Why is the Farm-to-Table Concept so Popular?

Being aware of the origins of your food and knowing that it undergoes little to no processing allows you to better appreciate your meal.

The farm-to-table concept does exactly that.

The social movement, started by Alice Waters, focuses on producing food locally and later selling it to local restaurants and homes. Waters, founder of Chez Panisse, sparked the trend when she started listing down the farms which she brought her ingredients from on her menu, as she wanted to remind her customers that she in fact uses local farm produce. Since consuming healthy and organic food has been seeing a constant increase in popularity in recent years, restaurants started to align themselves to this concept.

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that might pull you towards adopting the farm-to-table concept for your business:

Healthier food choices

Consumers are becoming more health-conscious. They are more likely to frequent restaurants that are able to provide healthier options. Produce from local farms have higher nutritional value and are tastier as they are often allowed to ripen fully before being picked. Additionally, these food barely undergo any processing as they need not travel long distances.

Open Farm Community is one such restaurant in Singapore that advocates the farm-to-table concept. As stated on their website: “Our vision is to bring to life, the impact of urban farming in Singapore, and in doing so, strengthen our understanding and respect for food and its origins. Our children, in particular, have been too segregated from nature.” Apart from serving dishes made from local produce, Open Farm Community also aims to bring people closer to nature by encouraging them to grow food in under-utilised spaces in Singapore.

When a restaurant picks a local farm as its main supplier, they are supporting local businesses, which in turn strengthens the local economy. Money is essentially injected back into local businesses and prevented from falling out of the circulation of the local economy.

Consequently, when you cut back on expenditures such as transportation costs, the effect can be felt by your customers as you do not need to charge them as much to make a profit.

Every day, huge amount of diesel is consumed by the heavy-duty vehicles used to transport food across borders. These vehicles also emit copious amounts of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gases which are severely detrimental to the environment. In contrast, when ingredients are purchased locally rather than importing from foreign supplier, less transportation is needed. This translates to lesser fuel consumption and a minimisation of the restaurant’s carbon footprint, which is a significant step in the movement towards environmental sustainability.