Dine out, eat local.

The movement for eating local is gaining momentum in the hospitality industry, which is great news for us here at BlogHers ACT Canada, where July's focus is on eating locally. 

There are a lot of restaurants making use of local, in-season crops in preparation of daily specials and regular seasonal menu items.  Like me, you may be wondering how to find these restaurants. 

Ontario has its own government-sponsored marketing campaign designed “to encourage and assist more consumers in choosing locally grown and produced foods at retail and in restaurant.” Known as Savour Ontario, the program promotes fresh and local Ontario food by providing a fully searchable directory online for restaurant diners who are looking for restaurant meals across a wide price range.

One of my absolute favourite restaurants in the Toronto area is Il Fornello.  Ian Sorbie, president of Il Fornello Restaurants said in a summer 2007 press release, "In addition to providing delicious menu items made exclusively from Ontario products, we will be listing the names of all of our suppliers on the menu.  Once our customers have experienced the freshness, diversity and quality of local products, we hope they will be encouraged to support these suppliers by buying and enjoying their products whenever possible."  What a fantastic example they are setting!

Other regions with a concentration of restaurants offering locally grown produce and meat.  Here is just a small sample:

• A fine dining restaurant here in my town of Bowmanville, Ontario, Chanterelle features not only the artwork of local artists in their decor, but focuses on including fresh, local produce on their menu.
• The Waterloo region is teeming with restaurants that serve locally grown foods.  Check out FoodLink for a complete listing.
• British Columbia's site, Get Local, provides a listing of locations for purchasing locally grown food for eating at home, as well as a list of restaurants offering locally grown ingredients.
• The June 30, 2008 Issue of Alberta's Agri-News, entitled "Shop, Eat, and Experience Local Agricultural Food Products and Services Across Alberta this Summer" includes a list of restaurants serving up local food.
• Saskatchewan's program, Food Secure Saskatchewan supports local food distribution and local producers.

How can you help?

The next time you dine out, check the restaurant's menu to see if it is making use of in-season, local foods.  If not, take a few moments to fill in one of those little suggestion cards most places offer their customers, to let the owner know you expect them to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting their local community and buying locally grown produce in their kitchen.

If you dine out in a restaurant that serves local food, blog about it! Link back to the restaurant's website (if it has one) so the owners will know how much you appreciate their efforts to support local farmers.

Comments

[Kath]

A great source for me is the Niagara Culinary Trail and we've eaten at the Olde Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Treadwell's in Port Dalhousie. Both are committed to using local. I've done some posts on our site about being a "locavore".