As reported in The New York Times – a couple of serious entrepreneurs in North Carolina are redefining what “farm to table” is all about. The twist, apparently missed by the erudite Times, is the refreshing absence of trendy “green-speak” from the article’s subjects.
Not only do our heroic farmers (recovering software wonks) grow local food for their local restaurant in Durham, they send their waiters out to work the farm one day a month. You have to appreciate a spiffy waiter with dirt under their nails.
And then there’s the farm’s other venue – a market. “Toward the end of the meal, diners will be handed a dessert menu and a market menu. Liked the pork chop and Russian kale? Take some home and cook them your way.” A feedback loop worth having.
Coon Rock’s philosophy? “It’s all a way to make people more connected to their food. I think that’s one of the biggest problems in civilization right now — no one is connected to their food anymore. If it comes from a window or in a bag, it’s not food.”
The moral of the story, if one is required, is this – saving the planet may be the lofty goal de jour, greenly wafting from every school kid’s lips as they dream of a perfectly sustainable tomorrow; but, the real work is (and always has been) a matter of locale. If local citizens can’t take care of their own yard, they sure as hell can’t “save the planet.”
The movers behind Coon Rock Farms gave up the corporate game to do something, pardon the pun, more sustainably satisfying. In a word, they dropped out to dig in. Traded data for dirt. And are having a fine time in the process. If their gambit turns out to be (here we go again) sustainable, Al Gore should hand over his Nobel Prize so they can melt it down into salt and pepper shakers.
Table for two!
posted by Mudd
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.