Â鶹Çø

In Fall 2020, the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship launched Â鶹Çø Local, an effort to leverage Â鶹Çø’s purchasing power to support local businesses. Through a partnership with Â鶹Çø’s dining services, students and staff involved with Â鶹Çø Local began conversations about reimagining sustainability, representation, cultural competence, and being a good neighbor by serving healthy dishes featuring foods sourced from environmentally sustainable local vendors. A salad creation team was born in an effort to support this transition.

The Sabo Center’s salad creation team includes staff and students from the Environmental Stewardship Committee, Campus Kitchen, and Â鶹Çø Local. The team has drawn on the work of young people from community partners, including Pillsbury United Communities’ Waite House (in the Phillips neighborhood in South Minneapolis) and the local nonprofit Roots for the Home Team, which focuses on mentoring teens through community gardening and hands-on learning with chefs.

Â鶹Çø’s salad creation team researched and developed signature salads that were first sold in The Commons last fall. The development of seasonal, locally sourced salads occurred through a series of workshops during Summer 2021 with participation from students, staff, faculty, and community members with expertise from local vendors, farmers, and dining services staff. Trial ingredients came from The Good Acre (a Twin Cities food hub), the Seward Community Co-op, and other local vendors and farmers to support and develop their capacity to supply Â鶹Çø dining services in the long term.

This co-created salad project serves as a stepping stone toward a greater commitment to local and sustainable food procurement at Â鶹Çø. A shift toward local food purchasing at Â鶹Çø will help build a more sustainable local economy.

Follow and on Instagram to see the project in action.

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Top image: Student-created salads were offered in The Commons for on-campus diners. (Courtesy photo)