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It's much easier to enjoy the best in local foods when you can control the menu but when you go out to eat it gets a bit dicey. But nowadays more and more restaurants are putting local ingredients front and center. Chefs have been buying locally for a long time now for no better reason than it tastes better but today concerned consumers are becoming more and more aware of it.
Find Restaurants that Serve Local Food
1. Chowhound
Chowhound's Message Board allows you to ask questions about area restaurants and one question members often pose is: "Which area restaurants source local foods?" Other members chime in giving you ideas as to the best choices in the area. It's a great source to get ideas if you're new to the area or new to eating out in sustainable restaurants.
2. Eat Well Guide
The Eat Well Guide is an easy-to-use source that provides tons of choices when it comes to finding local eats, especially restaurants. Just type in restaurants and your zipcode and all the sustainable restaurants in the area will come up. In larger foodie cities like San Francisco you'll find over a hundred choices.
3. Certified South Carolina Grown, Or Your State's Equivalent
In my state we have a program called Certified South Carolina Grown and programs like this are popping up in states across the country. The program is a cooperative effort among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to brand and promote South Carolina products, according to the Web site. The goal is for consumers to be able to easily identify, find, and buy South Carolina products. The site lists restaurants that purchase certified South Carolina grown foods for their restaurants as a part of the Fresh On the Menu program.
4. Chefs Collaborative
Chefs Collaborative is a network of chefs that are working together toward a sustainable food system. You can search locally to find the chefs that are involved and serve sustainable foods in your area. And chefs can search to find local farmers and food producers that sell to restaurants as well.
5. Your Local Slow Food Chapter
This is also true of finding local producers. If your area doesn't have a Slow Food Chapter, you can start one up. But more and more areas do have their own. Slow Food is a great resource for finding out about the best farmers' markets and local providers. At our chapter in Columbia, chefs that specialize in serving local foods are often members of the organization or they are closely tied with the organization.
6. Green Restaurant Association
The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) has been certifying restaurants for the past two decades. GRA provides a comprehensive method of rewarding existing restaurants in seven environmental categories and one of them is sustainable food. Restaurants get points for using local foods from 100 miles away or less and regional foods, from 300 miles away or less. They are also graded on using sustainable seafood, organic food, no hormones or antibiotics, cage free poultry, and free range cows, and pigs. Just type in your area and the site lists all the sustainable restaurants in town.
7. Menu Pages
If you're looking for local ingredients they are often listed right on the menu. Look at the menu ahead of time to see your options. If you live in a larger city, read the Menu Pages to find out the dishes at all your favorite places. Menu items often list the farms that the ingredients are sourced so that you know where they come from.
More on Eating Out Green:
How to Go Green: Dating
Can Eating Local Food Save Your Life?
A New Yorker's Vegan Guide to Portland, Oregon
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