One of the biggest trends in the culinary world today is the farm-to-table movement. The phrase “farm to table” is a buzzword referring to food made with locally sourced ingredients. Our society is in a rapid state of technological innovation, which means that we often compromise health and nutrition for the sake of convenience, hence the popularity of fast food and TV dinners. However, a growing number of consumers have started to seek healthier and more environmentally friendly alternatives to the processed foods that dominate grocery store shelves. Learn more about the roots of the farm-to-table dining scene to understand why it has become such an important trend in our society.

Increasing Availability

Healthy food choices are often expensive and of limited availability, but that is slowly changing. More and more farm-to-table restaurants, farmer’s markets, and food co-ops are cropping up to meet the demand among consumers for healthy, local foods, as more chefs and consumers recognize the poorer taste and nutritional integrity of ingredients shipped in from far away.

The Strengths of Local Food

According to the definition adopted by the US Congress in the 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, the total distance that a product can be transported and still be considered a local or regional agricultural food product is less than 400 miles from its origin.

Fruits and vegetables that have to be shipped long distances are often picked before they have a chance to fully ripen and absorb nutrients from their surroundings. Because local food doesn’t have to travel long distances, it is grown in order to taste better and be healthier rather than to be resilient to long travel. The farm-to-table movement also has severed to help local economies by supporting small farmers, which were becoming a dying breed.

The Water St. Grill prides themselves on offering farm to table options on our expansive menu. Stop in today and taste the local flavors!