DePauw to host Eat Local Challenge, Farmers Market Tuesday afternoon

In an effort to get the community to eat local, DePauw University and Bon Appetit will be hosting their inaugural Eat Local Challenge, which will coincide with a Farmer's Market on Tuesday afternoon. Both events are set to begin at 11 a.m. outside the Hub on campus with the Eat Local Challenge ending at 2 p.m. and the Farmer's Market at 4 p.m.

The Eat Local Challenge, something that has been a part of the Bon Appetit programming for years, is a national company event that encourages not only the students at DePauw, but the public to support local farmers as everything served during lunch that day will be locally sourced.

"This is something Bon Appetit has actually been doing for 12 years now," Chef Jordan Hall said. "They've always had the initiative, but up until 12 years ago there was never an Eat Local Challenge Day. This is a national program that all Bon Appetit accounts do on Sept. 23. So, all accounts that Bon Appetit operates, such as Google, Yahoo, DePauw and Wabash College, will have this going on during lunch."

Depending on the resources available some of Bon Appetit's accounts will either be 100 percent locally sourced like DePauw, while others will do as much as they can.

"Everything that is served with the exception of salt that day will have been sourced from 150 miles or less from the account," Jordan noted. "Everything served that day will have something to do in some capacity with the farmers that are here and will feature Fisher Farms meats."

The challenge will also include seafood from Bon Appetit's first Fish to Fork vendor, Bell Farm.

"It's pretty obvious that being in Indiana we're a landlocked state," Jordan explained. "Fresh fish and seafood are hard to come by. So, we have to do our due diligence and research and scout out different farmers. Fortunately we found one, Bell Farm. They're actually the first fish-to-fork vendor out of all Bon Appetit accounts in Indiana and the surrounding states."

Although not every Bon Appetit in the country will be hosting a farmer's market along with the challenge, Jordan noted that it's a great way to get the community involved, which is why the Farmer's Market will last until 4 p.m.

"Not all Bon Appetit accounts have to do a farmers market," Jordan explained. "It's just something we thought was unique and it's something I've always done at my last account as well."

Farmers participating in the day include DePauw Campus Farm, Crosby Farms, Wildflower Honey Farm, Viking Lamb, Edy Lynn's Shrimp Farm, Scholar's Inn, Fisher Farms, Windy Meadow Farms and Zaring Farms.

The Eat Local Challenge is an all-you-can-eat event at a cost of $7.50 plus tax. There will be five hot stations along with a full salad bar with proteins, a cold composed salad and dessert table. Both events are open to the public.

In the case of inclement weather, the event will be held inside the DePauw Union building.