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What to Eat: Anything Local
The Search for Delicious. It’s Closer than We Think. Call it a perfect storm. Between reading “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, Al Gore's
“An Inconvenient Truth,” and with a daughter into animal rights, Craig Sewell found himself forced to make a decision. The chef/owner of A Cook’s Café in Annapolis decided to make the commitment and become more environmentally sustainable, to reduce his carbon footprint, and to give animals a better life, even if they are raised for food. That meant finding free-range, small-farm, local food wherever possible for his restaurant, catering and cooking classes. “It makes sense in the long run, I think we have to do it for the planet, but it’s a miserable amount of work for a restauranteur,” he says with a sigh.
Going local, becoming a “locavore,” even over going organic or natural, is becoming wildly
popular. And it’s a movement with merit. For people who love being green, going local dramatically reduces the
number of “food-miles” on your meal, which is better for the environment.
An additional benefit? Local suppliers, because they’re generally producing on a smaller scale,
can often grow a more interesting variety of products. They’re closer to their markets and often deal directly with
the restaurant or consumer, so they can grow for taste or market demand rather than “grow for shipping.”
They can also charge higher prices and keep more of the income. Ultimately, it’s more profitable.
So what’s not to like? Well, seasonality is an issue. It’s hard to get the micro-greens you want in January if you’re not shipping in from Mexico, and customers have grown to expect even the most delicate produce year-round.
And for a restauranteur like Sewell, you’re no longer dealing with just one or two extremely reliable
food distributors who can fly in asparagus from Chile. You’re dealing with dozens of suppliers who are more at the mercy
of the elements. “It may take me a day now to coordinate my suppliers, versus one phone call early in the week.”
But he’s sticking with it, and is now able to offer greens grown on the Eastern Shore and free-range chickens grown on a small farms in Pennsylvania. And a network of help is slowly, ever-so-slowly, evolving. www.MarylandsBest.net The
Maryland Department of Agriculture, for example, recently launched a revitalized food website, www.marylandsbest.net — a compendium of who, where, what and how to “find and enjoy” Maryland foods from eggs to seafood, meats
to farmer’s markets. (By the way, apples are September’s focus.)
In other words, we consumers want it.
Powell quotes a recent survey that showed a large majority of Marylanders were more likely to buy produce if they knew it came from a Maryland farmer. Almost half said they might pay a little more for it. And 82% said they had visited a farmer’s market or farmstand in the last year. Music to the locavore’s ears. For places like Restaurant Local at the Tidewater Inn in Easton, it’s also a validation. “That’s always been Chef Hamilton’s concept,” says Michael Quattrucci, the executive chef at the restaurant. “We do as much as we can to get products from the region; Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia…” And he agrees with Craig Sewell. “Sourcing out vendors is a big part of my job.”
In summer and fall, Restaurant Local is able to use between 50 and 75% local foods. “In winter, we have
to go farther.” But this is a great place to go local. “We have about nine months of bounty here,”
Michael says. “I came from Maine…where the growing season was three months long. Of course, there was lobster.”
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