Calls to Regulate Local Food Claims
Decatur Metro | January 11, 2010Should we be regulating local food terminology? Here’s the rather odd progression of events that led two Atlanta food writers to answer “Yes.”
1. A writer at Thrillist made this statement about Decatur’s new Eat @ Thai 2…
The whole damn menu, which retains only the prime dishes from the original’s, is locally sourced, drawing meat & produce from Decatur and fresh seafood from Lawrenceville;
2. Tom at Atlanta Cuisine heads over to Eat @ Thai 2, questioning Thrillist’s use of the term “locally sourced”, since Lawrenceville isn’t exactly a beachfront community.
This gets Tom wondering whether terms like “locally sourced” and “farm-to-table” should be federally regulated like the term “organic”.
3. Enter Creative Loafing’s Cliff Bostock, who, after reading through this tale of web-drama, recalls…
I’ve been contacted several times over the years by restaurant staffers claiming that their chef was scamming diners with the same claims. The employees are never willing to identify themselves, even if I promise anonymity, so I’ve never published any of the claims.
And so Bostock determines…
We really need a clearer, better regulated system of labeling our food.
And maybe we do.
But such calls seem to expose a key weakness in a local “in food only” philosophy. A well-functioning local community really should be able to regulate itself.
So, instead of calling for federal Band-Aids, perhaps we should instead see this as an example of the imperfections of the “local food” mantra when it steps outside of a local community. Without a community to keep claims and comments in check, “local” is just as susceptible to corruption as “organic”. The only real long-term solution for local foodies is to continue your mission, but also look beyond food, to other movements and trends that focus on rebuilding our communities.
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I’m definitely not calling for federal regulations, I believe the feds should stay out of my wallet, out of my bedroom and off my plate.
I do, however, feel we need some kind of universal definition that we can all go by. And those restaurants who are genuinely “farm-to-table” and operate under the definition, can get some sort of stamp of approval from a small local organization like Georgia Organics or Slow Food Atlanta.
Is that so bad?
I don’t think it’s a bad idea Tom. I didn’t mean to present it as an either/or.
But I worry about all the problems that go along with organic certification seeping into the local movement. The more variables in play, the more difficult it is to define. With “local”, not only are we dealing with how the food is grown, but how far it is coming from. Who determines how far is too far? Does it depend on the time of year? The length of a particular growing season?
On top of that, I’m arguing that the local food movement should remember that its roots spring from its community. And when you standardize something providing a stamp, you take the onus off of residents/customers to hold their neighbors accountable. In a time when there are few, truly diverse communities left, it’s easy to get fed up with the proliferation of false claims out there, but I’m not sure its worth replacing word-of-mouth with a stamp-of-approval.
You physically went into Eat @ Thai 2 and checked on the claim. That, to me, is the best way to regulate “local”. All other methods trend toward “standardization”, which I would argue is the exact opposite of local.
How bout instead of a scheme of regulations, those interested in where their food comes from simply ask? If the restaurant can’t or won’t answer, then don’t eat there. Leave the rest of us out of your so-called problems.
Whoa! Be careful! You are advocating personal responsibility. This could actually be followed by the self-regulating trend of word-of-mouth reputation.
Personally, I’d like to learn more about the seafood sourced in Lawrenceville. With New England and Manhattan varieties already established, can Snellville Style clam chowder be far behind?
The weirdest thing about this whole chain of events is that the claim of “locally sourced food” seems not to have originated with the restaurant, but with the Thrillist post. No wonder the wait person was confused.
Paula has a point; does the restaurant or the blog claim the local sources and what is the Thrillist’s sources (again, going back to a previous discussion about knowing the sources of a statement or argument….
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DEM is right. Asking is best.