Nationally, students have pushed hard for local-food programs, and the amount of local produce in the dining hall is sometimes used as a litmus test for a college's overall commitment to sustainability. Local food has been a hot topic in popular culture in recent years, thanks in part to books by Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, movies like the documentary "King Corn," and a popular if somewhat romantic sense that modern agriculture, which has become industrialized, should return to smaller, family-farm operations. However, the motivations are not just sentimental. For colleges--especially land-grant institutions and rurally situated colleges--buying organic, humanely grown, or local food has practical benefits. This article discusses the advantages of purchasing local food and the challenges that colleges face in running their local food programs.