What is Farm-to-Table?
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Farm-to-table, or farm-to-fork as it’s often referred to, is a fast-growing food movement that promotes sustainable eating through local and seasonal produce. At its core, it supports food security, self-reliance, and a healthy, balanced diet that gives back to both the environment and the farmer.
The methods and principles of the farm-to-fork movement seem new-age to western civilization. However, in reality, some of the oldest civilizations have been practicing them for thousands of years.
The Average American Farmer
Farming as a career gets a bad rep as being labor-intensive, with long hours, no free time, and razor-thin margins.
The average age of a farmer in America is 57.5 years old. The vast majority of these farmers farm soy and corn monocultures, or CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). It’s not exactly the liberating farming career that it can and should be.
The farm-to-table movement encourages a polyculture, seasonal, and ethical way to produce food that breathes new life into an industry in steady decline. Farming methods such as polyculture and holistic management produce much higher quality food than seen in a conventional diet while also sequestering carbon.
Previous Food Movements
The first and most obvious food movement since the industrialization of agriculture was the organic movement – a movement similar to farm-to-table which in the past 50 years has managed to destroy its own credibility. Nevertheless, the organic industry is worth well over 60 billion dollars.
As the farm-to-table movement, the organic movement started with good intentions. Intellectuals passionate about the outdoors saw that the industrial farming model wasn’t sustainable.
As with most movements, people tend to be passionate about, a lot can get lost in translation. Fixating on labels, bribery, and convincing consumers that paying over double for “free-range” eggs makes a difference, is what turned organic into just another regulatory body.
Criticisms of Farm-to-Table
Within recent years, the farm-to-table movement has been chastised for being a millennial fad. Some have gone as far as to say it resembles their parents’ generational affinity for music and drug use – a comparison that feels unfair given something may very well be on the line this time around.
Fraud is another issue that has plagued every new food movement since the internet. Journalist investigations across the US have found widespread fraud in restaurants claiming they used ingredients from local farmers. False advertisement and a generally poor understanding of the system make for easy pickings.
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Participating in the Farm-to-Table Movement
The benefits of switching to a local diet can be felt all around the community. Skipping over nutrition (a highly debated topic in the field of food production), the list of positives is long:
Local produce tastes better, particularly pickles and other preserves.
It keeps money circulating in your community, which supports local businesses and farmers.
Arguably most importantly, it nourishes a give-and-take relationship between us and the planet.
Source Food Locally
Sourcing food from a local farmer can be a learning curve for anyone accustomed to the convenience of modern supermarkets. Farmers’ markets often have limited opening times and visiting outlying farms to collect food can prove to be rather bothersome.
The benefit of going out to these farms and buying your food at the source is that you can see with your own eyes where it all comes from. The taste, nutrition, and all-around quality of meat, eggs, dairy, and produce from a polyculture farm are also superior.
Cut Down on Meat
By far the largest issue affecting our food system is the amount of meat people in Western countries consume. Both the number of times we eat it throughout the week and the quantities in which we do so. Is this necessarily a bad thing though?
One of the criticisms of the farm-to-table movement is the price of everyday goods. Particularly the price of meat. While it’s true that pasture-raised meat costs more, if you eat less, you pay less.
Grow your Own Food
Growing food has never been as simple as it is today, with access to everything from complete gardening kits to individual seeds and seedlings. Whether you have space inside or outside, or whether it’s hot or cold, you can accommodate many kinds of plants. Herbs are a fantastic place to start because of their ease and versatility.
Eat What’s in Season
While everyone loves year-round apples, bananas and mangoes, it’s not the natural way of things. When it comes to seasonal produce, you don’t have to pretend you’re doing it for the environment because it’s just as good for you too.
Start Foraging, Hunting & Fishing
The prospect of every American going out to hunt and fish would be catastrophic. However, it’s the perfect lifestyle for some and can encourage a locavore approach. Foraging, hunting, and fishing are phenomenal opportunities that can be utilized to regenerate and nurture nature the way Native Americans did millennia ago.
Start Farming
When I say “start farming” all I mean is start producing your own food. It doesn’t take much land to feed a large family and then some. Chickens and other poultry, fruits, and vegetables can all be produced on a small scale.
Farm-to-fork isn’t meant to be a certification sticker on the bottom of a $3 pound of ground beef. It’s designed to change the way we eat and our attitude towards food, as well as help to give something back to the planet.
Farm-to-table is a solution to the many problems that have come to light since the industrialization of agriculture. It directs consumers straight to the source of their food with an emphasis on sustainability, humane and ethical farming methods, and community.
Discover Dallas' farm-to-table restaurants, showcasing natural ingredients sourced from local farmers, promoting sustainability and community support.
