AFS Cinema
Farmers at the Table
RECEIVED Sun., Jan. 19, 2025
Dear Editors,
Brandon Watson’s article "Does Farm-to-Table Still Matter?" [Food, Jan. 17] feeds readers with savoury insights from chefs yet not even a dash of salt from farmers. Not inviting farmers to the table only adds to the perception that all food is created equal or that local growers could care less about the farm-to-table movement. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
As far back as 2010, Austin’s sustainable farmers banded together to create the Growers Alliance of Central Texas, a coalition formed to help professional farmers improve business practices, obtain medical funds, and provide a forum for advice and support. One of Gro-ACT’s first activities was to shine light on how much of our product was actually being purchased by restaurants who claimed to buy local. Not everyone (including a leading food reporter) was happy with green-washed farmers taking the industry to task in a public forum.
The truth is farmers are too busy to worry whether a celebrity chef will invite us to dinner or if reporters will deem our challenges newsworthy. The farmers we know are doing the meat-and-potatoes work of fighting to save prime farmland, serving on policy and zoning boards, volunteering to create local food plans, developing training programs for new farmers, hosting culinary students, teaching refugees how to grow here, helping each other adapt to extreme weather, and promoting agrihoods as a viable solution to unaffordable housing and food insecurity.
What connects this work and makes it worthwhile is the untapped potential – and public health benefits – of a robust farm-to-table movement. If asked whether buying local still matters, these farmers will tell you why it means everything to them and how grateful they are for those who still do.
Brandon Watson’s article "Does Farm-to-Table Still Matter?" [Food, Jan. 17] feeds readers with savoury insights from chefs yet not even a dash of salt from farmers. Not inviting farmers to the table only adds to the perception that all food is created equal or that local growers could care less about the farm-to-table movement. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
As far back as 2010, Austin’s sustainable farmers banded together to create the Growers Alliance of Central Texas, a coalition formed to help professional farmers improve business practices, obtain medical funds, and provide a forum for advice and support. One of Gro-ACT’s first activities was to shine light on how much of our product was actually being purchased by restaurants who claimed to buy local. Not everyone (including a leading food reporter) was happy with green-washed farmers taking the industry to task in a public forum.
The truth is farmers are too busy to worry whether a celebrity chef will invite us to dinner or if reporters will deem our challenges newsworthy. The farmers we know are doing the meat-and-potatoes work of fighting to save prime farmland, serving on policy and zoning boards, volunteering to create local food plans, developing training programs for new farmers, hosting culinary students, teaching refugees how to grow here, helping each other adapt to extreme weather, and promoting agrihoods as a viable solution to unaffordable housing and food insecurity.
What connects this work and makes it worthwhile is the untapped potential – and public health benefits – of a robust farm-to-table movement. If asked whether buying local still matters, these farmers will tell you why it means everything to them and how grateful they are for those who still do.
Erin Flynn and Skip Connett