Looking Local in the Eye

Tonight for the Showcase Chef series our menu included a number of local foods. The greens in the salad were from Baby Greens in Exeter, RI. The potatoes from Foster. The squash from nearby Massachusettes. The Showcase Chef was Bruce Tillinghast from New Rivers, a Providence restaurant that strives to serve local, season fare.

While helping to prepare the meal I got thinking about the meaning of local foods: I'm realizing that buying locally grown food means more than just fresh food. It means supporting the community, connecting with neighbors, taking care of the local environment (and the global one for that matter). All these things are things I really care about.

For the last few years, I've been learning a lot about where my food comes from--I've heard the stories of what takes place before the supermarket isle. Books like Fast Food Nation and Omnivore's Dilemma have helped to open my eyes. What I've found out is that America is eating well-traveled, not-so-fresh, not-so-flavorful, not-so-meaningful foods. We're eating foods from the other side of the country, from Mexico, South Africa, China, Holland--but rarely from our own backyard. The patchworked, agrarian landscape of America is practically a romantic illusion. Enormous factories and expensive, heavy machinery produce massive quantities of generic product.

It upsets me because I know there are farms less than 20 minutes from my house (Providence). It upsets me because food doesn't HAVE to travel 2,500 miles or three weeks before I eat it. And it upsets me because I know if we don't support our local family farms NOW, they won't be around for my children's child to enjoy.

Luckily, I like to focus on the positive: We CAN eat local foods. In fact we do every day at RISD. Tonight there were potatoes. Tomorrow, we might have local peppers. Or bread from a small, family owned, long-standing bakery. Or granola from a small company in New England. Or apples from an orchard I drove past last Sunday.

By buying locally grown---by committing ourselves to local farmers and producers--we can change this food system to become one that is more sustainable and more flavorful. Instead of choosing the cheapest head of lettuce or package of chicken, we can stand up and say "I believe in local farms because I believe in my community and I believe in flavor!"