6 Reasons to Eat Farm to Table

Where is my seat?

In todays blog we will look at one of the new buzz words in gastronomy, the farm to table movement. It is an interesting movement, and one that I like. The main idea is producing food locally and delivering it to local customers. We have all seen the 80’s or 90’s movies with the rich guy “I had this lobster flown in from Maine today”. Did you really ... I have my doubts. The food that is shipped in is not send in that day normally. It takes time to ship foods from the farms to your table at home or at the restaurant. Farm to table is normally associated with organic farming initiatives, environmental and sustainable agriculture as well as community supported agriculture. What you will get on your plate will be fresh, in season, grown by local farmers. The effect of whats on your plate is building of your local economy, helping to grow your community.  The appearance of the farm to table movement has come to the forefront at a time when we have concerns about food safety, lack of fresh produce, seasonal foods and small farm economics.  This goes hand in hand what we have been talking about in this blog. We are here to look at the 6 reasons you should be eating farm to table foods. 

1. The environment: if the food does not have to be shipped the carbon foot print is smaller. In a study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture looking at 16 common fruits and vegetables the average one travelled just under 1500 miles before it was sold to a customer. Also of note was that 39% of fruits and 12% of vegetables were imported from other countries. One of the costs that is strangling farmers is the fuel an 18 wheeler gets 5 miles to the gallon and to move produce 1500 miles it burns about 500 gallons of diesel fuel.  It seems like an excessive amount of fuel for some produce we can grow locally or in our backyards. 

2.The Cost: If you're shopping for the cheapest organic produce go to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and or Fairway and look for the local grown produce its cheaper then the organic produce but just as good. When you go shopping do a price comparison and you should be able to get more for your money with the local grown.

3. Help build a local economy: Just like the consumer local sales benefit the farmer as their overhead IE shipping costs, packaging fees, as well as refrigeration. Local farmers usually make 20 cents on the dollar if they sell to national food industry if they sell at a farmers market they can make 80-90 cents on the dollar. Lets be honest we have lost a sense of “community”. How many of us live in a metropolis’? Mega cities where we barely know our neighbors, as a way to regain our community reinvest in local agriculture, bakers, cheese men, etc. Many of the trades are falling by the wayside, true artisans are losing their professions. This limits the rest of us, this limits our vision of what is possible. 

4. Safety Concerns: I like the fact I can look the farmer or one of the workers that picked the produce in the eye and talk about the food. It seems like a couple of times a year there is an issue with an outbreak of some sort like e-coli, if I know where I got my food its easier to trace it back to the source. It also makes it easier to avoid genetically modified foods and GMO’s.

5. Freshness or really optimal freshness: If you never had a garden that you ate fruits and vegetables from you missed out. My father who comes from the South Bronx thought he was a farmer in the 80’s a square foot at a time but a farmer nonetheless. As a family we helped out in building the garden, maintaining it, and shared in the bounty as well. The vegetables from the garden were fresh, they tasted alive. I did not taste this again until later in life when I started to eat organic and farm to table. Most of the factory farmed produce is picked early under the auspices that it will ripen on its way to the customer. Often times leaving you with a red tomato with the taste and feel of a green tomato. 

6. Sustainability: Local food suppliers are usually smaller sustainable family farms attempting to reverse the damage done by factory farming. They will focus on sustainable practices like minimizing the use of pesticides, no-till agriculture and composting, biodiversity, water conservation and environmental protection. In the 1990 Farm Bill, Congress defined “sustainable agriculture” as having the following qualities: Satisfy human food and fiber needs, Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends, Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources, and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls. Sustain the economic viability of farm operations. Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole. 

Honorable mention is seasonal produce. A return to seasonal produce can expand the color pallet cooks have to work with. Allowing for greater creativity on chefs at home and in the restaurants. This can keep you looking forward to what will be on your plate and what combinations you can try, and share your ideas with family, friends and community. The hope is that you go out and get involved in the farm to table movement, it looked like it was gaining some steam in 2010 a $50 million federal farm to school bill was proposed before the House of Representatives. The bill proposed a granting $10 million a year for farm to school programs for five years the same as the Denver Broncos Offensive Tackle Ryan Clady. The bill has not yet been passed.  Please look up local farmers markets and some farm to table restaurants, they are some of my favorite restaurants. We will be looking at how exercise helps us to learn, GMO’s part 2 is in the works as well as an article about Gut Microbiology. I am moving the amount of entries back to two a week with the occasional list. Please read and share this blog.