9
votes
"Farm to table" vent
My husband and I went out for a really nice dinner last night at a "farm to table" restaurant. While the waitress was explaining the menu, she warned us that since there are no fresh tomatoes right now, one of the dishes on the menu used tomato paste. I had to try hard not to snort, it was so absurd.
Is it just me or is "farm to table" the ultimate in pretentious self delusion? You act like you're saving the world, but actually you're demonstrating your privilege?
I think the concept/ideal of farm-to-table is admirable, in that it’s supposed to help the local economy through encouraging buying from local farmers markets and directly from small family growers and livestock raisers, etc... but there is no doubt it’s been heavily coopted by savvy marketers and so just like “organic food” and “green technology” it has basically lost a lot of meaning as a result. Whole animal butchery is similar in concept but at least can’t really be coopted since it’s remarkably difficult to do and make a profit from.
But there are a few legit farm-to-table restaurants in my area, since I live in a rural area surrounded by farmland, and they are amazing. The easiest way to tell a legit farm-to-table restaurant from a marketing gimmick one is that the legit ones have very short term, seasonal menus and no year round items. They also heavily rely on daily specials and chef specials that change week to week, month to month and are based on the produce available at the time.
I agree that because it sounds so nice it's basically a buzzword. It's a noble idea though, but I suspect it's probably impossible to pull off and earn a profit throughout most of the country.
I think something like 90% of restaurants die in the first year. An entire farm-to-table menu seems like an added obstacle to already not great odds of survival.
I prefer this model for restaurants. I don't need a giant menu. I just want whatever veggie or meat dishes the chef feels like making that night and an extensive booze list/bar. I also think that's easier to make money off of because you have a bottom line that's easier to track and the restaurant makes more money on alcohol sales.
I view these things through the lens of Maslow's pyramid of needs, only instead of "self-actualization" at the top, I put "feelings". Feelings are the most expensive thing you buy, and wealthy people are always looking for things that enable them to feel better about their actions. The ability to feel good about how you are eating (which is kind of a modern thing) is a privilege of this wealth, you don't see a huge organic food section in the local mexican grocery! Once you're getting high quality, healthy and safe food, how do you differentiate as a provider? Feelings it is!
This holds true for things like shampoo, out of the top 20 reasons people pick a shampoo in the USA and Western Europe, how well it cleans is not one of them. It's assumed to be the case. In China and India (etc) how well it cleans is in the top 3.
It's a buzzword that works great for marketing but has become overused. My friend prefers the phrase "farm to fart".
This is off topic, but why not used canned tomatoes at least? Why are they immediately moving to tomato paste (unless that is actually better than canned tomatoes)?