Monday, April 13, 2009

Mostly Local


  1. During the many years I've been in business, I've always looked for ways to balance costs with a concern for the quality of my ingredients. This has especially been on my mind lately as I see the sustainable food ethic being associated largely with high end restaurants and affluent consumers.

My own approach--which I've arrived at more intuitively than deliberately--has been to use mostly local and organic ingredients, being scrupulous but not fanatical. I can make a $6 quesadilla with about 80% local and/or organic ingredients, but if I strove for 100%, I would either have to double the price, or barely make a living.

I'm comfortable with this compromise, but I haven't had much success when I try to explain it to customers who ask about particular ingredients. It's important to me to be honest, but I often feel like I'm being defensive.

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