Farm-to-table
Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork, and in some cases farm-to-school) is a
The farm-to-table movement has arisen more or less concurrently with changes in attitudes about
Influences and growth
Among the first vocal and influential farm-to-table businesses were
Prominent advocates for the farm-to-table movement, either as chefs, writers, farmers, or environmentalists include Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Michael Pollan, Thomas Keller, John Jeavons, Alice Waters, Dan Barber, Joel Salatin, Barbara Kingsolver, Tony Maws, Kevin Gillespie, Edna Lewis, Ken Myszka, Erik Manning and others.
Fast-casual meets farm-to-table
More recently restaurateurs have tried to democratize the farm-to-table movement by opening fast-casual restaurants that offer relatively affordable locally sourced food.
Criticism
Despite the growth in the farm-to-table restaurants the movement has been met with some criticism. A Boston Globe critic argues it is a fad by millennials whose obsession with food resembled their parents generational affinity for "music and drug of choice".[7] The movement is also criticized for being relatively less affordable than other forms of food and dining.[8] Others argue that the farm-to-table term is not fully understood by consumers. For example, foods advertised as farm-to-table are considered healthier regardless of actual nutritional content.[3]
Restaurant fraud
Journalist investigations at the Tampa Bay Times[9] and San Diego Magazine[10] found widespread fraud in the claims made by the area's farm-to-table restaurants. Cases included a restaurant previously bought from a farm-to-table provider but has since switched to different suppliers without updating the menu; a restaurant claims to buy from a farmer, but the farmer denies ever having sold to that restaurant; a restaurant serving a type of food the cited farmer or fisher has never grown or caught or which is currently out of season or not being provided; a restaurant claiming to serve food from a provider which has gone out of business years ago; food from the claimed source makes up only a small portion of the type of food on the plate. In such cases the food actually served is usually non-local or even "commodity" food which is cheaper and more available out-of-season. In some cases food claimed to be "wild caught", "preservative-free", "made in-house", "Fresh from Florida", or "Long Island duck" was not.
Such practices open restaurants to lawsuits from both the farmer whose name is being used fraudulently, and lawsuits from consumers who have purchased mislabelled food products, as well as enforcement actions by government agencies.[11] Tampa Bay Times food critic and investigative reporter Laura Reiley attributes fraud in part to the rise of the farm-to-table trend since 2012, the lack of time of restaurants to deal directly with farms whereas they normally would deal with one or two large distributors, and in many cases sheer profit motive.[12]
See also
- EU Farm to Fork strategy
- Slow Food
- Food miles
- Low-carbon diet
- Organic farming
- Sustainable agriculture
- Kitchen garden
- Bean-to-bar
References
- ^ Brain, Roslynn. "The Local Food Movement: Definitions, Benefits & Resources". Utah State University. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ Gogoi, Pallavi. "The Local Food Movement Benefits Farms, Food Production, Environment" (PDF). Business Week Online. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ Hedgecock, Sarah (October 18, 2016). "How Creating 'Intimacy At Scale' Drives Sweetgreen's Fast-Casual Success". Forbes. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
{{cite magazine}}
: Unknown parameter|agency=
ignored (help) - ^ a b Garfield, Leanna (August 22, 2016). "This fast-casual chain New Yorkers love just took sustainable food to the next level". Business Insider. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ Mintel GNPD (June 2014). "Innovation on the Menu: Flavor Trends - US - June 2014". Mintel. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ Gunst, Kathy (August 22, 2015). "Is farm-to-table just a fad?". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ Schoenfeld, Bruce (September 21, 2011). "How the Farm-to-Table Movement Is Helping Grow the Economy". Entrepreneur. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- ^ "Farm to Fable: A Times investigation into Tampa Bay's local food scene". Tampa Bay Times. 15 April 2016.
- ^ Troy Johnson (24 June 2015). "Farm to Fable: Deception, fraud, and honest mistakes in the farm-to-table movement". San Diego Magazine.
- ^ "Farm-to-Table Fraud: The Legal Side". David Lizerbram & Associates Blog. July 7, 2015.
- ^ Laura Reiley (April 13, 2016). "At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you're being fed fiction". Tampa Bay Times.