dining’s largest yet, bringing 25 local farmers and producers to the University Green on Sept. 16. Students sampled apples grown at UVM’s Catamount Farm, maple syrup produced at its Proctor Maple Research Center, Vermont Cookie Love cookies and ecobean sparkling yerba mate.
The lineup also included Mighty Mudita seitan deli slices on Stewart’s Bakery bread, Sisters of Anarchy ice cream sandwiches, Sherpa Kitchen Nepalese dumplings and Global Village Foods samosas. Every participating business is a year-round UVM Dining partner.
UVM Dining purchased products for the event in advance, allowing producers to focus on meeting students and sharing the stories behind their businesses.
“As a proud UVM graduate, partnering with UVM Dining has been personally and professionally rewarding,” said Trisha Dion of Burlington-based ecobean. “The Vermont First team has been a true collaborator — thoughtful, supportive, and deeply committed to strengthening Vermont’s food system.”
UVM undergraduate Talia Weizman said the samples introduced her to farms she had not known about. “This opened my eyes to everything our local environment has to offer here in VT and inspired me to try and eat more locally!”
For Kevin Melman of FUNJ Shrooming Co., Farm Fest was also a return to his alma mater. Melman, who started his mushroom farm a few years after graduating from UVM, recalled sampling local foods at campus events as a student. Now, he supplies food to the university and gets to share his work with a new generation of students.
A Taste of Vermont
The Taste of Vermont Dinner brought local and seasonal ingredients to Central Campus Dining on Sept. 15. The menu featured homemade Cabot mac and cheese, maple baked beans, roasted local vegetables, Vermont Soy tofu bowls, local beef and mushroom burgers, charcuterie boards with Vermont meats and cheeses, and Champlain Orchards apple pie and cider.
UVM Eco-Reps hosted Vermont First trivia during the dinner, giving students another way to learn about Vermont agriculture, local producers and the impact of local purchasing.
UVM Dining’s work has also earned national recognition. In 2025, the National Association of College & University Food Services awarded UVM Dining its Grand Prize for Sustainable Procurement for Vermont First and its efforts to grow local food purchasing. In 2026, UVM Dining received a silver award for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion/Social Justice, recognizing its efforts to increase purchasing from food businesses owned by people from underrepresented groups and its Local Meets Global program, which brings local food entrepreneurs into dining halls to share their food and stories.
Eat Like a Local Week put names and faces to the food UVM students encounter every day. Long after the events ended, UVM Dining’s regular purchases continue to create demand for Vermont products and support the farmers and food businesses that supply them.
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