Coming to market from all directions: chefs are leading consumer demand for more organic produce

Vegetarian Times, Nov, 1996 by Christine Blank

YOUR LOCAL SUPERMARKET still doesn't stock enough organic produce? Try going out to eat, instead. In many cities, chefs are serving more organic produce because it often looks and tastes better. Chefs are also joining consumers in support of Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), run by local organic farmers.

Most cooks know fruit and vegetables grown without synthetic pesticides taste better. But until recently the food often appeared shriveled and unappealing and had to be delivered from long distances such as California, where many farms are already organic. No longer. Many chefs have now discovered CSAs, small, local farms where members or shareholders pay annual fees for weekly deliveries of organic produce. Many say they'll never go back to conventional produce. "Once you start with organics, the flavor is so much more intense and direct, you get spoiled," said Jim Swenson, executive chef at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Charlie Trotter, who owns the celebrated Chicago restaurant bearing his name, says he cooks with organic produce and other products for their flavor, not for political reasons. "We are in pursuit of exquisite flavors, and organics taste better because they're unadulterated and picked at the height of their growing season." And Nora Pouillon, owner of Nora and Asia Nora restaurants in Washington, D.C., adds that organic produce is new available in many more varieties than it was in the past few years: "We now have purple and Fingerling potatoes and all types of lettuce and mesclun mixes," she says. Pouillon has become such a convert to organics she's spearheaded two national coalitions promoting healthy eating. One group, Chefs Help Enhance Food Safety, held a summit in Washington, D.C. last July to educate chefs on the risks of conventionally grown foods. Another group, Chefs Collaborative 2000, sends chefs to inner-city schools to educate children about the importance of nutrition and organics.

Along with the culinary trend toward organics, the organics industry posted record revenues in 19 9 5 of $ 2.8 billion. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported organic farmland more than doubled in acreage between 1991 and 1994.

Membership in CSAs is also swelling, up about 160 percent in the last three years, according to the Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association in Kimberton, Penn. In a CSA, members share the same risks as the growers--that something available one week may be gone the next or bad weather wipes out a crop--but many consumers believe the value of buying locally harvested food outweighs potential setbacks.

"People are becoming more concerned about the food they eat, [and want to support] small producers who are stewards of the land," says Fran McQuail, who runs the Meeting Place Organic Farm, a CSA in Lucknow, Ontario. In the U.S., most CSAs have more interested members than they can serve. Rolling Prairie Farmers Alliance, a group of eight CSAs in Lawrence, Kan., has 318 customers and a waiting list of 1 5D. Dan Nagengast, organizer of the alliance and one of the growers, says CSAs benefit growers as well as consumers, who are eager to know the people who buy their food.