chopbiscuit 101 - The business of eating local

Editors note: This is a series of posts on food, cooking and sustainable eating habits. We will explore the culture around food in this country and the little steps we can make to secure a laudable future in the world of provisions.

As a food gobbling society, we've surely had some suspect systems when it comes to sustainable practices and procedures as we procure our nourishment. I've stated on this blog about the problems with centralized focus on food production and it's vindictive ways of forcing regions of our country and lower wage earners to buy food void of nutrition. As many of you have, I've read countless books, Op-eds and articles relating to how we can get back to a more provincial and civil way of relating to our local food eco-system. For awhile, eating local has been more of a personal attribute even though I work in the food business. Local had "no business" of being in business.

Until now.

When movements start, you never know where and when they are going to end. These types of reform often start from the fringe and eventually gravitate into the masses of centrics who may or may not pick up on the premise. The term "eating local" has for years, had this hippie, elitist vibe that drove many people away from it's banjo playing, save the world and anti-business model. The moderates never really understood the message because it was clouded by the persona the movement took. As I eat all over the country and talk to restaurant owners, operators and people in the business - Local has gained a stage, not because of it's actual model, but by the buzz the term "Local" has taken.

It's the buzz word all over the big retail food world. You see it on menus, you read about the farms on their websites and often see the term bastardized by some of the big players that want an initial lift in sales. Trends always come from the little guys that have the flexibility to take chances and have the creative, nimble opportunities not to let that chance blow up their business model. When I opened my first restaurant, we bought tomatoes and certain greens from a local farm near Syracuse, NY because they were just better. We didn't buy because they were local, because frankly, back in 1999 that term wasn't being shoveled down your throat at every corner. Local, fortunately was just the byproduct of buying from that farm.

New restaurant Entrepreneurs are flocking to local food, starting businesses devoted to producing and delivering food within their communities. This is a good thing for business and for social and moral avenues as well.  Just as consumers focus new attention on what we eat and where it comes from, farmers, restaurateurs, retailers, distributors, and processors are rethinking the business models behind it. It's about creating enterprise and a sound model for that enterprise to capture a movement that has finally solidified as a major player in our food culture. They want to create enterprises that will succeed in the long run and for local food to be more than just a fad for your hippie friend or a luxury for those so called "elitist" consumers.

So, don't dismiss these types of movements. The ones that resonate and have the staying power prove themselves out in the market place. Sometimes a room of MBA's cannot analyze the nuances of behaviors these models take and the potential impact of it's potential scale. It's a funny thing how these things just sneak up on you and make you do the "Right thing".

Me: I only eat local and sustainable food. Guy: You're an elitist Douche.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads. For one, I try to eat and buy local and sustainable food as much as I can. I try to buy from local farms, attend as many farmer's markets as possible and inquire about where my food comes from. You can say I'm trying be a localvore in this corporate retail kingdom. As someone that's in the business, I see more people outside the world of the "food industry" that understands the world of "local food" than the so-called food experts. Why is that?

Strangely enough, I'm starting to figure this out. The food movement is still seen from the inside as this elitist, leftist, snooty movement for gals driving Subaru outbacks and writing poetry. For me, it started about improving my diet and using logic when it came to my purchase habits. It then curtailed into my sense of humanity for animals and the practices of farming. I believe this is why most folks pursued this path. The final attribute for me was the taste. Most food just tastes better when it's fresher and not handled. Tomatoes taste best in summer when they're picked from your garden soil. Fish tastes best when it's fresh and caught in the wild. Meat is far superior when it's less handled and not processed. It's pretty simple.

So, why don't most Americans pick up on this? Well, for one it's this pompous attitude that a fringe of folks portray about food. I respect that people have different priorities in life and choose to invest different amounts of time and their hard earned money into nutritional aspects. Joe the plumber is probably not going to worry if the burger he is eating comes from a grass fed cow that was raised humanely. He's concerned about the price, convenience and taste. Probably in that order.


As a part of the population that respects the food system and it's sustainable attributes, don't belittle the people who aren't participating. Don't force feed the fact that because they continue to eat at McDonald's that they are supporting a centralized food distribution system. Instead, ask them if they've ever tasted a grass fed burger from a local farm. Ask them if they've ever tasted a juicy tomato picked from the vine in late July. Tell them it tastes good and in the same breath, that your local farmers appreciate their taste buds. Keep the nonsensical attitudes out of it. Our country is consistently being pulled to the fringes. We have Liberals versus conservatives, Tax more, Tax less, Pepsi versus Coke and so on. Nobody ever wants to find a middle ground. Food is where we can maneuver that viewpoint and make some progress. Listen, you can't force feed your views to a group that won't budge. Instead, make sustainable, organic and local food more appealing to them. Not, from a Mass marketing approach through the grocery stores, but through local networks. Make it feel more mainstream for people to embrace CSA's and visit farmer's markets. Some people feel excluded walking through a market if they're not dawning their hemp shirt, Birkenstock sandals and gritty beard. It's got have to have an appeal to them that they can walk around and buy some great food and no feel as if they joined a PETA protest or liberal think tank.


Right now most food experts state that industrial food is needed to feed the world's starving masses – even though it has been documented time and again that small-scale organic farms are far more productive per acre than their industrial counterparts. Most people know that until we change the health and safety regulations that are currently strangling small, local producers and businesses, small-scale farming will never make it through this mess. Most of these have been enacted because of the abuses of large-scale businesses, they can make it almost impossible for smaller businesses to survive. In any case, it is usually not a shortage of food that leads to hunger globally, but development and trade policies – largely designed to benefit those same big businesses – that pull people away from self-reliant village economies and consign them to poverty in urban slums. Folks, we have a case and it's the centralized big business of food. So, in actuality the big business commodity food buyers are the ones that are elitist in it's rightful terminology. And, it's customers are the folks that us "elitists" push away. 


So, find some common ground with people. Talk about your interests and passions. Point out the fact that if you support a healthy food community, it's not this "we're against the establishment" mentality. Show them that, you're in fact, supporting the little guy.