“Go check the scantenuity level on the stove,” I told the kitchen rookie. Looking around, the new prep cook only saw all other staff members nodding. “Yes, yes, scantenuity level must be off,” they all agreed.
“Take this special tool and adjust the scantenuity level,” I directed the first-timer just to further the joke. He’d take the tool and turn toward the stove with a very confused look while the rest of the staff tried not to burst out in laughter.
It was a harmless hazing joke we’d play on new employees. Of course, there is no scantenuity level and no special tool. However, the fact that everyone else seemed to know about the scantenuity level made them embarrassed to ask if there was such a thing. The peer pressure crushes self confidence and curiosity.
And I am a bit worried that this is what is happening with today’s trendy “Farm to Table” movement. For supporters, it is simply a better way to approach food and cooking. But for the masses, it is a confusing, elitist-sounding term that doesn’t mean much to their lives.
Do you know what Farm-To-Table means for you and your family or are you just nodding in agreement to a phrase that has taken so many definitions that you’re not sure what it is?
Farm-To-Table is for hippie communes, people in rural areas, or hermits that can’t bear human contact at a grocery store. Perhaps that’s how it started, but this way of thinking about, growing, and distributing food is now everywhere and you have access to it!
So, the question is not, “what is farm-to-table?”, but “what is farm-to-table to ME”?
You may have your own reasons for approaching food this way, or you may have reasons NOT to think about it at all.
My goal is never judgment, but education and discovery. If I can supply the information and opinions of the farm-to-table pioneers and practitioners, then you can make your own decisions about where your food comes from.
I don’t live in a rural area or a hippie commune, I’m not a hermit. However, I pursue and enjoy the most wholesome, freshest foods for my own reasons. These motivating factors have developed over a period of years, as I saw more news stories about the trend, investigated on my own, and slowly changed my food habits.
It all started with one simple question. “What does farm-to-table mean?”
Do any of these 15 issues impact your family?
- The Safety of your food
- How food is grown and harvested
- How food is stored and transported
- How food is processed and packaged
- How food is advertised and sold
- Where your food comes from
- How animals are treated
- What chemicals are used for fertilizer
- What antibiotics or steroids are added
- How foods are genetically modified
- The nutritional value of foods
- The rising cost of food
- The treatment of workers who harvest food
- How a farm contributes to, or takes from the earth
- Where your food dollar goes to
I’m not saying you need to care about all 15. But, if you’ve found ONE, just one thing you care about in the list above, we’re going to take a journey together.
Let’s figure out what this farm-to-table thing really means to everyone, and what it means to ME. Then, go adjust the scantenuity level on your stove until I write the next FTT blog.
If you could improve any ONE aspect of the food you eat, which would it be? Would you want a greater variety of food because you eat the same thing repeatedly? Would better tasting, or healthier food appeal to you? Is the cost of food or convenience your most important motivator?
I would really love to hear your opinion. Leave a comment below:
Starting TODAY, you can cook healthier, better tasting food and STILL save money.
I hate eating healthy only to find out a year later and dollars spent. That this food is doing more harm than good. The latest, Tilapia! I guess u have to be a full time nutritionist. To eat right!
Hi Deric!
I don’t know of any organic food that does more harm than good. I know there is a lot of confusing information in the media, but you don’t need to be a full time nutritionist to eat well. You just need the desire to seek out the best alternatives, and this takes a little bit of education. The foods that take no education are the ones with an advertising budget. Fast food has an ad budget, farmers generally don’t.
I’d be glad to help you make better decisions about your food choices. I have a FREE webinar that may help you in choosing and storing farmers market ingredients. You can see my “Farmers Market Success” webinar by clicking HERE.
Having grown up on a stock ranch and having fresh veggies , pork,beef ,chickens and lamb, I do not appreciate any big box grocery store. There is nothing better than home grown products. The beef most people purchase is from a feed lot environment and tastes and smells like that.
We, in Eugene, Oregon, have local produce and meat products. They are expensive, but you don’t need as much as the average person eats. More veggies are a must. We also have fruits and berries locally grown. We have a farmers market and it is wonderful,.
Eating from the bounty we have grown here on earth, some of us are healthy. The UN advising eating bugs is a source of protein,but not all human systems can tolerate the change immediately.
My doctor has told me to eat fresh and juice fresh products. You will loose weight and feel much better
Mom used to say, “You are what you eat.”
I’ll take it a step further and say,
“You are what your food eats.”
Chef Todd,
I was just planting some more heirloom seeds in pots tonight – I have switched to heirloom seeds as I can save the seeds and use them next year if I want. I am careful of the foods I eat. We have friends that are organic farmers and I applaud their efforts to give the public the best possible foods.
Good idea to know how to grow your own food, or where you can buy organic foods for your family.
Marcella
Hi Marcella!
Yes, growing some food yourself really brings the farm closer to the table!
For me, farm-to-table means finding the freshest food possible at any given time. I’m enjoying the fact that our growing season has just begun here in west Michigan, and local asparagus, lettuce, and spinach are now available. Strawberries will soon follow, along with all of the wonderful summer produce. But frost will come sometime in October; before that time, I’ll try to can and freeze as much local produce as I can and store as much winter squash, root veggies, garlic, apples, etc. as we can, depending on how the season was. There comes a time during the cold weather, where I have to buy at the grocery store what I may need, and I try to buy the best local, then Californian, then Latin American produce that I can buy, keeping nutrition and taste/freshness in mind.
Hi Kathy!
I agree with you! It’s so nice to watch the seasonal fruits and vegetables arrive.
Once you have a May strawberry or blueberry, a grocery store variety from far away will never taste the same.
I welcome the opportunity to learn more and sort through all the confusion and contridiction that is out there. Getting better and healthier food is very important,,and that is what I look forward to learning from you Chef Todd.
Hey Wayne!
Thanks for the kind comment. I’m not here to make decisions for you, but help supply the information so you can make your own decisions.
Welcome to the journey!
After watching that entire video, I am still not convinced This sounds like a good idea in theory but in practice I think it is complicated and expensive to really do this.
Thank you for this honest feedback, Judy. I agree that there is so much information right now regarding this approach to food that it can be daunting if you don’t know where to begin or how to separate fact from opinion. That’s why I’m here to help. I promise that if you follow along with me over the next few weeks, I will do everything I can to make this simple to understand and cost-effective to enjoy. Please let me know how I’m doing with your comments and feedback. We’re in this together!
What exactly does Farm to Table mean? I hear it all the time when a trendy new restaurant opens and it just seems like an excuse for them to charge more money and serve smaller meals. I am not sure what this has to do with cooking at all.
Sidney: To me “Farm to Table” simply means understanding how to source, select and cook the freshest healthiest ingredients for the best eating experience possible. Make sure and watch the video above for a more extensive explanation and subscribe to the blog via the “subscribe” link at top right of this page. There is lots more to come.
I am really looking forward to the next article on this topic! I am interested in going to the Farmers Market and cooking healthier for my family, but there is so much differing information that it gets confusing. I am looking forward to your expertise, Chef, to help me sort it all out. Cheers to you!
Harry, I hear these same concerns from others all the time! But stay tuned because over the next few weeks, I am going clear it all up for you and make it simple to enjoy fresh, healthy food and cooking at home! Please keep in touch as we go along and ask questions on each post along the way. I’m here to help you in your journey.