In a previous article, we talked about sustainable restaurants and how they are different.
Among all the green features that can make a restaurant a sustainable place, we use the term locavore or farm to table.
From fast-goods to starred restaurants, more and more chef’s are pledging for locally sourced ingredients.
Do you know exactly what Locavore means?
Let’s dig into it!
A concept that came from the USA
The first appearance of the word locavore comes from San Francisco.
Indeed, it was on World Environment Day 2005 that Jessica Prentice, owner of the Three Stone Hearth community restaurant in San Francisco, uttered the word by challenging residents to eat food grown or produced within a 160-km radius.
The term was registered in the American dictionary in 2007 and entered the French Larousse Dictionary since only 2010.
What’s the idea
In its strictest definition, a locavore:
- Only eats and buys products within a limited radius of 150 to 200 km (or a 100 miles) from home
- Consumes just fresh and seasonal produce
- Consumes products from a sustainable, natural and / or organic production
A locavore cares about the environment since he eats in season and limits the transport used between the place of production and his plate.
Being a locavore also means caring about the local economy, by encouraging the economic development of producers and local employment.
For the urban consumer, on a daily basis, the locavore movement has been promoted thanks to distribution points, local-producers markets or by going directly to the farm.
All consumers who join the locavore movement do not limit themselves to a radius of a hundred kilometers around their home but prefer seasonal products, which grow in their country or region, even if they sometimes grant themselves a few exceptions.
Locavore at the restaurant
Locavore restaurants are therefore places that are mainly supplied by producers from the region in which they are based. Their menus adapt to the seasons and arrivals.
Most often, the products are delivered to the restaurant directly by the producer.
Like the consumer, restaurants allow themselves “Marco Polo” ingredients. Ingredients that don’t grow nearby, but that they do not want to replace. It can typically be spices, salt, coffee or olive oil.
Some chefs are actively committed to locavore practices and go beyond the concept by limiting the supply radius to less than 100 km, some have limited their supply to 40 km! That’s the case of L’Epick bistro in Lyon for example.
Others refrain from spices or coffee. For example, in Florent Ladeyn’s three French restaurants : Le Bloempot, Le Bierbuike-Bloemeke or L’Auberge du Vertmont, you’ll never drink coffee but chicory twisted with grains.
Some even go further, by supplying themselves from their own vegetable garden, located on their rooftop or a few miles away from their premises. That’s the case for the Farmacy London who supply themselves on their own permaculture farm.
The locavore movement in restaurants is not reserved for high-end eateries and it’s growing in all parts of the world. More and more restaurants are committing to this sustainable and eco-friendly practice. From fast-goods or pubs to more high-end restaurants.From the USA to Bali.
Want to discover the locavore restaurants that are already on Holiable? Click here
Is locavore part of your criteria when you are looking for an eco-friendly place to eat ? Tell us in the comments
HoliableHoliable is an eco-friendly travel planner helping you find sustainable hotels, green restaurants and ethical tourism activities around the world. Holiable was developed to share experiences, advice and reviews on sustainable travel, making it easier to prepare your next eco-friendly holiday.
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