Restaurants need to make many decisions, including which foods to source for their menus and where it comes from. These choices help determine whether they are customer-driven or farm-driven.
Many people assume that if a restaurant serves locally-grown food, it's a farm-to-table place; however, that's not always the case. Some eateries make menu choices that are, in fact, completely sourced locally and help to move products for area farms. Others serve some local products but get many ingredients from wholesalers which makes the restaurant more consumer-driven.
So how can you tell the difference and why does it matter? In this podcast, Seven Days food writer, Suzanne Podhaizer, explains why some restaurants make the food-purchasing decisions they do, why patrons should be aware, and how to make a distinction by looking at how the menu is presented.
