First I would like to thank Linda Dessau (www.contentmasteryguide.com) for the inspiration and guidance in keeping me on my toes regarding Beaches blog posts. Running a restaurant, takes an uncanny ability to multi-task (sometimes things fall through the cracks) and things which are not current and pressing (as one might perceive writing a blog for a restaurant) often slide down the priority list until they are delayed beyond return or just plain forgotten. So thank you Linda for keeping me on my toes (even though I am a few days late... :)
Before I start this discussion, I would like to dedicate a few lines to welcoming Daniel Clements to our culinary team. Daniel brings many years of kitchen experience to Beaches and will be a great asset to Dale (my wife and creator of the fine meals we get to enjoy!) in ensuring we continue to enhance the dining pleasure of our guests. His passion and many connections to local food sources, will help us to further expand our commitment to serving you as much fresh, locally grown food as we can. As any business does, we need to be able to buy these products at a competitive price and have adequate supply, among other things, which brings me to my main topic; to discuss the pro's and con's of locally produced food.
In these days with so much hardship around the world, we are very fortunate to live in a relatively safe country, almost immune to large scale catastrophes and proprietors of an immense amount of land and resources. We are the protectors of the largest fresh water supply in the world and our agriculture industry is among the world leaders. That being said, it is not all about the grand scale of food production around this vast country of ours but there is something about eating produce fresh off the farmer's fields, meats butchered locally or cheese produced in our area among many others, giving us the opportunity to develop our own regional signature flavours. I could go on about my experiences in Switzerland with every village having their own butcher, dairy, baker, grocery, etc. but that is a topic for another time.
Below a partial list of benefits and detractors to locally grown food. Make your own decision as to where you want to dine (and as always I welcome comments and discussion).
Pro's
- Sources can be readily identified and verified for their compliance to food safety and quality standards
- With gas prices soaring, the less distance food has to travel, the lower the cost
- Food diminishes in quality and nutritional value with the distance it is transported. Did you know that food travels 1500 to 2500 km in North America before being sold? (Source: www.helium.com)
- By supporting your local farmers, much like any other local business, a much larger percentage of the dollar you spend actually remains in the local economy
- For those of you who cultivate vegetable gardens or buy from local farms, you know about the difference in flavour profile of food grown in your own backyard vs. the stuff you get off grocery store shelves
Con's
- Food can be produced much more cheaply in other areas of the world, thereby reducing the global cost of food
- Growing seasons in tropical regions allow for multiple crops annually, increasing food supply to the entire globe (Aside: if it got distributed evely....???)
- Supply of many popular foods cannot be sustained locally, especially in harsher climates such as ours
- If everyone bought local, can supply keep up with demand?
In the end it is up to each individual to set their own priorities about where the food they eat comes from. Let's be honest...most of us don't really care as long as we can eat what we are "in the mood for". Our goal at Beaches is to provide you with ideas and inspiration! We do our best to promote local food and local flavours because we are a local business and are proud to contribute to the local experience and support our local business partners. We strive to provide you with the freshest, local ingredients we can find because we believe we can create our own flavours, unique to Beaches and this area thanks to the support of our regional partners!
Come try us out...our new Spring menu is launching soon! We will continue to offer all your favourites and many more features daily, based on seasonal products available in our area!
Beaches out...I look forward to your comments.
Before I start this discussion, I would like to dedicate a few lines to welcoming Daniel Clements to our culinary team. Daniel brings many years of kitchen experience to Beaches and will be a great asset to Dale (my wife and creator of the fine meals we get to enjoy!) in ensuring we continue to enhance the dining pleasure of our guests. His passion and many connections to local food sources, will help us to further expand our commitment to serving you as much fresh, locally grown food as we can. As any business does, we need to be able to buy these products at a competitive price and have adequate supply, among other things, which brings me to my main topic; to discuss the pro's and con's of locally produced food.
In these days with so much hardship around the world, we are very fortunate to live in a relatively safe country, almost immune to large scale catastrophes and proprietors of an immense amount of land and resources. We are the protectors of the largest fresh water supply in the world and our agriculture industry is among the world leaders. That being said, it is not all about the grand scale of food production around this vast country of ours but there is something about eating produce fresh off the farmer's fields, meats butchered locally or cheese produced in our area among many others, giving us the opportunity to develop our own regional signature flavours. I could go on about my experiences in Switzerland with every village having their own butcher, dairy, baker, grocery, etc. but that is a topic for another time.
Below a partial list of benefits and detractors to locally grown food. Make your own decision as to where you want to dine (and as always I welcome comments and discussion).
Pro's
- Sources can be readily identified and verified for their compliance to food safety and quality standards
- With gas prices soaring, the less distance food has to travel, the lower the cost
- Food diminishes in quality and nutritional value with the distance it is transported. Did you know that food travels 1500 to 2500 km in North America before being sold? (Source: www.helium.com)
- By supporting your local farmers, much like any other local business, a much larger percentage of the dollar you spend actually remains in the local economy
- For those of you who cultivate vegetable gardens or buy from local farms, you know about the difference in flavour profile of food grown in your own backyard vs. the stuff you get off grocery store shelves
Con's
- Food can be produced much more cheaply in other areas of the world, thereby reducing the global cost of food
- Growing seasons in tropical regions allow for multiple crops annually, increasing food supply to the entire globe (Aside: if it got distributed evely....???)
- Supply of many popular foods cannot be sustained locally, especially in harsher climates such as ours
- If everyone bought local, can supply keep up with demand?
In the end it is up to each individual to set their own priorities about where the food they eat comes from. Let's be honest...most of us don't really care as long as we can eat what we are "in the mood for". Our goal at Beaches is to provide you with ideas and inspiration! We do our best to promote local food and local flavours because we are a local business and are proud to contribute to the local experience and support our local business partners. We strive to provide you with the freshest, local ingredients we can find because we believe we can create our own flavours, unique to Beaches and this area thanks to the support of our regional partners!
Come try us out...our new Spring menu is launching soon! We will continue to offer all your favourites and many more features daily, based on seasonal products available in our area!
Beaches out...I look forward to your comments.
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