LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky plans to set up an institute aimed at bolstering the consumption of locally grown food with the help of $5 million from the multi-national corporation Aramark, which recently took over the school's dining services.
Funding for the UK Food Connection will include $1 million to endow student internships and fellowships, $250,000 in start-up funding and $250,000 annually for 15 years to pay for staff, programming and research grants.
The institute is to be housed at a new $35 million dining center across from W.T. Young Library, also financed and built by Aramark. It will be headed for now by Scott Smith, former dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
"Agriculture is a way of life in Kentucky," UK President Eli Capilouto said. "Food is a central issue for our country and our world. The University of Kentucky should be — and is — leading the way in furthering scholarship as well as practical applications for Kentucky producers."
The institute is part of a $245 million deal that UK signed with Aramark this year. Capilouto decided to privatize UK's dining services after it became clear that several new dorms — also built in a public-private partnership — would bring thousands of new students to campus without a commensurate dining area.
Aramark has agreed to spend about $70 million on new dining areas.
To help offset concern about the privatization on campus and in Lexington, UK's proposal required creation of the food institute and more purchases of local food products — $2 million this year.