The Kentucky Food and Farm Business Impact (e.g., 'local food') procurement program originated in the dining contract signed between the UK and the Aramark Corporation, a food service and facilities company, in FY15. In response to significant feedback from on- and off-campus stakeholders regarding UK's role in Kentucky's agro-food system, the dining contract stipulated explicit Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tied to local food purchases. In keeping with the institution's land grant mission, the goal of UK's local food purchasing, and broader farm-to-campus initiatives, is to leverage our local food systems expertise to support the growth of the local farm and food economies of our Commonwealth. The Food Connection (TFC), a local food systems center borne out of the contractual relationship between UK and Aramark and housed within the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MG-CAFE), supports this effort by facilitating value chain coordination, providing on-farm produce food safety technical assistance, and by conducting an annual assessment of UK Dining's local food purchasing and initiatives.

Since 2015, UK Dining, with support from The Food Connection, has invested over $31 million into Kentucky farms and food businesses. Specifically in FY25, UK Dining, with support from TFC, sourced $1.5 million in ingredients from Kentucky farms and $6 million in products from Kentucky food businesses. This public-private partnership serves as a national model for other institutions. The Food Connection works with other institutions throughout Kentucky to get them to incorporate specific and measurable local procurement targets into their food service contracts. Leveraging the purchasing power of large institutions has the potential to generate significant economic opportunities for Kentucky farmers and improve the health of our Commonwealth.