“Rich people need organic food to survive.” Wait—is that a joke, or a reality in America today? Or both? The fact is that for all of us to survive in this new century we’re going to have to change the way we source food. And not just as individuals: We also need to re-formulate national policy in line with that same objective because, at the moment, long-standing government subsidies are crushing both our health and our environment.
Let’s Have a Fair Food Fight
You can almost hear Dick Cheney saying “organic food is a nice personal virtue for the radical fringe, but it’s not going to feed the world.” Actually, when you level the playing field, organic (and more importantly, sustainable) food comes out on top.
The fact is organic farmers don’t receive federal subsidies the same way conventional farmers do. Organic and small-time farmers receive “specialty crop grants” that are measured in thousands rather than in millions of dollars. Sad truth: If you’re not growing corn, wheat or soybeans, you get the merest of crumbs from the federal table.
Myth: Organic Food is More Expensive
Today, organic food does cost more than conventional food. Watch an organic farmer hand-weed a row of carrots and you’ll immediately know why. Smaller organic farms require more time, attention and labor to get produce to market.
Twenty years ago Peter Hoffman opened Savoy on a quiet corner in New York’s Soho district with a radical concept: great meals are created with ingredients sourced from local farmers.
Hoffman didn’t use local foods for political reasons. “Building recipes from what was available, seasonal and local was what was most exciting to me in the creative process as a chef.”
“When Alain Ducasse was running the restaurant here in New York, he knew that great products come from close to home. Traditionally, the great three-star restaurants in France, especially in the 60s, were located in agricultural regions and were based on direct relationships with local farmers. That’s what we showcase at Savoy.”
“Whether you’re going to write a book or paint a picture, you start with a blank canvas or pad of paper. I start with an empty pot and ask so what am I going to cook? I am interested in what’s in season. What do I feel like eating today? What are the traditional methods of preparation and combinations that are time honored that I can use? Some chefs like creating food and combinations that have never been created before. I like cuisines that have been cooked in certain ways for many generations.”
Turns out more and more chefs plan to follow Peter Hoffman’s lead. Local sourcing for restaurants was even identified as a “hot trend for 2010” in a national survey by The National Restaurant Association.
But what Hoffman really wants people to do is to value and take pleasure in the food they eat. So brag about your new Tag Heuer watch or iPhone. But let’s be sure to equally savor the ephemeral joys of the table.
The Culinary Institute of America, the world’s premier culinary college, spends more than $500,000 a year on produce, dairy, meat, and eggs from two-dozen local farms.
But until recently most incoming chefs didn’t know that there were more than two kinds of potatoes. That changed with the hiring of Paul Wigsten.
You see Paul is a tenth-generation farmer. He is also the full-time produce buyer and farm liaison at the CIA. With passion and brevity he settles questions—from restaurant owners, consumers and even policymakers—about local-sourced product.
Local Food is Less Expensive
By buying local and working with “the guys I knew I could depend on” Paul has been able to double the amount of produce purchased with the same budget. But, wait . . . doesn’t local produce cost five to 20% more than produce shipped across the country? It can but, according to Paul, with local fare there is “no trim, no waste. With California you loose 10 to 20% in kitchen prep.”
Local Food Tastes Better
At the CIA every student is required to take a class called product knowledge. Instructors tend to go with more dramatic “flavor profiles.” Red leaf lettuce is subtle. The flavor is not so different but the texture is crisper. Strawberries and tomatoes not. “We do a side-by-side comparison of tasting of local vs. Florida vs. California strawberries. It’s not a fair test. Local wins hands down.”
Who’s driving the move to local food? Chefs, among others. According to a recent survey of 1,800 chefs, the big restaurant trend in 2010 is the purchase of local and sustainable ingredients.
But buying local is expensive, isn’t it? Shouldn’t restaurateurs worry that chefs are going to jack up their input costs by buying directly from the farmer?
Paul Wigsten, the produce buyer at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park—and a farmer—says that “restaurants may pay 5% to 20% more for local produce but there is no ‘trim’ or waste when you get produce hours from being in the ground.” Order product from California and you lose 10-20% in prep.
For four years Joel Hough was the head chef at the highly regarded Cookshop in New York’s Chelsea Art District. Hough also relaunched Provence as Hundred Acres in 2009. In this interview we learn why Hough believes sustainable is a smart business move.
As we get ready to tuck into Christmas dinners, it can be easy to forget that we’re a country at war. America has some 200,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably three times that number in support personnel; that means that at least three-quarters of a million families at home are missing one or more family members.
Still Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza should be a time to celebrate life, family and friendship, while remembering the sacrifices made on our behalf.
My English father, John Becker, counted Christmas his favorite time of year, even during World War II. During the war food was rationed, so most families suffered some form of privation. I recall, for example, that his mother made a cake called Blackout cake that didn’t include sugar. It felt like a brick going down.
When he moved to the US in the early 1950s, John continued English traditions, like serving Christmas pudding that he would set afire with a spot of brandy. Kids would dig out coins buried in the desert.
Or we would head up to Riverside Church for the Christmas Eve service and carols. A thousand congregants singing together was a beautiful thing.
So in remembering tough times and the hopes that we will get through them wiser and not too worn, here is the Christmas dinner served at RAF Station Ford in 1943—well before MREs entered our vocabulary. And since this is a farm blog focusing on local, sustainable products, I should point out that all the vegetables served were of the season. That’s just how they did things 50 years ago, wartime or not.
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