Farm to Fork: a Celebration of Local Food in Charlotte

During the month of May, Richard Gruica, founder of Good Eats and Meets, has partnered with several local restaurants to bring Charlotte a three-course lunch and dinner option to celebrate local food.  From Erin’s Restaurant in Rock Hill to Kabuto in Huntersville, over 15 restaurants in the greater Charlotte area will be offering three course meals at lunch ($14.95 or $18.95, not all restaurants will participate) or dinner ($18.95, 28.95, or $38.95, each restaurant will have one or more of these prices) highlighting local food.  Part of the proceeds from dining will go to the newly formed North Carolina Farmers Fund.  Please check with Carolina’s Farm to Fork for more information on this city-wide event.

Because I personally would like to spend May researching local food in Charlotte, I want to begin by  briefly discussing eating local generally.  As an avid lover of chocolate, tea, mango and other exotic foods, I admit to being lax when it comes to being a locavore (those dedicated to eating local food), but the United States is an amazing food producing body of land, and the local food available in Charlotte is wonderful and full of variety and flavor.  So, to kick off my month of local food, I would like to run down a few of the reasons why we should (and sometimes why we should not) eat local.

Eating local.  You hear about it all the time.  You drag yourself out of bed on Saturday morning to hit the farmers markets, consider CSAs, look at the “local” labels in the supermarket.  But what is all the hype about?

There are many advantages to eating local. By being near the source, one can converse with local farmers about their product, almost impossible to do with a chain supermarket with multiple production sources.  One can learn first hand about farmers growing practices – when I lived in Connecticut, I could see the chickens from the store where I bought my eggs, and I knew their feeding practices and spoke with the farmers regularly.  Local food is generally fresher and more flavorful, and you can often find unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables at your local farmers markets (though check to ensure the produce is actually local).  Environmentally speaking, local food can benefit the environment because it requires less packaging, and less energy may be used in transportation and distribution.  Farmers are also an integral part of local businesses, and therefore, by supporting the local farmer, you are supporting the community economy.

Of course, there are some naysayers when it comes to eating local.  There is an argument that mass farming is more streamlined and less environmentally harmful than smaller local farms.  There are also products that simply cannot be grown or found locally, or if grown locally, the environmental costs can outweigh the benefits of being local.  Also, many point out that local food can come with a bigger price tag, because of less supply and more artisan producers, but it doesn’t have to with all products, so do your research, and you can find some great deals!  Overall, the taste and quality of local food along with the rest of the benefits of local eating often outweighs these factors.

Most importantly, North Carolina is a state filled with culinary treasures!  Let’s celebrate!

~Aurora