Buy local. No, buy organic.

Consumers who want to eat more sustainably have been wrestling with different marching orders about what's best for the earth. Buying food grown close to home supports local farmers, preserves open land and cuts down on fuel consumption, but may involve eating produce raised with chemical fertilizers or treated with pesticides. Organic food is raised in an environmentally friendly way, but may have to be transported from as far away as California, Mexico or even China.

John Spink/AJC Staff (ENLARGE)

These organic vegetables are distributed by Destiny Produce, a wholesaler based at the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park. Emory University is encouraging small growers to become partners with Destiny or to form cooperatives.

Joey Ivansco/AJC Staff (ENLARGE)

A sign lets you know that the onions are locally grown at one of the dining choices at Cox Hall Food Court on campus at Emory University. Emory is trying to get 75 percent of its food from local sources by 2015, a goal that it hopes will improve rural economies in Georgia as well as boosting the health of its students and benefitting the environment.

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Like any food shopper, Emory University wanted to buy food that fit its conscience — and its budget. The school set a goal of having 75 percent of food served on campus come from local or sustainable sources by 2015. That adds up to more than 11,000 meals daily.

As it turns out, those solutions didn't come easily.

After nearly a year of discussion, Emory unveiled its buying guidelines to farmers and suppliers last month. Although the ultimate goal is to buy Georgia-grown food raised in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible way, that isn't the first priority in most cases, or even the second or third. Instead, buyers are focusing on regional produce and on meat, milk and eggs raised humanely and without antibiotics or growth hormones.

There just isn't enough to supply Emory.

When the university presented its goals to farmers at a Georgia Organics convention in Dalton, the proof was as close as the buffet tables. Planners couldn't come up with enough organic or sustainably grown food from Georgia to nourish just 600 people over two days.

If the sustainability program works as planned, Emory's needs will encourage more Georgians to start farming or to change the way they grow.

Already, it has led to an alliance with Destiny Produce, a wholesaler designed to make it simpler for small farms to connect with the university's dining program. Milk and strawberries from Georgia farmers who were previously shut out of Emory's supply chain could start showing up in cafeterias soon.

For now, the university's dining contractor, Sodexho, is looking to nearby states to meet 45 percent of its produce needs. Vegetables and fruit that might once have come from California or more far-flung regions are now sourced from the Southeast. Lower transportation costs keep prices in line, as does buying what's in season and abundant.

"It's still the most ambitious goal in the country we're aware of," says Peggy Barlett, an anthropology professor and chairwoman of Emory's sustainable food committee. "But I think it's do-able."

For now, it's a balancing act.

Student budgets vs. the higher cost of organic food. Large-scale buying vs. the goal to support small and medium-size farms. Immediate change vs. long-range social engineering. Conventionally raised local food vs. organic or sustainable food grown on the West Coast or imported.

Got milk? What kind?

Take milk, for example.

An Emory committee of medical researchers, social scientists, ethicists and others considered human and environmental health, and the welfare of workers, communities and animals in setting the buying priorities for all sorts of products.

Organic milk wound up the lowest priority, right below milk from Georgia dairies.

The committee's answer for milk: Start with dairy products from cows that aren't given artificial growth hormones or antibiotics. That would create an immediate impact on farming practices. Then consider, in order, whether the milk comes from grass-fed cows, from regional dairies, from Georgia dairies and is certified organic.

Emory already serves milk from cows not treated with growth hormones, mostly sourced from Georgia dairy farmers.

To go to the next level, it could buy milk from another dairy, Sparkman's Cream Valley. It offers milk from Jersey cows that graze in pastures near Moultrie.

But that milk costs too much to put into the student meal plan, says Christy Cook, director of sustainability for Emory Dining. Instead, it likely will go to the retail dining hall to customers who pay individually for meals.

Squash galore

Although Emory backs the sustainable food drive, it also wants the switch to have as little effect on cost as possible. That's critical for the student meal plan, a $4,000 annual requirement for freshmen and sophomores.

