The Food Connection publishes annual UK Dining report; UK partnership is ‘national model’ for local purchasing
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 19. 2025) — The Food Connection — an applied food systems center that serves farmers, food producers, students and community members — recently published its 12th annual report about UK Dining's local procurement efforts.
The report's analysis tracks local food purchasing against predetermined benchmarks set forth by the University of Kentucky in partnership with food service partner Aramark.
The local procurement initiative began in 2014 in response to feedback from stakeholders, both on and off campus, regarding UK’s role in Kentucky’s agriculture and food system. The contract requires that UK meet annual Kentucky Farm and Food Business Impact (KYFBBI) purchasing requirements, which means purchasing foods sourced from Kentucky farms and Kentucky-based food businesses.
The Food Connection, created as part of the Aramark contract and housed in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE), leverages local food systems expertise to support the growth of the local farm and food economies across Kentucky — in keeping with UK’s land-grant mission.
“Our team works closely with UK Dining to identify new Kentucky farm impact items to bring to campus and provides tailored technical assistance to Kentucky farmers who are interested in selling to large food service operations like UK Dining,” said Ashton Potter, executive director of The Food Connection.
Since 2014, the initiative has resulted in over $31 million of direct investment in Kentucky farms and food businesses and has drawn national recognition and awards.
“The Food Connection x UK Dining Partnership continues to be a national model for institutional local procurement,” Potter said.
Some of the report’s highlights include:
- Fiscal year 2025 marks the second year that UK Dining’s contractual commitment for KYFFBI purchasing be at least 20% of total food and beverage purchases. In previous years, the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) required a specific dollar amount rather than a percentage.
- The actual fiscal year 2025 KYFBBI total was $7,033,290, which represents 43% of UK Dining’s total food and beverage spend — more than double the contractual commitment.
- UK Dining spent $1,536,258 on Kentucky Farm Impact purchases.
“UK’s land-grant mission calls us to strengthen communities across the Commonwealth,” said Laura Stephenson, vice president for land-grant engagement and dean of Martin-Gatton CAFE. “The Food Connection and UK Dining partnership demonstrates how we can live out that mission by connecting Kentucky farmers and food businesses with our campus community.”
Access the full report at https://bit.ly/4pqA7cL. Learn more about The Food Connection at https://foodconnection.ca.uky.edu/.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.