Farm to Fork

On July 18, 2010 – July 24, 2010 many restaurants in South Jersey will be participating in “Farm to Fork” week. The event is sponsored by the SJ Hot Chefs organization in response to their customers growing interest in where their food comes from. It also gives the chefs a chance to work with some wonderful locally grown ingredients. The chefs have highlighted many of the benefits of using locally grown food:

• locally grown produce is usually more flavorful
• local farmers can give us a larger variety
• locally-grown produce has a longer shelf life
• There is less waste, in many cases it is less expensive which helps us keep our prices from rising
• We keep YOUR money in YOUR neighborhood and help boost the local economy
• Using sustainable local farms helps insure a better harvest in years to come
• Using local farmers also cuts down on Global Pollution from fossil fuels of jet airplanes
• By knowing our farmers we can better control the purchase of produce not sprayed with harmful insecticides and toxins sometimes used

You will be able to indulge in 4 courses for $35.00 with some restaurants even offering $25.00 menus. If you cannot make it out to dinner this week take a look at the local farm directory to see if there is a farm near you where you can buy locally grown food.