IN DEFENSE OF FARM-TO-TABLE.

I had a great conversation with some friends this week who'd recently heard a food critic say something to the effect of: "If I have to see one more barn wood, mason jar, farm-to-table restaurant, I'm going to scream..." And although I entirely get this person's fatigue, I hate that farm-to-table has been lumped into the trend.Ten years ago, it was somewhat rare to see the name of a farm on a menu, or to see the words "local food" painted on the side of a building. Now, of course, it's ubiquitous, or getting there—the so called "Farm-to-Table" restaurant—and it seems increasingly that for some they're tired of hearing it, chefs and critics alike.The term is admittedly over-used—even I can agree with that. It's overused and I truthfully don't care to defend the term itself, but the idea of buying locally and supporting small farms shouldn't be denigrated as a trend. It should be the norm. The trend was these past fifty or sixty years when few people cared where their food came from or how it was processed. Local and healthfully grown should be what you expect from a restaurant, or at least what you look for.The merits of eating locally grown food are innumerable. We eat locally to support small business and keep our money in the local economy. We eat locally to support farms who improve the earth, not damage it. We eat locally to lower our carbon footprint. Perhaps most relatable, we eat locally because fresh food simply tastes better. And etc. etc. etc..Sure there are restaurants making a mockery of the Farm-to-Table idea. Soon, if not already, fast food will get its greasy little hands all over the term. But it continues to be imperative for chefs and farmers to grow their relationships and work together, and for customers to encourage that relationship by supporting those chefs when they go out to eat, and those farmers when they stay in. Whether you like or are exhausted with the term, we need not forget what farm-to-table represents: a meal that comes from a farm—a farm like ours—straight to your table. No semi trucks or airplanes. No corporations. no chemicals. No preservatives. You don't have to call it farm-to-table, just please don't call it a trend.- Jesse.