Comments on: Why I Disagree with Thomas Keller, and What Local Food Teaches Me

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:10:04 +0000

Nice piece Aaron! Your three arguments against the 24 hour rule are spot on. Full disclosure: I’ve never eaten at French Laundry so I don’t know how delicious it really is…but if I had, I’m sure I’d still agree with you.

By: Obama Foodorama

Obama Foodorama — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:58:32 +0000

Thanks for a wonderful piece. Now more than ever it’s important that chefs become consciousness raisers on ag-eco issues, since often they’re the only point of education many eaters have.

By: Andy Little

Andy Little — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:23:35 +0000

I think the biggest issue here is that Thomas Keller is simply confusing the term ‘local’ with ‘fresh’. His products are very fresh due to his need to get them within one day. They are in NO WAY local and there is no such term as ‘temporally local food’. That’s the oddest thing I’ve ever heard. Chef Keller has earned his reputation as one of the greatest chefs in the world. However, his style and type of restaurant doesn’t necessarily qualify him to speak about truly ‘local’ products, but does qualify him to speak about luxury, fresh products flown all over the world.

By: Laura Edwards-Orr

Laura Edwards-Orr — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:53:48 +0000

What is local seems to be the crux of a lot of debate these days. With so many layers and perspectives to take into account, I agree that the message out to the general public has gotten muddled. What’s more, we as members of a movement do no service to ourselves by creating a right and wrong, us and them, dichotomy.

At Red Tomato, our answer is a regional food system. Pulling from the wealth of knowledge and product from growers in New England, NJ, PA and NY also allows us to work with in distribution systems that fit the existing wholesale model. Translation: we get local produce into grocery stores in the Northeast. BUT we know that different models work in different regions and no one knows the needs of their farmers and food system more than the people that live there.

For the general public, wouldn’t it be simpler just to give people the directive: buy good, fresh food. Buy it direct, buy it at the grocery store, buy it from companies that you trust and respect – doing so will send a message to the growers that they are on the right track and the results in the marketplace will support demand for more, good, local food.

By: Paul Kobulnicky

Paul Kobulnicky — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Keller is wrong and I say so from a culinary perspective. The demise of local and regional “cuisines” is all about the global availability of food. Cuisines are built upon scarcity and limited LOCAL availability. They are inventive LOCAL ways of turning a limited set of raw ingredients into edible and desirable meals. As soon as you make everything available anywhere and anytime then you lose the need to be inventive with what you have at hand. As soon as cooks are no longer forced to deal with a regionally common and limited set of local ingredients, you lose the entire concept of a cuisine. It reminds me of coming up out of the subway in many European cities and finding the very same chain stores that one finds in the USA. Who needs it?

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:26:07 +0000

Wild-caught fish is a good example. We really need them for the omega-3s, yet sustainable fisheries are often thousdands of miles away. And locavores seem to be completely ambivalent about this fact: for most regions of the country, local food is only available a few months of the year, in season. Most farmers markets shut down for the winter. Most food is imported from elsewhere. Not only do we need to grow more food during the off-seasons, but we need more markets in which to sell it. And people need to develop a taste again for cold season foods. Can you say r-u-t-a-b-a-g-a?

By: Amerigo

Amerigo — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:13:29 +0000

“Interestingly, Keller does have a small farm as part of The French Laundry. But when he talks about his farm, he does so from a social view point, not an environmental one.”

I don’t think it’s such a bad thing to talk about farming from a social view point. After all, there is a social aspect to farming, especially sustainable farming. He is still supporting sustainable farms, he just does it for a different priority. I think it’s OK to ship food. I buy local meat, eggs, cheese and veggies (when in season) and buy imported olive oil, coffee, and chocolate, and don’t consider that unsustainable. There is room for both the social and environmental view points in the sustainability movement.

By: The Local Beet: Chicago » Link O’Wednesday

The Local Beet: Chicago » Link O’Wednesday — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:20:48 +0000

[...] Civil Eater, Aaron French goes after Thomas Keller’s definition of local food. I wholly agree [...]

By: Britt

Britt — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:55:21 +0000

I think that my overarching goal in growing much of my own food is that I strive for sustainability…if only for my own family. At least we can make a small difference. And I think local eating has sustainability at its core. Leaving as small a footprint as possible. Conversely, flying in out of season food from the other hemisphere, simply because you can, is the opposite. I liken it to driving the car (in this case a really really big, fuel guzzling one) down the driveway to get the mail. You COULD do it…but then again you could walk and feel much better about yourself.

By: Rob Smart

Rob Smart — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:25:51 +0000

Last night, my wife and I joined many members of our community in celebrating the first anniversary of Claire’s Restaurant in Hardwick, VT.

Claire’s is a community-supported restaurant, which during its first year achieved patron numbers projected in its fourth year – every day. Why?

A primary reason is Claire’s chef, Steven Obranovich, who spends time nearly every day talking to local farmers and processors about what’s available, what’s in peak, etc., and then adapted his menu to accommodate those local products.

It’s working. Earlier this year, Claire’s announced (proudly) it had purchased over 70 percent of its food from within 10 miles of the restaurant. Considering the restaurant is located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (translated: cold), this is saying a lot.

By supporting local businesses, Claire’s and its customers are increasing demand for local products, which in turn keeps money circulating in the local economy longer. Everyone is winning.

And the food is spectacular! Claire’s has been awarded the Editor’s Choice Award from Yankee Magazine for the Best Community Concept. We also just won a spot on Conde Nast Traveler Magazine’s Hot Tables list.