Sustainability in the Farm to Table market is making its way into private chef circles – is it good business?
Locavore is the name of a movement that has been gaining ground over the last number of years. It relates to kitchen gardens, at home, to beekeepers, orchards such as nut and fruit to the gates used on farms. Many successful chefs and personal chefs are leading the way. There are a number of businesses really leaning into this area such as angiessecretgarden llc. Many previous chefs are regrouping, buying land and growing real food on organic farms because they see the growing demand from consumers regarding true healthy food rather than the garbage that agro business is pumping out day and night. Boulder private cooks are seeing the interest. There is little to doubt that a sustainable oriented business checks all the boxes for the average customer – many restaurants, event planners and stores prefer to buy locally sourced produce from passionate farmers.
Coops are simply an extension of this idea which creates some economies of scale in relation to marketing the end product more efficiently and ultimately providing a better overall experience for the buyer as more product is centrally located and easier to source. Educating people as to this type of availability is important as coops in the past have failed due to consumer education lacking.
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A Wider Perspective
Sustainable food production is generally seen as connected with things like free range feeding, certain ethical standards, local & organic foods, biodynamic components but there is a broader concept at play. Supermarkets are offering more organic food these days but the majority is still often just generic produce that has been sprayed with pesticides.
Buying directly from farmers and other suppliers that are local to your region is definitely a more sustainable practice. If a food is to support the local community, it should have only traveled a short distance and it is preferably in season whether or not it has been certified organic. While a chef’s primary concern has to be the customers satisfaction, but people enjoy knowing that their food was grown by a local sustainable culture – this cultivates excitement and enjoyment that are not there when the food has been shipped half way around the world. Also, waiting for certain foods by season creates some excitement about those foods not available all year long.
Story is also a powerful motivating factor – customers love a good dish with an exciting connecting story behind it. Customers love knowing that their food is coming directly from a local organic farm where the animals are well taken care of and the produce is fresh and local. Many a restauranteur has started moving in this direction as it has more meaning, more life, and more interest from the community in general. This is an important role in any community.
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Many are moving toward a 50% model where they grow their own food for half of their needs and purchase the other half from other local farmers which supports the local community and economy. Many find it a spiritual experience to actually get their hands in the dirt in addition to just preparing food that has been delivered to their doorstep. Its worth paying attention to what everyone is planting and then seeing what might be grown to balance out the local production of produce. For instance, if you have local farmers specializing in growing mushrooms then you might want to focus on another product not as readily available in your area. Keeping a balance and diversity of species is a function of sustainability.
Seasonality and sustainability go hand in hand. Make the availability of seasonal foods something to look forward to! There has been a shift in the consciousness of consumers – they are more aware than ever and the trajectory is heading higher by the day. These practices are in direct contrast to the frenetic pace of modern life that is all consuming and people are sick of it. Our very DNA has been created and modified by our relationship with soil,with nature and real food and we know this on many levels. People are looking for ways to get back to the basics.
It is clearly not the easiest route to take – effort time and money all come into play, but the demand is ever growing. Even with this demand continuously growing there are still too few farmers focusing on this area. This is a viable business area that is by the way sustainable. Customers respond to local, organic and ethically raised food products. That is the bottom line.
