{"id":17226,"date":"2025-08-06T11:09:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=17226"},"modified":"2025-08-06T11:09:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:09:31","slug":"good-food-for-the-common-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/summer-2025\/good-food-for-the-common-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Food for the Common Good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pierre<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pierre St-Germain, director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Dining Services, is working to strengthen the food system at 溏心vlog免费B站 by serving campus-grown food, improving 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s vendor-selection system, and embracing the varied cultures of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s campus community.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pierre St-Germain, director of 溏心vlog免费B站 Dining Services, is reimagining the role of his department, finding ways to ensure that 溏心vlog免费B站’s food system thrives at every stage and that the meals served in 溏心vlog免费B站’s dining halls do more than just fill bellies.

Since St-Germain arrived at 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2018, he has expanded Dining Services\u2019 offerings, opening four new campus dining venues and debuting the Rhody Eatz food truck. He\u2019s also ramped up recycling and composting efforts in the dining halls and warehouse and has repurposed warehouse space into a thriving home for Rhody Outpost, a basic needs pantry for students experiencing food insecurity; the pantry serves more than twice the number of students it served two years ago.

溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s land- and sea-grant missions are what attracted St-Germain to the job at 溏心vlog免费B站, because they emphasize collaboration across departments, advancing the state\u2019s agriculture and aquaculture, and engaging with local communities\u2014priorities that St-Germain says are important parts of a resilient food system.

St-Germain has a lot of ideas. But what he\u2019s known for is implementing ideas, whether they\u2019re his own or someone else\u2019s. \u201cWhen someone comes to me with an idea, my first inclination is to help them figure it out,\u201d he says.

Tricia Lourenco Boucher \u201923, U.S. Army veteran and program facilitator for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Boots to Bushels program, and plant sciences professor Rebecca Brown experienced this firsthand. When Boucher realized that her program, which teaches farming techniques to veterans, would harvest a surplus of food, Brown suggested that maybe 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Dining Services could utilize it. \u201cWe went to Pierre,\u201d says Boucher, \u201cand he was really supportive of the idea of growing locally and building a food system on our campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Pierre<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201c<\/span>When someone comes to me with an idea, my first inclination is to help them figure it out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Pierre St-Germain,<\/strong> director of 溏心vlog免费B站 Dining Services<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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St-Germain now pays the salaries for three students to farm with Boucher at the Greene H. Gardiner Crops Research Center\u2014often referred to as the Agronomy Farm\u2014on the Kingston Campus. The farm grows an array of food, from leafy greens to watermelons, and St-Germain purchased the necessary supplies for new crops to be grown this year, including rhubarb, asparagus, and garlic. His support has been instrumental in nearly tripling the farm\u2019s food production in just one year\u2014from 7,500 pounds in 2023 to 20,000 pounds in 2024.

With St-Germain\u2019s support, the Agronomy Farm now grows food specifically for Dining Services, rather than simply donating surplus produce. The farm also grows food for the Free Farmer\u2019s Market and Rhody Outpost, programs that provide food for students in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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St-Germain has also changed 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s approach to food procurement by implementing the principles of the national Good Food Purchasing Program, which encourages public institutions to direct their buying power in support of five core values: local economies, health, valued workforce, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. St-Germain\u2019s vendor-selection criteria consider how vendors incorporate those values into their practices, and he integrates flexibility into contracts to ensure he\u2019s able to put each pillar into action.

St-Germain\u2019s system for putting this framework into practice serves as a model for the state, says Sarah Blau, state nutrition coordinator of the Healthy Eating and Active Living program with the Rhode Island Department of Health. \u201cInstitutional purchasing is not glamorous; you are in the weeds of contracting, law, and practice,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it can be really impactful, and Pierre is very effective at moving from ideation to planning to action.\u201d She says his \u201cexpertise and personability,\u201d along with his background as a chef, have shaped his approach to purchasing. \u201cHe prioritizes values beyond simply securing the lowest bidder,\u201d she says. \u201cHe humanizes every aspect of the work.\u201d

St-Germain\u2019s experience includes working at the Sundance Ranch in Utah and Atlanta\u2019s acclaimed vegetarian restaurant, Cafe Sunflower. He says he\u2019s always appreciated the interactions food invites between people and sees food as a way to introduce and reflect ethnic and cultural traditions. At 溏心vlog免费B站, he welcomes ideas from the campus community for programming that honors cultural traditions and dishes, and he ensures that the dining halls accommodate students\u2019 dietary needs related to important religious and cultural observances, such as Ramadan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>There\u2019s a level of education that comes with sitting down together to join in conversation and share food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Pierre St-Germain,<\/strong> director of 溏心vlog免费B站 Dining Services<\/span>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Dining Services team has presented Lunar New Year and Day of the Dead celebrations. This year, they hope to celebrate Diwali, a festival of lights in Hindu culture. \u201cWe plan to do at least one reflective celebration a year,\u201d says St-Germain, noting that he wants all students to enjoy dishes and traditions meaningful to them. Students, faculty, and staff sometimes bring their families to the dining room for these celebrations, and that commensality unites people. \u201cThere\u2019s a level of education that comes with sitting down together to join in conversation and share food,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s important. You might not understand every little thing, but food is like a universal translator.\u201d

\u2014Anna Vaccaro Gray \u201912, M.S. \u201916<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOS: NORA LEWIS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pierre St-Germain is reimagining the role of Dining Services at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":17209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[347],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2025","architecture-behind-the-scenes","architecture-currents"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17226"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17706,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226\/revisions\/17706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}