For many, eating locally is a necessity—underdeveloped countries simply don’t have the means to eat any other way. But North Americans have grown accustomed to globally sourcing such foods as oranges or raspberries, lettuce, and even oysters, eating them year round because modern farming techniques and transportation allow for it.
In recent years, though, diners have navigated toward eating foods more locally sourced. The trend has grown out of a desire for a variety of fresh, pure food. A desire to eat food whose nutritional value isn’t depleted because it was picked before ripening, and then loses what little nutrients it had because it was first transported across the United States to a superstore that will then mist it to keep it from wilting before it is sold. What vitamins and minerals remain are overshadowed by the flavorless mass of vegetables and fruit we have come to view as “food.” Food that is grown locally is picked at the peak of its ripeness, then eaten before the nutrients have withered away. It is healthier for you, and tastes better too.
For many, the locavore lifestyle has become an ethical choice: a passion for environmental protection and energy conservation; a yearning to keep local farmers employed and to provide jobs within their communities; an eagerness to create and sustain fertile soils; a hunger to become less dependent on far-away food sources; and an inclination toward holding food sources accountable for the items they produce. Locally grown foods are often farmed by workers who live within the community, on fertile loam that doesn’t lose its potency because crops are regularly rotated. And these foods are often purchased directly from the landowner, who is able to answer questions about how it was grown or raised, what pesticides—if any—were used, what the cows or chickens were fed and how they were housed.
And there are still others who believe that choosing locally produced vegetables and fruit, meats and seafood, even beer and wine, strengthens communities, and creates bonds between farmers and consumers that can’t exist on a global level.
Restaurant chains, especially those which depend on low cost menu items to create high traffic, stand to suffer from the trend. Customer demand for consistency, predictability, and low price doesn’t allow operations to veer too far from standard items being purchased for the lowest prices and stocked year round.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, high end restaurants are able to cater to customers who are willing to pay higher prices for foods produced close to home. Their already higher priced menu items don’t need to be substantially raised in order to accommodate the higher cost of produce and meats grown and raised locally.
What is interesting to observe, then, are the middle-of-the-road dining establishments, who are moving to buy from regional providers. Chipotle is an excellent example of successfully easing into small-farm purchasing programs. The restaurant chain has “transitioned from purchasing 10 percent to 15 percent of seasonally available produce from farms to 75 percent in some markets,” according to qsrmagazine.com. Their incremental approach shows that establishments can take steps, even if only at a slow pace, toward responding to consumer demand for locally sourced foods. And Chipotle has also proven that customers will pay more for quality food—although they are quick to point out that although the cost of food may be higher, that cost is nearly offset by the lesser transportation costs incurred.
The biggest opportunities for success in sourcing local menus, though, lies with the single-unit (or local chain) restaurants. These operations have the ability to remain flexible with their food choices as the local food sources fluctuate from season to season. A good example may be Salt and Straw, an ice cream joint with three locations in Portland, Oregon and a fourth location in Los Angeles, California. The shop purchases “as many local products as possible…(to…help create stronger local economies),” and their menu varies depending on what is available in the local market. In Los Angeles, enjoy a Santa Ynez Valley Walnut Oil scoop or a Tomato Water and Ojai Olive Oil Sherbet cone, while in Portland you can choose a Stumptown Coffee and Burnside Bourbon treat. Outside of ice cream, there are many restaurants, from city to city across the nation, who offer the same type of varietal choices based on what they purchase from regional farmers.
In just another day we will welcome 2015. It’s time to put new ideas into action, to resolve to make the upcoming year the best one yet. What steps will you take toward locally sourcing your menu in the new year?
