If you enjoy dining out, no doubt you’ve heard of farm-to-table and farm-to-fork, the movement that connects farmers with chefs and restaurants. The term refers to fruits, herbs, vegetables, fish, meats and other products that are locally grown and produced and served in local restaurants. It sounds romantic, but how does farm-to-fork really happen? Who are the people making it happen? How do farmers and the restauranteurs find each other, and how do you know that your dish really did start its life on a local farm?
In this episode, we meet a self-described “foodie” and former restaurateur who is dedicated to facilitating San Diego County’s farm-to-fork movement. She recently founded a voluntary registry for farmers, producers, and restaurants as a way to help the public experience authentic farm-to-fork dining.
We follow three sets of chefs, resturaunteurs and farmers that define farm-to-fork. We follow them to a local farmers market where they visit their usual vendors and scout for the freshest ingredients,. They buy some produce, order some, and plan the weeks’ special menu items based on what they find. The ingredients that started on the farm that morning, go into a delicious dish they prepare for host, Nan Sterman.
At a tiny urban restaurant, the inventive chef/owner buys most of her produce from an urban microfarm located just a few miles away. The farm is run by a military veteran who developed a life-threatening health problem that set her in search of high quality, organic produce. When she couldn’t find it, she decided to grow it. Now, she supplies several restaurants and members of her Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), including boxes customized for people with specific dietary needs.
In San Diego’s North County, we meet a chef and a farmer who have collaborated for years. We visit the farm, located in a residential neighborhood with a stunning view of the ocean. The sun, the sea, and the produce are dazzling. In the restaurant, we watch as his gorgeous produce gets transformed into unimaginably delicious dishes. The farmer and the chef are innovators; together, their synergy is palpable. And the food they each contribute to, is legendary.
Resources
Biga Restaurant
North Park Thursday Market
Garden Kitchen San Diego
Dickinson Farms
Wrench and the Rodent Seabasstropub
Cyclops Farms
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