To keep costs in line, buyers look for in-season produce. Yet there are trade-offs, including less variety.

Regional squash is cheap and plentiful. Maybe too plentiful.

"We've gotten some complaints," Cook said. "We're trying to provide education about why you're seeing it every day."

As one leader of a student sounding board for the dining program, junior Benjamin van der Horst hears some of the grumbling.

"Students care about what tastes good, rather than where the food comes from or how it was raised," he said.

They don't want to pay more for the meal plan, he said, and they don't want a push for seasonal food to take away strawberries in January or tomatoes in February.

Back to the balancing act. The student salad bar offers in-season sliced squash and zucchini, and the out-of-season tomatoes that students don't want to give up. Favorites like Krispy Kreme and Chick-fil-A are staying, too.

Some students do look for sustainable choices. Lauren Rodriguez, a junior studying business, likes a grab-and-go campus market that specializes in food that meets Emory's new standards. She buys beverages there from companies she considers socially responsible. Higher prices may discourage students from supporting it, she concedes, even though they back the mission.

"There are a lot of students who are really concerned about their impact on the environment," she says.

Bundled beets

For the small farms rooted in struggling rural communities that the program seems designed to help, there are no easy answers, either.

Selling to Emory requires the kinds of things that push small farms to get big, like carrying liability insurance, complying with the school's food safety requirements and producing enough volume to justify a wholesaler's interest. Because so few small growers can satisfy those rules on their own, Emory is encouraging them to form cooperatives or to work with a partner, Destiny Produce, based at the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park.

Destiny can bundle produce like baby beets from different growers, perhaps letting it put together quantities large enough to meet Emory's needs.

But some of those farms may not sign on, regardless. Many small farms that dot the region outside metro Atlanta already command retail prices for their produce at farmers markets. They like the idea of supporting Emory's program but aren't willing to sell for a lower wholesale price or to give up their relationship with consumers.

Charles "Chaz" Holt works as a farmer liaison for Emory's dining service, working to get more growers interested in supplying the program. A farmer himself, Holt sells everything he raises to customers who visit his land near Cartersville.

Still, he is starting to see conventional growers talk about setting aside some acreage to farm in a way that meets Emory's guidelines while they test the new market. And people considering starting to farm are looking to Emory's program as a ready buyer.

Other large buyers want food grown regionally or locally, too, and that's helping to increase the supply, says Dee Dee Digby, who manages Destiny Produce. Farmers are starting to expand beyond squash, cucumbers and peppers into crops not usually associated with Georgia growers, like broccoli, potatoes, carrots and asparagus.

Organic farming acreage in Georgia grew 55 percent in the past year. Those 1,800 acres are just a speck of the 10.8 million devoted to farming in Georgia.

But to produce buyers like Digby, that increase holds promise that one day consumers won't have to debate local vs. organic. They'll be able to choose both.

EMORY'S PURCHASING GUIDELINES FOR SELECTED PRODUCTS

• Chicken

Ultimate goal: certified humane, Georgia grown, and certified sustainable by the Food Alliance

First priority: antibiotic free

Next priority: certified for animal welfare practices by Humane Animal Farm Care or the American Humane Association

Next priority: Fair Trade/improved labor conditions

Next priority: regionally grown

Next priority: Georgia grown

Next priority: certified organic

• Vegetables and fruits

Ultimate goal: Georgia grown and certified sustainable by the Food Alliance. For international products, certified Fair Trade.

First priority: regionally grown

Next priority: Georgia grown

Next priority: certified sustainable

Next priority: Fair Trade or improved labor conditions for international products

GLOSSARY

• Sustainable: Usually means farming in a way that promotes the welfare of workers, livestock, local economies and the environment.

• Food Alliance: The nonprofit group certifies farms as sustainable that meet criteria regarding pest management, humane animal treatment, safe and fair working conditions, soil and water health, and continual improvement in farming practices. Buying Food Alliance-certified products is the ultimate goal for almost all food that Emory buys. The organization so far has focused on the Midwest, Northwest and California, with no Southeastern growers listed as certified on its Web site.