Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s the press release from the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, a local non-profit that obviously stands to gain from local restaurants using local ingredients. That aside, is locally grown produce an important factor in where you decide to go out and eat?
WNC Restaurants Well-Positioned to Lead the Way in National Trend
ASHEVILLE, NC (December 30, 2009) The National Restaurant Association has released the study Chef Survey: What’s Hot in 2009. The number one food trend identified is “locally grown produce.” No place is better suited to serve those in-demand local foods than Western North Carolina, with its combination of a vibrant restaurant scene and a wealth of family farms.
The Buncombe County Tourism Authority is promoting the Asheville area as “the world’s first Foodtopian Society” (www.FoodtopianSociety.com) with good reason. Western North Carolina is home to 12,000 family farms, almost every county has at least one tailgate market, and the downtown Asheville area alone has dozens of independent restaurants.
For the National Restaurant Association’s survey, more than 1,600 chefs ranked over 200 choices by the how trendy they thought the items would be in 2009. Here, chefs are well ahead of the curve and have been serving local foods for years. And they know local foods are more than trendy.
Local food has clear and lasting culinary advantages. Fresher foods that haven’t traveled as far to the table are better tasting, and the heritage and heirloom varieties often cultivated on family farms offer distinctive flavors. Furthermore, as more and more conscientious consumers are learning, local foods have ethical advantages too. Charlie Jackson, Executive Director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), says buying local, “helps family farms stay in business, in turn preserving the heritage of rural communities, and protecting farmland and the natural beauty of our mountains.”
Restaurateurs seeking local ingredients are invited to contact ASAP at 828-236-1282, or through the website www.appalachiangrown.org. The nonprofit organization produces The Mixing Bowl, a publication that helps to match chefs and the farmers who can meet their needs.
For consumers, there’s the Local Food Guide, one of the largest and most comprehensive guides to local food available anywhere in the United States. It’s available for free in print around the region and online at www.buyappalachian.org. Find out where to buy products from hundreds of local farms, as well as restaurants committed to serving local food.
