University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona Dining Services Mesquite Bean Project SCHOOL The University of Arizona is a premier, 4-year, public research university located in Tucson, Arizona. Established in 1885 as the first university in the state and the state s land grant university, the UA is building a better Arizona through access, quality and discovery. UA serves 29,719 undergraduate, 6,962 graduate, and 1,376 professional and medical students on a 387-acre campus in central Tucson, the oldest continually maintained green space in Arizona. Ranked #16 among all public universities by the National Science Foundation, the UA generates $530 million in research, gives the state an annual $2 billion boost, and honors a three-fold commitment to education, research, and community service. ABSTRACT The mesquite bean project, in the harvest stage as of August 2011, is a sustainable University of Arizona initiative that involves the collection of mesquite seed pods for flour. Undergraduate intern Jess Thompson coordinates volunteers to harvest mesquite beans twice a week throughout the mesquite harvest seasons, which lasts from July to October. Because the project relies on volunteer labor, the only costs are equipment ( $500) and the paid internship ( $5000). The project will generate over 100 pounds of mesquite flour, which will be enough to allow the UA s Dining Services to offer local, sustainable food options for 6 months of the academic year. Not only does the project produce food, but also reduces a waste stream and helps Facilities Management maintain the beauty of the campus. Student and faculty volunteers gain the experience and knowledge required to harvest beans from their own mesquite trees, which are ubiquitous in southern Arizona. GOALS AND OUTCOMES Goals Work with UA Campus Arboretum and Facilities Management to identify native mesquites on campus suitable for producing high-quality mesquite flour Work with working group to develop business plan, products, and budget for mesquite flour product(s) Work with Campus Arboretum and Facilities Management to plan summer harvest, recruit harvesters, and lead/coordinate harvest activities Coordinate with Union Dining Services on storage and processing of bean pods, and the development of menu items Coordinate milling of bean pods into mesquite flour
Lead and coordinate development of project and product marketing & packaging, with final goal of economic sustainability. Develop metrics and track activities and outcomes for planning and evaluation purposes Strategies and Steps Taken The mesquite harvesting project was piloted in fall 2010 by a UA Student Union Dining Services student workgroup, at the request of the Office of Sustainability. Five Student Union student employees corresponded with a local Tucson mesquite harvest group, Desert Harvesters, to ensure that best harvesting practices were followed, and gathered 20 gallons of fallen mesquite beans from a handful of pre-selected trees around the UA campus. The students used Desert Harvesters hammermill to grind the beans into flour, which was then used in a series of experimental recipes that included mesquite cookies and pancakes. Following a successful presentation and demonstration to key project stakeholders in November 2010 (at which the mesquite flour dishes were served), the pilot project was given the green light for full implementation. Throughout the spring of 2011, a workgroup was formed under the leadership of the Office of Sustainability to develop an implementation plan for the project. The workgroup consisted of key players from the Office of Sustainability, Dining Services, Facilities Management, and the UA Arboretum. Following a successful application for funding through the newly created UA Green Fund, the workgroup created a part time student Coordinator position (0.25 FTE) to lead and manage the initiative to harvest campus mesquite flour and incorporate it into Student Union restaurants and retail sales. The Coordinator position was filled in summer 2011 by Jessica Thompson, a UA senior majoring in environmental science. Thompson has been developing a fully-fledged business plan for the sale of local UA mesquite harvest products, including research on a safe and efficient harvesting workflow, storage logistics, and mitigation of potential risk factors. Mesquite harvest season typically runs from July to October, and Thompson is currently running the harvesting phase of the project. From October into the spring 2012 semester, she will aim to incorporate the harvested product into seasonal Dining Services recipes, and market excess flour for sale to UA students and faculty. Accomplishments and Outcomes The project is currently in the harvest phase, so the final yield has yet to be determined. Thus far, volunteers have harvested nearly 100 gallons of whole mesquite pods, which will result in approximately 100 pounds of mesquite flour. Mesquite flour typically retails for $10-15/pound, meaning the project will have an economic yield of at least $1000. While this is not enough to cover the costs of the project, Thompson and the mesquite bean working group are developing a business plan and more sophisticated harvest techniques to improve future yield.
