The farm-to-table movement inspires consumers to pay higher prices for meals, on the basis of feeling virtuous about by-passing the international agricultural monoliths and global trade. The quintessential example of a locavore establishment is Polyface Farm in Shenandoah Valley, VA, written up in Michael Pollin’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
I loved visiting there and very much admired their sustainable practices. But it all comes at a steep cost. I bought some Polyface grass-fed steaks at numbingly high prices; perhaps my overly high expectation explains my ultimate culinary disappointment--not with their farm and inventive practices, but with my budget.
In that regard, how are so many restaurants able to claim “farm-to-table” status for their meals when it is so expensive to do small scale agriculture?
The answer now comes from Laura Reiley, at the Tampa Bay Times, who reports that many restaurants simply lie about the source of their ingredients. This is a classic case of bait and switch, or asymmetric information. We all want to be fooled and we are being fooled:
“This is a story we are all being fed. A story about overalls, rich soil and John Deere tractors scattering broods of busy chickens. A story about healthy animals living happy lives, heirloom tomatoes hanging heavy and earnest artisans rolling wheels of cheese into aging caves nearby.
"More often than not, those things are fairy tales.”
Ouch!
[Thanks to NPR for link to this story.]
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