This video features some of the enterprising work of Bon Appetit Management Company to invest in building up the infrastrcuture in Northeast Ohio for local food processing. Through a partnership with the Center for Innovative Food Technologies (CIFT) in Toledo, Bon Appetit piloted a flash freezing initiative in 2010. Flash freezing is a processing technology that enables fresh local food to be frozen and available for distribution during the off-season. This type of system is critical to bolstering the local food economy of Northeast Ohio and expanding the availability of locally grown food throughout the year. Bon Appetit goes beyond local food procurement and actually looks at how they can increase their purchases by catalyzing infrastructure for processing, storage, and distribution. The flash frozen food is distributed to their dining accounts at Oberlin College, Case Western Reserve University, and Otterbein College.
Videos tagged as 'institutional purchasing'
Leslie Schaller with the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet) catches up Matt Rapposelli, a local food entrepreneur turned food service director at Ohio University. Matt talks about the valuable networks he formed as a small business and how that carried over into his efforts to expand Ohio University's already highly successful local food initiatives. He brings an entrepreneurial approach to food service management, overseeing the expansion of the university's facilities to more effectively process and store locally grown foods while employing a number of students and local residents. Ohio University provides a good example of going beyond local food purchasing and actually investing in the productive infrastructure necessary to provide local food year round in a cold-climate region.