The other goals of the project are being met: volunteers in the university and wider community are being educated about the local food options in southern Arizona; Dining Services is developing nutritious, flavorful menu items incorporating mesquite flour; and harvest areas are being evaluated based on bean quality and quantity. Challenges and Responses There are many challenges when harvesting food in urban areas using volunteer labor. Undergraduate intern Jess Thompson used the GIS map made available by UA s Campus Arboretum to choose harvest areas with many mesquites in a compact space. That way volunteers could move from tree to tree once all the ripe beans were harvested. Next, the volunteers had to coordinate harvest times that would not interfere with Facilities Management doing their work to maintain the campus. They also took care not to damage the trees, which are cared for and tracked by the Campus Arboretum. The trees were treated gently and mesquite beans were only harvested when ripe and ready to fall. Another greater challenge was dealing with the risk of aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a natural carcinogen produced by Aspergillus flavus, a fungus common in the desert Southwest. A. flavus infects legumes like mesquite trees and peanuts, as well as other plants like cotton. The outer shell of the mesquite pod protects the seeds from A. flavus invasion, but if the shell is broken (particularly by the bruchid beetle, a small insect that lays its eggs inside the pod) the pod can become contaminated. To cut down on this risk, Thompson sought the assistance of Peter Cotty, Ph.D, who is the head of a lab on campus that specializes in aflatoxin. The Cotty lab helped Thompson develop a workflow that reduces aflatoxin risk to acceptable levels. This workflow involves taking beans only from the trees and never off the ground, sorting of the beans for insect damage, and storage of the beans in a low-humidity indoor location. To reduce risk of bruchid beetle larvae hatching, the beans were frozen in a subzero Fahrenheit walk-in refrigerator operated by Dining Services. After freezing for at least 48 hours, bruchid beetle larvae are no longer viable. When they were removed from the freezer, the pods were dried in greenhouse space given by UA s College of Agriculture. Once they were dried, they were put in low-humidity indoor storage provided by UA Residence Life. The pods will be milled into flour when Arizona s monsoon season is over in September-October. Estimating Dining Service s flour needs was accomplished by undergraduate intern Walter Cubias, who calculated the amount needed to make chosen recipes five days a week, forty weeks a year. He estimated that three hundred pounds would be needed. If this yield is not meet, Dining Services will reduce the number of recipes and have menu items available on a seasonal basis. Publicity and Media 2010 Mesquite Bean Pilot Project Video: http://uanews.org/node/35705 Photo Slideshow: UA Mesquite Bean Harvest Begins: http://uanews.org/node/40592 Future Plans
The UA team intends for this project to continue on an annual basis, with the goal of funding the harvest through proceeds generated from the sale of mesquite flour. This would include use of milled mesquite flour by UA Dining Services, as well as retail sales to individuals (e.g., half pound bags of milled flour). Campus harvest activities may expand in the future to include the harvest of olives. Campus Climate Action: Your School s Carbon Footprint The mesquite pods collected in the harvest would have otherwise been sent to the landfill, which would have contributed to the production and eventual release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The team will compost the residual pod material left over from the milling process. That said, this project is not seen to have a significant impact on the university s greenhouse gas emissions. Commentary and Reflection Campus sustainability is something that everyone in a community can be involved in. A great inspiration for this project was to find ways for campus and the greater Tucson community to be more reliant on local food and products. Mesquite flour has been used for hundreds of years in the desert southwest, but today many people have no idea that the familiar landscaping tree does anything other than provide shade. The project helps remedy this lack of knowledge while at the same time improving the beauty of the UA campus and introducing a new local food source to its restaurants. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters UA Office of Sustainability Student Union Dining Services UA Facilities Management UA Campus Arboretum UA Green Fund Committee Desert Harvesters (local community group) Funding and Resources The team expects this project to cost approximately $8,000-10,000 the first year, minus any revenue generated from the sale of mesquite flour. We received a grant from the UA Green Fund to develop the project and fund a student coordinator. Additional resources, mostly in-kind, were secured through partnerships between UA units. Education and Community Outreach Intern Jess Thompson collected information about mesquites from Desert Harvesters, a local organization devoted to educating Arizonans about native foods. She also received guidance from Barbara Eisworth, director of the Iskashitaa Refugee Harvesting Network, which coordinates volunteers and refugees to harvest native foods. The Campus Arboretum and Tucson Community Food Bank also contributed information to the program. Assisted by the College of Agriculture and Life Science, Thompson conducted a University-wide emailing campaign to publicize the project and recruit volunteers. Over one hundred students, faculty, and associates of the UA responded to the call and were put on the volunteer list.
The local news media also gave coverage to the project. The following organizations interviewed Thompson and ran stories about the harvests: UA News, an in-house news source for the UA community; KAMP, UA s student radio station; and the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson s largest newspaper. CONTACT INFORMATION Contacts Joe Abraham, Ph.D. Director, Office of Sustainability Likins Hall, A107 PO Box 210182 The University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721-0182 jabraham@email.arizona.edu (520) 621-2711 Jess Thompson Sustainable Food Production Intern UA Office of Sustainability Likins Hall, A105 PO Box 210182 The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, 85721-0182 (520) 621-1756 jthompso@email.arizona.edu Graduation Date: May 2012 Case study submitted by: Jess Thompson MORE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL Campus Sustainability History The UA Office of Sustainability was established in 2010 following a student-supported increase in tuition to support increased campus sustainability programs at the University of Arizona. The Office coordinates with a Presidential Advisory Council on Environmental Sustainability, the UA Green Fund Committee, the UA Institute of the Environment, and other units to ensure the University of Arizona is a top-ranked institution among its peers for leadership in the environment & sustainability. The Office focuses on promoting sustainability in areas such as campus design, student engagement, operations, education, research, and outreach. The official website for the Environment & Sustainability programs at the UA is www.sustainability.arizona.edu The University of Arizona is proud to offer one of the finest college dining services in the country, with unsurpassed quality, variety, convenience, and flexibility. There are over 35 different eateries, from cafeteria dining to national franchises, which are mostly self-operated and conveniently situated throughout the campus to meet student dining needs for every meal, every day. UA Dining Services
prefers to keep its ingredients natural, local, and hormone-free, and searches to find organic local sources for its many campus restaurants. It serves tomatoes grown at local UA farms, 100% organic yogurt, and herbs grown in its own garden on the roof of the Student Union. Dining Services also composts waste products, provides biodegradable containers, and recycles not only regular items, but also its fryer oil, which has a second life powering farm equipment at the UA Agricultural Experimental Stations. Image credit: Benjamin Montemayor, UA Dining Services