Food
- Pig Feed Program: In 2009 Macalester’s cafeteria, Cafe Mac, began sending all food scraps to Barthold Farms to be used as pig feed. The program reduced trash by 33% in the first year.
- Farm-to-Fork: Bon Appétit, Macalester’s contracted dining services provider, has its own program, Farm-to-Fork, with a requirement that 20% of all ingredients are purchased from small farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food producers within 150 miles of campus. In 2018-2019 (pre-pandemic), 21% of the food purchased by Macalester met the Farm-to-Fork criteria.
- Farmers Market & CSA: Macalester partners with Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm out of Waverly, Minnesota to bring the community fresh, local, and nutritious produce for sale, right on site (Thursday). Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm also offers a CSA subscription with pick up locations near campus. Macalester also partners with Good Acre to be a CSA drop-off site all summer.
- Entomophagy: Starting Spring, 2023 our office hosts an entomophagy awareness day in which students had the opportunity to try baked goods made with cricket flour as well as other insect-themed dishes. We also provide information about the health and sustainability benefits of entomophagy.
- Vegan & Vegetarian Dining: Bon Appetit, Macalester’s contracted dining services provider, has vegetarian and vegan meal options at each one of the six stations in the Cafe Mac cafeteria, as well as Celiac friendly options. Vegetarian and vegan options are always available at each of the food outlets on campus as well.
- Food Recovery: Most leftover food not served to students in Cafe Mac is packaged by Macalester’s Food Recovery Network Team and sent to Loaves and Fishes, a charity which provides local shelters with food.
- MacShare: A Student-run co-op on campus that works on providing locally-sourced, affordable, nutritious, bulk foods for students and the broader Mac-Groveland community. Any food that remains unsold is purchased by Macalester’s Cafe Mac/Bon Appétit.