Organic hamburger patties produced by area farmers have replaced traditional quarter-pounders in University Housing Food Service cafeterias this year in accordance with Housing Food Service’s desire to satisfy the organically minded appetites of University of Wisconsin students.
The patties are made of one-quarter pound 100 percent all-organic beef and replaced traditionally produced burgers at the beginning of the academic year. The patties are purchased through Organic Valley, a major producer of organic foods, which buys its products from organic farmers in the area and redistributes them to its clients. Organic farmers use organic hay and grain products to feed livestock, and restrictions put in place by the USDA limit farmers’ use of antibiotics and other chemicals to treat cattle.
Though the burgers made their debut in previous school years, University Housing Food Service decided to put the organic patties center-stage as a result of student demand for organic products and an overall desire to offer fresh, quality food to UW students.
“It’s never good to put chemicals in our bodies; the less of that we can do, the better off we are,” said associate director of University Housing Food Service Robert Fessenden, an advocate of locally grown organic-food sales in University cafeterias. Fessenden also mentioned the increased freshness attributed to food coming from nearby sources.
University Housing Food Service has received many requests for organic menu items in recent years, Fessenden also said, and many students agree that organic products appeal to their desire to make more wholesome food choices.
“I like the idea of having organic foods served at UW. I don’t want to be eating chemicals and preservatives,” UW freshman Lydia Barbash-Riley said.
Though no study currently available can offer conclusive evidence proving or disproving the improved health value of organic foods, John Hendrickson, senior outreach specialist for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, believes there are other benefits of purchasing locally grown organic foods.
The environmental impact of purchasing a certain type of food should be considered, more than just its health value. The pollutants created by the purchase of foods requiring long-distance transportation, including the byproducts of fossil-fuel combustion released by refrigerated trucks, make locally grown organic products a better choice for the environment, Hendrickson said.
“We’re a land-grant university that’s supposed to be supporting local farmers and reducing environmental impact,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson also said that local residents should not only be trying to drive their cars less often and recycling but also making environmentally friendly decisions concerning the food they eat.
Though the price of organic hamburgers for UW students is the same as that of previous years’ burgers, the price of the patties for University Housing Food Service is nearly double that of the non-organic type. Fessenden explained that the constant price was made possible by the extra funding available by University Housing’s costs to residents this year. An overall price decrease of 10 percent in Food Service cafeterias was made possible by the extra funding, and hamburger prices remained the same price in order to compensate for their increased cost.
Plans for this year also included the addition of an all-organic salad to the menu in Food Service cafeterias, but organic suppliers were unable to produce the amount of salad needed for the University. Though no immediate plans are in effect for the inclusion of more organic menu items at Food Service cafeterias, Fessenden explained that an effort is being made to move toward buying organic products.
“Anything that breaks the monotony of breaded chicken sandwiches and French fries is a phenomenal effort that should be applauded,” UW sophomore Tamara McArthur said.
