An Exploration of Farm-to-Table

The first time I’d ever heard of the term ‘farm-to-table’ was when I tried it at a restaurant in Western Massachusetts. My first thought was probably something like ‘Okay, this is weird.’ It was supposedly a renowned restaurant, but the place had a distinctly country feel to it. Wooden floors, linen tablecloths, windows looking out to a field. The menu was a confusing mishmash of ingredients I’d never heard of (I later found out they were locally grown vegetables you’d almost never find in a supermarket).

But the experience stuck with me. Many of the restaurants I’d been to up until then were remarkably similar in design. What I had just experienced was something completely new and unobtainable elsewhere. Even days after, I was still thinking about the crispness of the salad greens, the remarkably strange flavor that was grilled strawberries, the delicateness of the steak. I never knew it was possible to create your own butter, fuse cuisines to create a uniquely satisfying dish, or do so many things with mushrooms. Even better was the fact the place had a distinctly relaxed feel to it. Gone with the hoity toity dinners with polished silver and white tablecloths. In came the rustic and the real.

But what is farm-to-table exactly? The idea usually conjures up images of fresh vegetables bathed in sunlight, bright greens, impossibly colorful fruits and mouth-watering meats, freshly baked breads, and homemade butters. The definition is harder to pinpoint. For starters, there’s no established description, and what some believe to be farm-to-table might not actually align with its core values. The most literal meaning would indicate food that comes from a farm and is prepared straight away, without any store involvement or processing. However, if all supposed farm-to-table restaurants had to follow this as their guideline, there would be few indeed that make the cut. Not many restaurants have the luxury of being next-door neighbors to a farm. For that reason, farm-to-table can also refer to restaurants whose food is locally sourced. (In fact, some restaurants display which farm they do business with.) The concept of freshness, organic ingredients, and seasonal foods is crucial to the overall feel. By way of example, mangoes aren’t a fruit that grows in Massachusetts. Ergo, you won’t find it on any of their farm-to-table restaurant menus. Instead, farm-to-table celebrates what your area has to offer.

But there are some things that farm-to-table is not. Some store-bought items for instance, have adopted the term “farm to table” to describe their produce. This contradicts the very concept. All ingredients you’ll find in a store are processed to some degree before they make it on the shelves. Neither is farm-to-table synonymous with healthy, even though the food very often is. Locally grown food is great and probably more nutritious than anything frozen or processed. But this doesn’t mean it’s the perfect diet food or jam-packed with nutrients that non-locally sourced foods lack. You can still make a highly caloric double-cream ham quiche with local ingredients and that’s not nearly as virtuous as a salad of imported greens.

Farm-to-table has also come under some scrutiny and not without reason. Perhaps most notably, farm-to-table restaurants tend to be expensive. Local ingredients, though local, still have to be grown, and are usually done so by expert farmers at that. All of these are good things mind you, but this additional attention to detail comes at a price, one that not everyone can appreciate or afford.

This also leads to the second issue, which is that farm-to-table can feel just a little, well, snooty. Since so much of what makes farm-to-table unique is based on how pure and wholesome the ingredients are, it’s no wonder some of this pride translates into the subtle feeling that their food is ‘better’ or ‘best’. Perhaps you’ve seen that spoof from the show ‘Portlandia’. Too much pride in your local ingredients can be comical if taken too far. Concern over whether the chicken on your plate led a full and wholesome free-range life doesn’t change the fact it was killed for your eating pleasure.

To make matters worse, some farm-to-table restaurants are fancier in feel than even your town’s most splendid steakhouse. Though the waiters may dress in faux-farming attire, the fact of the matter is, many farm-to-table restaurants have opted for the high-end and unattainable. This is quite the shame. It is of course incongruous with the ‘country’, ‘farm’, and ‘real ingredients grown by real people’ vibe that characterizes the entire movement. It also makes something that should be celebrated seem like some sort of food miracle when of course this is how eating and dining had been done for centuries.

So despite all this, why then is farm-to-table still so popular? Most obviously perhaps because fresh is more flavorful. It is no secret that picking produce before it’s ripe, freezing food, or canning destroys the wholesomeness of fresher ingredients. Born out of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s when Americans were becoming disenchanted with overly processed, bland foods (and rightfully so), farm-to-table promises something a bit more than your typical restaurant experience: a celebration of real food. Couple this with the bonus that using local ingredients means less transporting of ingredients across the globe, making farm-to-table a wonderfully eco-friendly dining option.

But perhaps what makes farm-to-table so strange and exciting is the creativity that goes into food preparation. We’re oftentimes woefully unaware of the ingredients native to our own region. Ever heard of wild ramps, gribiche, hemlock cones, or (my favorite) fermented dragon tongue beans? Neither had I until I enjoyed these very ingredients at the many farm-to-table restaurants available in the Greater Boston area. And by extension, some of the craziest things I’ve ever eaten have come from farm-to-table restaurants. In my dizziest daydreams, I’d never think to make candied hemlock cones, caramelized pistachios, a kimchi-apple purée, or burnt lemon aioli.

That’s what won my heart over the very first time I’d ever experienced farm-to-table and it’s why I still believe in it.  When all you have are your home’s own ingredients, you learn to create magic. Using local ingredients is not a limitation; it’s a gift, and one that should be explored and revamped. At least, I’ve yet to try anything farm-to-table that wasn’t extraordinary, and impressive. And I don’t mind shelling out a bit more money for that experience.