Chef goes local on menu

If you’re looking for healthy, locally grown foods that won’t break the bank, then you’re part of a powerful convergence of three major consumer trends today.

We want to be green by choosing Earth-friendly foods that support local farmers. We want to save some green by finding more affordable menu options.

Enlarge this image

Special

Southeastern producers play big role in Canoe’s Local Yokel menu.

LEARN THESE WORDS

• Certified organic: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program outlines standards that farms must meet to sell products as organic. Organic growing methods replenish soil fertility and prohibit use of persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
• Certified naturally grown: This certification program, administered by a nonprofit organization, is tailored to small-scale farms that observe growing practices based on the highest principles and ideals of organic farming.
• Sustainable: Sustainable growing methods aim to produce food while minimizing damage to the surrounding physical and social environments.
• Grass-fed: Pertaining to meat, dairy and eggs, grass-fed systems that raise livestock on pasture are ecologically sustainable.

Source: Georgia Organics

Related health articles:

• Study: Clozapine may have saved schizophrenics 
• Obesity a risk factor in swine flu? 
• Study: 1918 flu survivors seem immune to swine flu 
• Fall swine flu: Obama urges vigilance, not panic 
• Swine flu shots at school: Bracing for fall return 

• Topics: Atlanta hospitals | Weight loss | CDC | Cancer | Swine Flu
• Back to Health news

DOCTOR IS IN

Why worry?

THINNER YOU

Lose weight. Together.

And we want to stay in the pink by eating healthy foods that will help keep us out of the doctor’s office.

But tapping into that triad of diners’ desires wasn’t why executive chef Carvel Grant Gould of Canoe restaurant in Vinings launched her three-course “local yokel” menu specials for $30.

“I just wanted to have some casual fun with the menu and do something good for the farmers and the customers,” she said.

In fact, the response has been so great that supply can’t keep up with demand on some items such as rancher Will Harris’ beef cheeks that Gould uses in a hearty first-course soup.

But, that’s OK. She’ll switch to another “local” for an alternative such as Riverview Farms’ pork cheeks to make the soup.

While the entire menu at Canoe features locally grown and often organic or natural foods, the “local yokel” menu lists more than 10 Southeastern producers from Carlton Farms’ eggs in Rockmart to baby sweet potatoes from Wayne Daily Farms in Chadburn, N.C.

Support nearby farmers

It’s this kind of commitment by restaurants that Michael Wall, communications director for Georgia Organics, says supports the nonprofit’s mission to promote local, sustainable and organic food producers.

“Our goal is to get Georgia-grown foods to Georgians, and it’s neat to see the personal relationship develop between farmers and chefs,” Wall said.

Gould’s tangerine-roasted chicken from Springer Mountain Chicken in Mount Airy is served with baby onion bulbs from Vidalia. Nuts from Stone Mountain Pecans star in her Georgia pecan panna cotta.

Besides the obvious good taste, why go local? According to Georgia Organics: If all of us made one meal per week a local one, then U.S. oil consumption would fall by

1.1 million barrels each week.

In season in style

Wall says that a commitment to seasonality is key as well because the freshest, most abundant foods are often the most affordable options from the farm.

A 2009-10 Local Food Guide lists what’s in season month by month on the Georgia Organics Web site (www.georgiaorganics.org).

The Web site also lists more than 100 restaurants in Georgia that feature locally sourced produce, dairy products, eggs, meats, poultry and seafood.