Articles
8 February 2012

On the Menu

by Sarah Ryther Francom

08 February 2012—

We are bombarded daily with information about the relationship between health and diet. When we read a newspaper or listen to the radio, we learn about the latest study on the antioxidant properties of garlic, the link between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and how the beta-carotene found in carrots and other greens can reduce the memory loss associated with aging. But far fewer of us are aware of the effect the food we eat has on our environment and our local economy.

Perhaps you are at lunch with a coworker. You’ve decided to forego a bacon cheeseburger and fries in favor of the salad bar and you load up your plate with mixed greens with tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, beets, and garbanzo beans topped with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. What may be a healthy lunch, physically speaking may not be so healthy for the environment or your local economy.
To get to its final destination at your local supermarket or restaurant, food sold in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles. This simple fact has implications that are a growing concern to environmentalists, local governments, and gourmands.
Utah’s Own, a division of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, is working to educate Utah consumers about where their food comes from and the benefits of buying Utah’s Own local products. From vegetables and fruit, to lamb, beef and chicken, to value-added products like Tom’s Gourmet fudge topping and Lehman’s jam, Utah products are available in a variety of forms.
“Our concern at Utah’s Own is to create a local food network for consumers,” says Seth Winterton, deputy director of Utah’s Own. “We are working to build a local food culture where we support our communities and producers of [S1]fresh farm products,  as well as processed products that add value.”
 
You Are What You Eat
Buying local means buying higher quality food, which makes Utah’s Own products a natural fit for Utah restaurants. Utah's Own has recently teamed up with the Utah Restaurant Association (URA), a trade organization with a mission to promote and protect the restaurant industry in Utah.
Through the partnership, the URA is working with Utah’s Own to help food produced in Utah make a mark in the restaurant industry. “We want restaurants to know what products are available,” says Melva Sine, president and CEO of the Utah Restaurant Association. “When restaurants use Utah’s Own products, it helps private, locally-owned businesses and it creates an opportunity for restaurants to use niche products on their menus.” Restaurants are also encouraged to use the Utah’s Own logo on their menu when they feature products made or grown in Utah. Winterton believes that using Utah’s Own products provides a way for restaurants to distinguish themselves. “When restaurants use Utah’s Own products it makes them unique. When people visit from out of state they are interested in sampling local cuisine.”
In addition to educating restaurants about various Utah’s Own products and the benefits of including them on menus, URA is involving Utah’s Own in restaurant trade shows to highlight Utah products, and is including information on Utah's Own products in their ProStart program.
ProStart, a two-year restaurant entrepreneurship program geared toward high school students, is currently offered in 44 Utah high schools, including numerous high schools along the Wasatch Front. Students learn how to own and operate their own restaurants, with courses in subjects ranging from banking and finance to the culinary arts. The program includes both classroom study and real work experience. “We are encouraging students and teachers to use Utah’s Own products,” says Sine. “We want to make students aware of locally-produced products and how to incorporate them into their menus.” As students graduate from this program and go on to jobs in the hospitality industry, the group hopes the program will help them be aware of the benefits of using Utah’s Own.
For Squatters Pub Brewery, using Utah’s Own products fits with the company’s bottom line philosophy of people, planet and profit. "At Squatters, our overriding philosophy is you can’t have a healthy business if you don’t have a healthy community," says James Soares, director of Environmental and Social Responsibility for Squatters. “Buying local products is great because a higher percentage of the dollar stays in the community. It also has a smaller carbon footprint and it usually costs less. As we have searched out local products, we have also saved money. The food is more fresh, travels less distance, doesn’t have to be stored, and it tastes better, is higher quality, and more nutritious.”
Squatters Pub Brewery features a variety of local products on their menu, including its own certified organic Amber Ale, which won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2007. The cuisine includes Morgan Valley Lamb burgers and rack of lamb along with the infamous root beer floats, made with Squatters own root beer and Spotted Dog Creamery ice cream. “We make the most magnificent, super duper, awesome root beer floats you’ve ever had in your life,” Soare says.
David Prows, the corporate chef for Costa Vida, agrees that local products are of a higher quality: "As a chef it is very important in my mind to buy local whenever possible. Not only does it support the local economy but many times the product is of a much better quality than national products." Prows is affiliated with URA through both his profession as a chef and Costa Vida,. He is excited about the partnership between Utah's Own and the URA. "This is a perfect marriage and will only help promote Utah's Own products," he notes. Many of the Utah's Own products have had to concentrate on getting into the retail grocery stores, not necessarily thinking about food service packaging. I think there is a huge opportunity here."
Prows' interest in local products goes beyond his work as a chef as he also makes Lehman jam, in partnership with Bill Beifus of Coeur D'Alene bakery. Lehman jams are made from local products whenever possible and the majority of them are certified wild harvest. The wild berries are picked by hand; the slogan for Lehman's chokecherry jam is "Hand Picked, Mule Packed." Lehman jams are found in most Associated Foods stores and are also sold in several restaurants in the valley, including Squatters Road House Grill and Left Fork Lodge.
Although Utah's Own and the Utah Restaurant Association are working hard to promote Utah's Own products to local restaurants, it is the restaurant patrons who ultimately have the most influence. When you go to a restaurant, look for the Utah's Own logo on the menu and ask your waiter if there are any dishes which feature local products. "There are many chefs who use local products but it's ultimately up to the consumer," Winterton says. "If people demand Utah's Own products, then restaurants and grocery stores will respond."
 
 


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