EXETER/BRENTWOOD - David Davidson, director of dining services at Phillips Exeter Academy is reaching out to local farmers. On the job for just a year, Davidson says he develops menus that emphasize the use of seasonal ingredients, which means fresher, healthier alternatives for the students, faculty, and staff at PEA.

In a phone interview, Davidson shared that he is also "looking at items and seeing what can be switched to organic."

Grown without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, health officials claim that organic produce provides many benefits for individuals and the environment. It also translates into relationships with local farmers who can deliver the seasonal produce that is readily available in the northeast.

Davidson recently spoke with Shaw’s Hill Farm in Kensington, which has been evaluating what it can do to meet the seasonal produce needs of academy.

Apple Annie in Brentwood is the exclusive apple vendor for PEA. The farm’s proprietors, Joan and Charlie Pratt are former teachers at the school. According to Charlie Pratt, "We’re really happy they’re doing this. This whole effort they’re making is great for local agriculture."

As the director of dining services at Yale, Davidson worked closely with Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame. Started in 1971, Chez Panisse introduced the use of fresh, local, seasonally available ingredients. At the time it was a novel idea. However, it started a revolution of sorts and set the standard for today’s restaurants. Davidson is a convert seeking to source as many fresh, local ingredients as possible.

To accomplish this goal, he has been reaching out to local farmers to source the volume of produce that they require at PEA. They serve 3,100 meals each day in two dining halls. Given these numbers, he is striving for a "blend of direct relationships with local farms and produce vendors." The blend is necessary because many local farms cannot produce the volume the academy requires. However, when working with produce vendors Davidson tells them, "(we) want to buy local as much as possible."

As it is a school, Davidson also incorporates education into the dining experience. Chef Patrick Brideau composes a display station each month, which not only highlights an ingredient, but also includes information and recipes. In September, Chef Brideau featured herbs from his own garden with which he created three different meals.

In October, they will be featuring Portsmouth Tea Company out of Somersworth. There will be a presentation about tea, its preparation, and a tasting. They will also be considering adding their teas to the menus at the Academy.

Currently focused primarily to local produce, Davidson is interested in connecting with local farms to expand their offerings to include local meats and cheeses. His goa* to have all organic milk by January" will probably come to fruition. He is working closely with Oakhurst Dairy in Maine. The biggest hurdle to overcome is sourcing the five-gallon containers they require for the milk, but he said he is optimistic that they will be successful.

Always interested in forging new agricultural relationships, Davidson said he would like to invite local farmers to contact him at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Davidson’s approach has been welcomed by those who partake of meals at Phillips Exeter Academy. Anecdotal surveys indicate that faculty at the academy are extremely happy with the new menu choices in the dining hall.

Dining Halls Dish Out New, Improved Meal Plans
By Ashwin Suresh

Dining Services has started off the new school year with several changes, including later hours on Wednesday evenings, hot breakfasts in Elm Street, and better boxed lunches.

“The Elm Street Dining Hall is now open until 8 pm on Wednesdays,” Director of Dining Services David Davidson said, “The [late hours are] primarily for sports teams, but [are] also for anyone else who’s running late that day.”

Already, some students have taken advantage of the extra hour. “It was convenient because we came back late from Wal-Mart and were still able to get some food,” upper Sean Leahy said.

In addition to later dinners, Elm Street Dining Hall has started serving hot breakfasts from 7 to 9 am during the weekdays. “Hot meals will help students be in their prime for classes,” lower Carlos Barcelon said.

Many students are excited by the chance to get hot breakfast near their dorm. “I strongly dislike continental breakfasts. I wouldn’t go eat breakfast if it wasn’t warm,” lower Yi Han said.

Also, boxed lunches for traveling sports teams have been improved. “For track we used to get boxed lunches,” senior Luke Chong said, “but they weren’t really filling and the choices were limited. I’m relieved that the lunches are going to be more edible.”

The improvement in boxed lunches stems from the greater variety now offered. There are now two new salads, an Asian salad with chicken and a vegetarian salad with tofu and soybeans. Sandwich options have been expanded to include a lettuce and tomato sandwich on grilled wheat rolls. Even the snack assortment has more options, such as pretzels or applesauce.

Several improvements are planned for later on in the year.

“Coming very soon are the new Table Tents and Chef’s Corner programs,” Davidson said. The Table Tents are little booklets with information about dining services and nutritional tidbits that will be deposited on tables. The last page will be a place where social organizations can post notices and messages for the school. In the Chef’s Corner program, which began on September 19 at Wetherall, chef Patrick Brideau cooks two or three different types of dishes that feature a specific ingredient. He will be at Elm Street on Wednesday nights.

Dining Services has already made a number of changes over the summer, but it will continue to improve the Academy’s dining experience. “Our goal has always been to make people enjoy themselves,” Davidson said.