SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—As the largest purchaser of wholesale produce in Santa Barbara County, UC Santa Barbara’s residential dining services provided the perfect avenue for a pilot project incorporating local pesticide-free or certified organic produce into an institutional setting.
The idea was conceived almost 10 years ago, when a group of students approached environmental studies professor David Cleveland about becoming a faculty adviser for student-led sustainable living classes. The group wanted to explore how to bring more local organic food in the dining halls.
In 2010, Cleveland and a group of student researchers began documenting the process, which led to the publication of a paper in the Journal of Rural Studies.