Farm-To-Table

What is the true definition of farm-to-table? Is this a fair title for this philosophy? Most of us think farm-to-table only explores the idea of organic food, but I recently discovered from Jesse Cool-the owner of three farm-to-table restaurants, an author, and long a time environmentalist-that social justice and resourcefulness are just as an important aspect in the journey from farm-to-table.

Jesse Cool at Stanford, outside one of her brand new farm-to-table cafe’s. (Photograph by Emma Lynn Gillmer)

Jesse is a woman who has always been committed to real food and has been aware of how it reached her plate even when she was not in the restaurant buisness. In 1976, she started as a waitress. About 15 years into her waitressing career, she was so passionate about food that she decided to open her first restaurant called, “Late for the Train”. She claims that she was one of the first people who was active in not using anything artificial. When she opened her first restaurant, there was not such a thing as farm-to-table.

Jesse said that, “we’re old world”. She isn’t moving forward in that farm-to-table is a new idea, it’s just the term farm-to-table that is new. What we call farm-to-table nowadays was the way of life before artificial, tainted food came into the picture. Since she opened her first restaurant, her core values have not changed, only her style has evolved.

Jesse is the type of person who practices what she preaches. For as long as she can remember she has always grown her own food and always raised chickens. She has always gone to the Farmer’s Market. She believes that you should go directly to the source of your food so you know where it’s coming from and what you are putting into your body.

Wastefulness is a huge issue within our society. Wasting food is part of our habits and our culture. Being resourceful is yet another aspect of the farm-to-table philosophy. Jesse calls herself a “waste manager junkie”. She practices this resourcefulness at home as well as at one of her most recent restaurants, Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park.

There is a political and social justice side with farm-to-table. We always forget about all the workers who help transport this beautiful food we nourish our bodies with everyday. The food doesn’t just magically get from the farm to the plate and the end result is usually the only part of the whole process we see. We need to give more credit to the farmers who pick the food, the drivers who transport the food, and the chefs who clean and prepare the food.  

In the next generations, farm-to-table could very possibly be redefined as people start to realize all the different parts that make up the whole farm-to-table philosophy. We all should start to pay much closer attention to where our food comes from and how it is prepared because how our food is prepared affects our environment, the people surrounding us, and most importantly  our own bodies.