This article is featured in the 2025 Winter Carnival Special Issue.
At 5 a.m. each morning, a line of trucks arrives outside the Class of 1953 Commons, delivering a mix of locally and nationally sourced ingredients — from chicken thighs to fresh produce. Dartmouth Dining — which displays the phrase “Proud supporter of local suppliers” on the TV screens in and around ’53 Commons — considers several key factors when sourcing food, from pricing to food safety to weather limitations, according to ’53 Commons purchasing manager Beth DiFrancesco.
While “[around 10] large companies” supply “food, beverages and paper products,” the “vast majority” of food served at ’53 Commons comes from the national distributor Performance Food Group, according to DiFrancesco. Dartmouth Dining also sources from approximately 20 local suppliers.
Dartmouth alternates between PFG and local suppliers in order to maintain food safety and consistency for its large-scale meal preparation, DiFrancesco explained. For example, liquid pasteurized eggs, which ’53 Commons uses to make its scrambled eggs, are sourced primarily from PFG.
According to PFG area manager Ray Brewer, PFG has 50 warehouses across the country, including one in Springfield, Mass., from which most of the College’s food is distributed. Brewer explained that the company supplies universities, restaurants and other institutions with a variety of products, whether it be fresh produce and canned goods, or beef from cows raised specifically for burgers and steaks.
The company operates with a rapid turnaround, receiving orders electronically by 3 p.m. and dispatching trucks for delivery by 5 a.m. the next morning, Brewer said. At its Springfield warehouse, PFG keeps a staff of 20 specialists who are tasked with keeping “product coming into our building,” Brewer explained. From there, warehouse and delivery workers transport the products to the end-user, such as Dartmouth Dining — a process he compared to Amazon’s user interface.
“Amazon is an amazing thing — you find [a product] on your phone and hit the button and before you know it, it’s there,” Brewer added. “We’re equally amazing.”
For regional and specialty products, Dartmouth Dining works with local distributor Upper Valley Produce, a smaller operation that sources from farms in Vermont, New Hampshire and parts of New York and Quebec, according to UVP specialty buyer Josh Belock.
UVP specializes in local and regional goods, supplying products including yogurt, local sausage and fresh produce, Belock said. According to Dartmouth’s UVP sales representative Ron Buffa, approximately “a quarter” of UVP’s inventory comes directly from local farms. The company also provides food to regional institutions such as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Co-op Food Store and local restaurants like Molly’s Restaurant and Bar.
Belock explained that even regionally sourced produce often undergoes processing before arriving on campus — with vegetables like carrots and potatoes being repackaged in UVP’s facilities in Norwich before delivery.
According to DiFrancesco, some items remain particularly difficult to source in the food service industry, such as bone-in chicken thighs — a staple in many ethnic recipes because of the slower rate at which they cook. Despite the demand, though, many chicken providers do not carry the item, DiFrancecso said.
As food costs continue to rise, DiFrancesco noted that pricing has played a significant role in the College’s sourcing decisions. Geographical and weather limitations also play a role: While Dartmouth Dining works to maintain agreements with regional farms, some ingredients — such as bananas — must be imported from Central America. Wintertime limitations similarly necessitate a reliance on broader distribution networks for out-of-season produce.
Some students expressed concerns about the environmental and ethical considerations involved in food distribution. PFG’s large-scale operations, for example, have contributed to concerns over transportation emissions and packaging waste. Lily Giurleo ’28 said she sees local sourcing as “the most clean way to do things,” while Amedee Conley-Kapoi ’26 acknowledged that large-scale shipping is “inevitable” in a system responsible for feeding thousands of people daily.
Students also shared mixed opinions on the quality of the food offered at ’53 Commons. Shane Wattenmaker ’28 — who eats at the dining hall “99% of the time” — said he appreciates the “high-protein” options like grilled chicken strips from the Flat Top Grill station but feels limited by the overall selection.
“In general, everything at Dartmouth is very unhealthy,” Wattenmaker said. “It is very hard to navigate healthy eating here.”
Wattenmaker also noted that he feels there is a lack of awareness about where Dartmouth sources its meat and that “more transparency would be helpful.”
Giurleo expressed concerns about the freshness of some of Dartmouth Dining’s produce. While she felt that the meat “is good and relatively fresh,” the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables fluctuates, leading Giurleo to rely on canned alternatives.
Seafood, in particular, stood out as an item where “[one] can tell it’s been frozen [and] packaged,” according to Conley-Kapoi. The often-criticized scrambled eggs have also sparked debate — while some students were surprised the eggs are not powdered, some expressed complaints that the texture is too wet.
“I can’t eat scrambled eggs unless they’re dry,” Giurleo remarked.
Despite varying opinions, several students agreed that Dartmouth Dining food is not as bad as its reputation suggests. Giurleo described ’53 Commons as “not as bad as people make it out to be.”
“Food is really expensive, especially if you’re trying to eat healthy,” Conley-Kapoi added. “… [It’s] so nice and easy to have access to food [at ’53 Commons].”
