Anyone who's ever eaten a slice of pie baked with apples from their backyard or enjoyed a salad made with their garden's veggies knows nothing compares to locally grown, fresh foods that are in season and straight from the source.

Anyone who's ever eaten a slice of pie baked with apples from their backyard or enjoyed a salad made with their garden's veggies knows nothing compares to locally grown, fresh foods that are in season and straight from the source.

Many restaurants are catching onto this concept on a larger scale, discovering that it's easier and less expensive to integrate these foods into their menus than maybe they once thought. Plus, it helps support the community, so it's a win-win.

Renee Brooks Catacalos, University Park, Md.-based co-publisher of the Local Mix newsletter and the www.realpeopleeatlocal.com Web site, said the local trend has been gaining momentum in the past decade.

She noted farmers' markets have grown more than 110 percent since 1994, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Chefs are at the leading edge of the local-foods movement -they have pushed consumer awareness of local farms and produce by touting the local ‘pedigrees' of their ingredients,” Catacalos told the National Restaurant Association.

“I think there's also a little bit of a ‘big bang' effect going on in American culinary culture, she adds. “As Americans' interest in gourmet food took off in the last half of the 20th century, it was all about expansion and tasting everything the world had to offer. Now the American palate is pulling back and looking at what's grown here in a more sophisticated manner.”

More chefs and local farmers are working together to satisfy consumers' appetite for fresh, locally grown foods. Farmers who work directly with chefs will “tweak their harvests in ways that support the chefs' visions,” Catacalos said. “Farmers will take risks to try growing more delicate and unusual crops if they know they have a guaranteed market for them.”

The Local Touch
It might be hard to imagine a destination restaurant in the heart of Chicago serving up food grown in its chef's garden, but that's just what The Signature Room (Illinois Business Executive, Summer 2005) does to promote local foods.

“We're very proud of our monthly menus, for which we sometimes pick a seasonal vegetable or fruit to base the items around,” said Angela Roman, marketing coordinator of this restaurant on the 95th floor of Chicago's John Hancock Center.

“For example, in August, [we incorporate] tomatoes. We use tomatoes grown in the garden of our executive chef, as well as those grown by local farmers, for all four of the course selections.”

At last year's National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show, Rick Bayless, a TV chef and Chicago restaurant owner, led a panel about sustainable foods. Twenty years ago, he said, there were few local food sourcing options or farmers markets in Chicago. Since then, he's helped support the local agricultural community.

Bayless is one of the founding members of Chefs Collaborative, the only chef-managed organization advocating sustainable cuisine. Founded in 1993, the group now has more than 1,000 members.

“When we buy local, money stays in the community,” said Peter Tobin, chef instructor at Inland Northwest Culinary Academy, who also spoke at the seminar. “When a dollar is spent over and over in the same community, it is a sign of healthy economy.”

Freshness and Proximity
It's true that when it comes to freshness, nothing beats local food. Local Harvest Inc. -a nationwide directory of small farms, farmers' markets and other local food sources -said most produce in the United States is picked four to seven days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped an average of 1,500 miles before being sold. Imported food distances are substantially longer.

Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore (Food and Drink, Jan./Feb. 2007), based in Santa Barbara, Calif., said the “eat local” M.O. drives its restaurant's menu. “What you want to do is highlight growers around you,” said Executive Chef Martin Frost. “Then, that's the freshest food. You don't want to be shipping in [ingredients] and transporting over distances. It's much better when you have the opportunity to pick it ripe and beautiful and use it the same day.”

Eric Vievard, director of food and beverage at The Biltmore, said using local food goes beyond freshness and quality -it creates a sense of community. “I think more and more people are interested in knowing where their food comes from, especially locals,” Vievard said. “They want us to work with local communities and be part of it. Sourcing locally is a trend, a philosophy. If there is something your area is known for, use it.”

Tobin said local food makes sense because “when you buy local, you know what you are getting. You are more likely to realize where the food was grown or harvested from. You are more likely to understand the quality of the area you live in.”

Community Connection
Sourcing locally takes time and networking, however. “We have a farmer's market every day of the week here in Santa Barbara, so we can go every day for inspiration, cruise through, talk, test and taste,” Frost said. “A local supplier acting as its product development person visits the growers and scouts for products on the restaurants' behalf. We'll get great blueberries for three weeks or pomegranates and use these on the menu at the height of the season.”

Minneapolis-based FireLake Restaurant (Food and Drink, Jan/Feb 2007), owned by Radisson Hotels and Resorts, created an opportunity out of the local sourcing challenge. Executive Chef Paul Lynch's desire to continue sourcing only regional ingredients led to the inception of Heartland Food Network in 2004.

As one of the founding members of the organization, Lynch set out to bring together local producers, manufacturers and distributors to form a food chain for restaurants and businesses throughout the state.

“The effort and response has been tremendous, because we're now helping the average chef obtain regional ingredients on a timely basis,” he said. Last July, Lynch said 87 percent of the food on the plate came from Minnesota. “We use only the very best ingredients that we can source from the region,” he said.

Local for All
The idea that local eating is only for the upscale sector is far from true, at least for independent and niche restaurants -and QSRs willing to do some homework. Take, for example, Chipotle, a national Mexican food chain known for fresh-prepared burritos and tacos. Spokesperson Chris Arnold said the movement stems from people becoming “more and more aware of where food comes from and how it gets to them.”

The chain's Food with Integrity campaign began six years ago with the goal of using naturally raised, hormone-free meat and dairy products. Now, 60 percent of its pork and 40 percent of its beef is raised naturally, which means its has a vegetarian diet. Its sour cream is made from non-rBGH hormone milk. “We've been moving into better, higher-quality ingredients for many years,” he said.

It made sense, then, that it would begin moving toward locally grown produce, too. “We buy a percentage of bulk produce from local farms, such as onions, bell peppers, jalepenos and herbs,” he said.

It has been especially challenging for the chain, however, because it is an industry pioneer. “No other QSR [our size] is doing this,” he said, noting some players like Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard and Panera Bread have begun to incorporate organic and natural foods.