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Katherine Olson
Professor Amy Ludwig
English 101
17 November 2015
(Updated on: 8 December 2015)
Farm-to-Table
When I hear the phrase farm-to-table, I picture fresh picked fruit displayed in a colorful
array. Farm-to-table restaurants can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s
(CulinarySchools.com). Originally, the phrase referred to the idea of buying directly from the
farm and taking it straight home to cook (Watson). Farm-to-table is also known as farm-tofork, farm fresh, or locally sourced(Watson). Farm-to-Table farmers should be able to tell
the source of their food, especially since they should be selling what is grown on their farm. Dan
Barber has set off a revolutionary change in the farm-to-table movement recently, which he
discusses in his new book The Third Plate. The original idea of farm-to-table was to buy and sell
locally, and to change the way Americans consume food. Dan Barber points out that it will not be
enough. In order to get full flavorful food, packed with nutrients, one must have good soil. The
new goal of farm-to-table movement is to get to the core and to save the soil by understanding it,
then to promote the ingredients that go into making the most famous crops like wheat and rye.
Farm-to-Table was not very popular or a success in the past. The phrase referred to the
farmers who would set up a restaurant directly on their farm, and cook for the people in their
community. Then it became commonly used to explain the relationship between restaurants and

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their need for fresh produce. This is a phrase that has been thrown around and has a flexible
meaning. However the goal of the movement is to preserve local culture and eat simple. Many
people turned to supermarkets and grocery stores around the mid-1900s because of the
convenience in time and money. More people turned away from higher priced food at farmers
markets, and decided that convenience is more important. The demanding lives of Americans
needed this convenience to feed their family. Despite the necessity for convenience, there are
many farm-to-table advocates that stress the importance of returning to locally grown food, and
only using what is in season.
Some famous advocates of farm-to-table movement who were around before Dan Barber
are Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Alice Waters, and many more. Wendell Berry writes about the
importance of caring for the land, and that it is a job that cannot be fixed in one lifetime. Dan
Barber presents us with this same concept. Then there is John Muir, who is a big inspiration to
Dan Barber.
It is known in a lot of places that there are farmers markets that are being fined for selling
produce that has not been grown on their own farm. In the same way, the term Farm-to-table
has been thrown around to mislabel items. I have noticed it in the local gas stations with prepackaged sandwiches, or previously blended drinks. If you are not going straight to the farm,
picking the fruit or vegetable off the vine, and then taking it home, it is not what farm-to-table
was about. If it is in a grocery store, then it did not go directly to your table. In an article by
David Karp, he lists many farmers markets that have been fined for selling food that was not
grown on their farm. This problem can be avoided when you keep things local, like farm-to-table
encourages. In an article by Joe Fassler, Dan Barber is quoted as saying, in his new book The

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Third Plate, Farm-to-table has failed to transform the way most of our food is grown in this
country.
Recently, Dan Barber has become a leading voice for the farm-to-table movement. He
has a restaurant called Blue Hill, where he uses unprocessed food, and buys from local farmers.
Barber is a man that is completely dedicated to this movement and focuses on understanding the
ecological process. Dan Barber had an epiphany while standing on a farm, where the owner of
Lakeview Organic Grain Farm, Klaas, explained that the secret to good flavor is the soil
(Barber). Instead of listening to a recipe, Klaas listens to the earth and the weather, and
determines what needs to be planted next. Dan Barber connected this to one of John Muirs
famous quotes, and realized that nothing can be separated from the growth process. Everything is
connected as a whole, and the more we look into the way our food is grown, the easier it is to see
all of the links.
Culinary art schools around the U.S. are looking deeply into Barbers work and how this
idea will make farm-to-table successful. These are called the Food and Beverage programs (F &
B programs). In Chefs Table: Dan Barber Netflix original series special, Barber explains the
agricultural process in detail. This documentary goes deeper than the agriculture and describes
the inter-connectedness of natural systems(Fassler). The chickens and cows fertilize and graze
the land, the birds spread the seeds, and rotation crops feed the land. In Barbers article in The
New York Times, he wrote It will take the shape of more local mills (for grains), canneries (for
beans) and processors (for greens)(Barber). This shows how earthly this movement is getting.
You cannot separate one thing from the equation or else the whole system will fall apart. Farmto-Table wants to provide people with the opportunity to become educated. They can learn how
to read the land, how to care for it, and how to preserve it long term.

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Dan Barber is not the first person to have this awakening about the soil. John Muir is a
famous writer who inspires Dan Barber through his pursuit of higher education. There is Wendell
Berry who writes about cherishing land, and that it will take more than a life time to restore the
soil. It is important to avoid making these mistakes and instead, learn what are the right things to
do. Dan Barber has a laboratory on his farm for visitors to have group meetings and see the work
and studies being put into farm-to-table.
The idea of going to farmers markets and buying food straight from the farm is a trend
that farm-to-table is setting off. People are starting to realize the values that come along with
farmers markets and have stopped looking at them as inconveniences. When people buy from
local farmers, they support local agriculture while building strong relationships. They get the
opportunity to get to know the farmers, and have a say in what they buy. When looking for local
listing of organizations that have joined this movement, I found a website called California
Farm-to-Table. A new part of the farm-to-table benefits is Farm-to-Fork Service. Farm-toFork just opened up in Sacramento and is posted on the California Farm-to-Table website. This
allows the consumer to order their produce from farms, have it freshly picked, and then delivered
to their front door in cooled vans. This website shows different services like food delivery,
restaurant guides, and articles. and lets you know of local farmers markets that will be in the
area. The farm-to-fork service is available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland,
Chicago, Detroit and Denver (California-Farm-to-Table).
Not only has Dan Barber brought the soil dilemma into light, but he also discusses the
importance of buying rotation crops. Rotation crops refers to the different types of harvest a
farmer will plant in different seasons. These crops are meant to fertilize the earth and maintain
the quality of the crop. There are many people working hard to turn away from industry food that

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have added GMOs and food colorings. The farm-to-table movement continues evolving into the
voice for Earth and promotes understanding the land and how everything is connected. The fight
continues to support land and the communitys culture. You will not find farm-to-table
products in a grocery store, but you can have them delivered to your front door.

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Works Cited
Barber, Dan. Third Plate: Field Notes On the Future of Food. 2nd ed. New York: Penquin
Group(USA), 2014. Print.
Barber, Dan. "What Farm-to-Table Got Wrong." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17
May 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Bittman, Mark. "Farmers' Market Values." The Opinion Pages. The New York Times Company,
5 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
Chefs Table: Dan Barber. Chefs Table Season one, Episode 2. Netflix. Dir. Clay Jeter.
Farm-to-Fork Service by GrubMarket. California Farm-to-Table. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Fassler, Joe. "How John Muir Is Revolutionizing the Farm-to-Table Food Movement." The
Atlantic. The Atlantic, 21 May 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015
Karp, David. Tighter Enforcement Snares Farmers Market Cheaters. Food/ Daily Dish. The
Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
Ting, Deanna. "Farm-To-Table 2.0." Successful Meetings (2014): 38. MasterFILE Premier. Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
Watson, Molly. "What Is Farm-to-Table?(Local Glossary)." About.com. About.com, 2015. Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
"What Is the Farm-to-Table Movement?" CulinarySchools.com. Culinary Schools, 9 Sept. 2013.
Web.