Defining Organic, Local and Sustainable
The Benefit of the Educated Server
July/August 2008
By Laura C. Martin
A well-informed server should be able to answer customer questions: “What do you mean by local” and “define organic and sustainable?”
If the chef is the critical link between the farm and the kitchen, the server is the most important link between the kitchen and the customer. A well-informed, articulate wait staff can mean the difference between an average or excellent dining experience.
More and more restaurants are realizing the selling factor of serving locally grown, organic food. The key is not only having a chef who appreciates and can effectively use these products, but also having a wait staff that understands the significance of these products. The server, then, becomes a critical factor in this food chain.
It is important for each server to know where the food comes from and understand and appreciate the “bigger picture.” A well-informed server should be able to answer customer questions: “What do you mean by local” and “define organic and sustainable?”
Perhaps of all those terms, “local” is both the most readily understood and least definable. “Local” to some people means within a certain number of miles. For example, the San Francisco Eat Local Challenge encourages people to eat food produced within 250 miles of San Francisco. But here in Georgia, we’re faced with a different set of circumstances. Alice Rolls, Executive Director of Georgia Organics, says “I don’t really like to put a mileage limit on “local” because we don’t have the luxury in terms of supply, particularly here in the South. Some people use the “a day’s drive” to define it which is handily nebulous!” It is sufficient to say “local” means food grown as close to home as possible. Eggplant from a backyard garden is extremely local, while strawberries from Florida are probably more “regional” than local, but still ultimately better than buying strawberries from California. For most of us, “local” means buying as close to home as possible to reduce the environmental impact and to support a local farming community.
Organic and sustainable are more easily defined. To have products sold as “organic,” the producer must be certified. Certification is based on a farming system that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers. Many farmers choose not to pursue certification but follow similar farming practices as organic, working to treat the land with respect, so that the land is not harmed in any way, hence the term “sustainable.”
Olivia Sargeant, one of the founders and owners of the restaurant Farm255 in Athens, has a staff of waiters that knows the importance of local and sustainable food from the ground up – literally. All the “team” (if you work in any capacity at Farm255, you’re part of the team) is required to work on the farm (found at a very local four miles from the restaurant) at least once a month. Whether they weed, water or harvest, the team receives an ongoing education in what it means to grow and gather the things they offer on the menu. Like many restaurants who offer mainly locally grown goods, Farm255 changes the menu almost daily, based on product availability. With the fluidity of the menu, the Farm255 team meets daily to discuss what is on the menu, where it came from and what it tastes like. Team enthusiasm for the menu, and the restaurant, is always high. “We have an incredibly strong and committed team,” Sargeant says. “We have to be careful not to get too heedy. After all, we’re not here to create mini-activists. We have to remember that people are here to eat dinner. It’s a fine balance.”
Barry Aycock, owner of Glen-Ella Springs Country Inn in Habersham County understands the importance of clear communication between the farmer, the chef and the wait staff. “Somebody has to be aware daily of what is being prepared,” she says. “It is impossible for the wait staff to explain things to the guests if the kitchen can’t explain it to them. I have found that the more information that you can put on the menu, the better it is for everyone. The customer has it right in front of them so they know what’s being offered.”
Even though Aycock is a true believer in the philosophy behind serving locally grown food, she also has found it to be challenging. Since the harvest of fresh, seasonal vegetables is not evenly spaced out, but comes in either trickles or deluges, she has found that her chef has to be quite creative in coming up with new ways to serve particular items during the “deluge” times. “At the end of the season last year we had peppers and more peppers, and then more peppers. It took some real creativity to know what to do with them all.”
Linton Hopkins, Chef and owner of Restaurant Eugene and Holman and Finch Public House, has addressed this problem by developing close relationships with the farmers who supply his produce. He works with them to get the products he needs at the times he needs them, within the realm of pos¬sibilities. Hopkins calls it “mindful planting” and works hard to think ahead and know the kinds of crops he will need before the planting season even begins. “It all started with my ask¬ing the question: ‘How do I become a better chef?’ The answer was pretty obvious. If I need to get a better carrot to my guests, then I need a better carrot.” His answer to getting a better carrot was to get the freshest carrot possible, which is one picked fresh from the field, grown by someone he knows and trusts and served as quickly as possible.
Perhaps, the educated server is the key to helping diners find their way back to simple food that tastes good.
“I get my inspiration for the menu from the farm first,” Hopkins says. “I wouldn’t know how to write a menu without this inspiration. If I see a perfect turnip, then it inspires me to do something great with it.” Server, Christine Gomez, who has been at Restaurant Eugene for two years, says that the guests are continually amazed at how simple the food is and how absolutely delicious it tastes. “I served a dish of asparagus, quail egg and parmesan cheese to a man one night who told me it was the ‘best thing I never knew I wanted!’”
With proper training, all servers are in a position to help create a new generation of diners with taste buds that are discerning and sensitive to freshness and flavor. Perhaps, the educated server is the key to helping diners find their way back to simple food that tastes good. Food enthusiasts everywhere realize nothing tastes better than good, clean, food-grown humanely, picked fresh, prepared well and served by someone who appreciates and understands the value of something as simple as a better carrot.
Laura Martin has been writing and publishing for the last 25 years. Her latest book is Tea, The Drink that Changed the World (Tuttle Publishing, 2007). She lives in Atlanta where she writes, gardens, bakes draws and quilts.
