Farm to Table: just a trend?

The farm to table trend gained momentum in 2015, but recently trickled into the lower levels of the food industry.

If you’re unfamiliar with this trend, farm to table emphasizes the relationship between quality ingredients and food.

Culinary restaurants turned their focus toward building relationships with local farms in order to ensure fresh food made only with the highest quality ingredients.

Farm to table eating benefits the earth, your health and the economy.

In general, buying local ingredients helps the environment in multiple ways including simple effects like decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, due to the absence of shipping the food across country via truck or plane. Because the food travels minimal distances, it lowers the cost of transporting food in general, plus ensures the freshness of each ingredient.

Growing locally eliminates the need for “life prolonging chemicals”. The locality also allows farmers to pick ingredients when ripe rather than picking them before ripening to provide “ripe” ingredients once arriving at their location.

Farm to table contributes to the local economy because it’s essentially two local partners who are consistently helping each other out. The farm sells its products to the restaurant which sells its product to the consumers allowing both to make money locally. But it costs a lot. In order for restaurants to profit off of this type of menu they must increase the price of food because of the cost to source all of their ingredients from local farmers. Thus, the restaurants who participate in farm to table often struggle with creating a loyal customer base. Their meals and more expensive and constantly changing.

So why do people choose to eat this way? Some argue that it’s because it combines the experience of eating great tasting food and fulfilling your body’s nutritional needs.

However, it’s hard to argue whether or not farm to table will ever turn into a lifestyle. Although most food consumers understand that the food we readily consume is destroying our bodies, we are too lazy to actually seek out farm to table foods or restaurants. Megan McArdie from the New York Post embodies the average eater precisely saying, “consumers don’t really want to buy farm-to-table food. What they want to buy is the moral satisfaction of farm-to-table food.” We want the moral satisfaction, and the recognition for eating clean, and being food conscious but, the convenience and affordability of unhealthy food outweighs that desire for a good moral compass.

Eating farm to table is easier than you think. Because of the recent hype restaurants are changing their menus to include farm to fork options. Fort Collins is adopting the trend as well. Restaurants like Jessup Farm, The Colorado Room and Restaurant 415 are just a few of many surrounding CSU’s campus.

Farm to table seems to be a trend that will last longer than trends like sushi burritos, and frosé. Head to your local farmers market, or Jessup Farm and give it a try- you won’t regret it!