From Farm to Table :: The new way to eat

"If you don’t know where your food was grown and who grew it, you don’t know what you’re eating."

Carbon Miles / Carbon Footprints

     The average produce travels 1500 miles before it reaches our table. It’s picked before peak freshness, packaged in plastic, and shipped via some form of inefficient internal combustion engine. That means wasted energy for fewer nutrients, plus the resultant carbon footprint is unconscionably high - all so we can have out-of-season fruits and vegetables on our table.

    This model is changing- has to change- for our health, and for the health of the economy and the planet. This doesn’t mean we’ll give up fresh fruit and salads in the winter and live as our ancestors did- out of their root cellars and with whatever they preserved- but we can live with more moderation, not demanding that some farmer be kept poor, while simultaneously destroying the environment in whatever country he lives in, all so we can have our exotic ingredients.


     The time has come when we need to rely primarily on what our local farmers can provide. By supporting them we encourage them to expand their seasons and diversify their crops to meet local needs. The result is less oil for packaging and shipping, and fresher, healthier produce.

Consumer Supported Agricultrure


    By now most foodies are familiar with CSA, or Consumer Supported Agriculture. Besides being a general call to arms to support local farmers while buying fresh local food, CSA is also about farms offering shares in their yearly production at a set cost. The farmers can provide any combination of milk, meat, eggs and produce on a weekly basis, for a season or year-round. The shares are an economical way for us to insure a steady supply of good food to our table as we insure the survival of our local farms - a real win/win situation.

Restaurant Supported Agriculture

    There’s also a similar concept called RSA, or Restaurant Supported Agriculture. In this case the chefs and/or restaurant owners commit to purchasing local products, then design their menus around the seasonal bounty. This sustainability concept means that the restaurants can offer the freshest meals, and the farmers can tailor their crops to the chefs’ needs.

    What could better illustrate the symbiotic relationship between farm and table? When eating out, look for restaurants that advertise their support of local farmers, and order dishes made with local ingredients.

The Model of Cooperstown

    Another benefit of the survival of local farms is the open space preserved in the process. Instead of developing all the available land into McMansions and mini-malls, sprawl can be contained. Urban planners have long understood the benefits of such a mixed community. One need only read William Cooper’s (author James Fenimore Cooper’s father) account of how to build a model town.

    Basically, Cooper suggested that the lots in the center of the village be small enough to prevent room for a garden. These will be the shops, and the shopkeepers will have to buy and barter for what they need from their neighbors. The surrounding lots will be slightly bigger, allowing room for homes for professionals. Outside that will be lots for larger homes with small kitchen gardens, but no livestock. Then small to large farms will be on the outskirts. The milk, meat, eggs and produce from the farms will sustain the needs of the community, and the farmers can survive to buy or barter for the services available in the village.

     In this way a carefully designed town means more than plotting out the streets. The very economy- and therefore survival of the town- can be designed into the mix. The result? In this case, Cooperstown, New York. Situated on Otsego Lake, NY, Cooperstown is called the most livable community in the country.

PURE FOOD - Buy Fresh Buy Local

     So, we have the model, we have high fuel prices as an incentive, and we’re smart enough to know what is good for us. We need to preserve nature’s bounty at its peak, purchase locally grown and locally produced foodstuffs from our neighbors, and, in general, be aware of the impact our eating habits have on our community, our health and our planet. It’s the new way to eat!


Richard Frisbie, FOOD Correspondent

You can read all of my articles  http://rfrisbie.gather.com/ or find them with those of the other Food Correspondents, plus celebrity chef content and plenty of other Foodies at  http://foodtalk.gather.com


BIO - Richard Frisbie writes culinary travel articles, is a columnist for his local newspapers, and is a regular contributor to the many Hudson Valley, Catskill Mountain and other regional New York publications. Online, he writes frequent articles for EDGE publications, GoNomad and Travel Lady, as well as Gather.

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