By the numbers
Taking a closer look at the winning recipe
Keeping Harvard fed is a mammoth logistical effort, almost a military operation. The 12 University-owned restaurants, 13 dining halls, and many catered events now serve about 26,000 meals a day — about 5 million a year. University cooks make 40,000 gallons of soup. Students consume 40,000 pounds of regional squash annually, and nearly as much in local tomatoes.
Here’s how it breaks down
Menu items: more than 5,000
Options at every meal: about 100
Recipes in Harvard database: 4,000
Gallons of soup made each year: 40,000
Most popular soup: clam chowder
Most popular entrée: Korean BBQ beef — 1,500 pounds per week
Places to eat on campus: 13 dining halls, 12 restaurants, one kosher kitchen, one faculty club, and a catering service for many event venues
Percentage of food budget for local ingredients: 25
Percentage of local produce: 35-70 percent, depending on the season
Number of local farms supplying Harvard: 250
Number of local food processors supplying Harvard: 29
Sample of foods processed locally: breads, granola, cider, bagels, dried fruit, pasta, salsa, spices, cheese, salad dressing, pita chips, peanut butter, tofu, soy milk, sushi
Percentage of Harvard meals that are vegetarian: 33
Pounds of regional squash grown annually for Harvard: 40,000
Pounds of regional tomatoes used annually at Harvard: 35,150
Average daily dining hall trash: 4,360 pounds
Average daily dining hall compost and recycling: 4,700 pounds
Annual tonnage of compost: 583
Percentage of recyclable waste diverted from dining operations trash: 59
Number of undergraduate dining halls that compost: 12 of 13
Number of Houses offering trayless-optional dining: 3
Percentage of students for whom sustainable food is “extremely important”: 14
Percentage for whom it is “not so important”: 15
Number of Food Literacy Program undergraduate representatives: 15
Source: Harvard University Hospitality and Dining Services