Students who ate lunch in the dining halls yesterday got a taste of Michigan as local ingredients took center stage.

In recognition of the 40th annual Earth Day celebration coming this April, all residence halls and University-operated restaurants and cafes featured locally produced and organic foods yesterday, supporting the student-led “Go Blue, Eat Local” program to promote sustainable dining.

Sustainable Dining, organized by the University’s Division of Student Affairs, University Housing and University Unions, offered students a variety of local ingredients, including fruits, produce, meats, dairy products and pasta. The zero trans-fat frying oil used for cooking also came from Michigan.

According to the Housing website, the residence halls used napkins made of 100-percent recycled fiber, and any raw food waste from the meal preparation was collected and taken to Ann Arbor’s compost site.

Among the items made from local ingredients that were served were whole wheat penne pasta, spicy black beans, a local Michigan quarter-pound burger, chicken and dumplings, butternut squash ravioli, Michigan fruit crisp and Michigan French vanilla ice cream.

After eating lunch at South Quadrangle, LSA freshman Lizzy Nagler said she enjoyed the meal not necessarily because the food tasted better than normal but because she supported the cause.

“I wouldn’t say it tasted better, but I felt better about it,” she said.

Engineering sophomore Ian McDonald said the lunch at South Quad was “definitely better than what they normally have.”

At East Quadrangle, Residential College sophomore Dafna Eisbruch said she loved the butternut squash ravioli and thought the meal as a whole seemed extra special.

“The chef (took) it up a notch,” she said.

The chef at East Quad, Nelson Cummings, known as Buzz, was transferred to East Quad from South Quad in 2006 in order to develop a vegan and vegetarian focus there.

University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said 2006 was when Cummings began seriously advocating for the use of local foods in the residence halls.

Since 2006, the portion of the dining hall menus made from local ingredients has grown to 20 percent, Logan said.

Despite this significant increase in the use of local foods, Logan said the possibility of having local foods constitute the majority of dining hall menus is very unlikely.

“It’s not so much the financial side,” Logan said. “The challenge is really finding the Michigan food products, particularly produce, that are available at this time of the year.”

According to Logan, the increasing number of local farmers and regional producers using hot houses — greenhouses meant to recreate warmer climates — to grow out-of-season crops can certainly help the University’s effort to use local foods, but that alone will not be enough to support a major shift to locally grown products.

In addition to buying local ingredients, Logan said University Housing is trying to make an overall shift toward more sustainable practices in the food services operations on campus.

Logan mentioned that the dining halls are considering tray-less dining. The endeavor could reduce food waste, save water and energy and reduce operational costs in the dining halls.

Logan added that students also play a big role in the move toward sustainability.

“One of the key elements … comes down to the education of the diner, that is, encouraging students to be mindful of the amount of food they take,” he said.