Extreme Local Food Advocacy
The New York Times reported that a Portland restauranteur devoted to the local food movement became outraged at a national pig and wine contest–Cochon 555– due to the origin of the entries. The competition takes place in cities across the United States each year. The event was hosted in May by Portland, and was promoted with terms such as ‘”local,” “sustainable” and “local farms.” Yet a couple of the pigs entered into the contest hailed from Kansas and Iowa. Eric Bechard, restaurant owner and chef, was enraged by the misrepresentation. During the event’s after party, he attacked the event’s organizer, all in the name of true local food.
This may just be the case of one particular local foodie bad boy, but the author of the Times article ponders whether local food elitism is more widespread and if it undermines the movement as a whole. The organizer of Cochon 555 thinks limiting the contest to only locally-sourced pigs would also limit the number of outside ideas that could benefit farmers in the contest’s host city.
What are your thoughts? When does having pride for locally-grown food cross into snobbery?
Here’s the Times article:
Eric Bechard is perfecting the new provincialism.
At his restaurant in the nearby wine country, he strives to serve beef and produce only from farms he has visited. The ling cod he caught when he took his 10-year-old daughter fishing off the Oregon coast? It made the menu. The rustic shelves in his kitchen were, naturally, reclaimed from a nearby barn.
Yet some say Mr. Bechard went too far the night he came to blows over a pig. “Somebody,” he said later, “needed to be held accountable.”
More later on the brawl. Suffice it to say, it was more than just a food fight: Portland is confronting the contradictions that come when keeping it local makes for global success.
Related posts:
- Don’t Let a Truck Roll Empty; Wal-Mart and Local Food Distribution
- Crown Jewel in a Robust Local Food Economy
- FRESH Celebrating Local Food in Seattle
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4 Responses to “Extreme Local Food Advocacy”
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Using the word “pride” is misleading – the only way we can move forward from the hurtful modern food system is to support the food system we want, no personal pride about it. Buying local, organic and sustainable food from small farmers is the only way to avoid the moral minefield of buying our food. To me, he’s idealistic, for better or worse.
At a time when Safeways are holding “Farmers Markets” in their parking lots, I’m happy to see people call the BS and hold their peers to higher standards.
Mike, i agree to holding people to higher standards. But if you go back to the root article in the willamette weekly – the chef pushed a girl before attacking the organizer. Is this holding peers to a higher standard? I think its okay to push girls in the name of local food??? Was that seen as someone needing to be held accountable – sounds like a chef with a drinking problem was upset with the outcome of the event and by all means wanted to share his rage with someone. What if the fight did not happen, the chef (living 50 miles outside of Portland) could have really hurt someone by drinking and driving. Could he of blamed that on the pig too? To me, it doesn’t sound like he was making good decisions.
The point here is looking beyond local to grow any community. I lived in Seattle and we saw outside influence at the University market. Years ago, there was a very simple arrangement of vendors selling the same thing, four varieties of tomatoes, 2 kinds of squash, just a couple greens. One cheese guy and one pig farmer. Now there is a bounty of change and more on the horizon. Farmers are expanding the types of livestock beyond the “pink pig” of industrial agriculture – one guy having a “wooly pig”. These types of pigs/tomatoes come from exposure outside the market plain and simple. I read a story on a farmer who saved money to go visit another farm, across the country. They brought back a new idea and then tried to find a couple chefs in their area to buy the new pigs they were raising. Unfort, the business was not doing well because they could not find buyers and when it came to pay the bank back, they had to sell there hard work for the same price as commercial pigs. They lost money and their inspiration. Having to learn a new breed, find customers and deliver product is hard work. To me, it sounds like this event is bringing new breeds to each market across the country – and most of all, finding customers for farmers. The event creates inspiration for iowa chefs to use pigs that are winning in Portland food competitions and for Oregon farmers, it creates inspirtation to look at new types of livestock. After looking at the cauchon555 website, i saw a huge list of chefs who buy the right pigs – its almost a calling card for farms.
Its all about the big picture.
Sounds like this guy went a little too far, but I agree with Mike, we need to call BS sometimes. They shouldn’t advertise that products are local if they’re not. The word “local” had become a buzz and seems to be used really loosly these days, what is Local? 100 miles? In this case USA grown? It’s relative, maybe we need a new term that puts distance into perspective for those of us really serious about it.
Happy Chef seems like he is an intelligent reasonable person.
The way to local and sustainable is not to go to war over it.
You would think that by now we would have learned a better way to handle our differences. Punching someone for having a different opinion than you is a little too cave man like for me.
The movement for local and sustainable should be looked at as a way to better our living conditions and set ourselves above the ways of the past.
I think the Punching Chef is no better than a religious zealot. What will he do next to get his own way?
I think happy chef is probably right in that the Punchy Chef probably had a little too much to drink and got carried away.