Meet Vladimir Putin, a new convert to the locavore movement

Who needs Italian wine, English cheddar, and German sausages? Obviously not Russia.

Vladimir Putin is forcing Russians to become locavores, whether they like it or not. Last Thursday, his government issued a list of imported foods that will be banned for one year. This is an act of retaliation against those countries that placed sanctions on Russia following the attack on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine. This includes the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway, Poland, Latvia, and the European Union.

It is an odd decision to make on behalf of a northern country that imports 40 percent of its food and is unable to boast about being “the breadbasket of Europe,” as it once was. That agricultural infrastructure is gone now, and it would take a long time and a rocky transition before local growers could fill that void.

Growth in domestic food production appears to be what the Kremlin ultimately wants and fits in well with its insistence on not needing the West to survive. Indeed, one acerbic Putinist seems to think it’s now or never for local growers. @EduardBagirov tweeted: “Our food producers now have the opportunity of a lifetime. If they screw it up now, they should stop complaining that no one buys their crap.” (Obscenities have been removed.)

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/culture/putin-declares-hunger-strike-behalf-russians.html

Locally-grown produce will be hot in 2009 – according to survey

by Michael Smith

As further evidence that locally-grown food is going mainstream, a new survey of 1,609 chefs by the National Restaurant Association ranked locally-grown produce as the hottest trend for 2009.

In October 2008, the association surveyed American Culinary Federation member chefs, asking them to rate 208 individual food/beverage items, preparation methods and culinary themes as a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on restaurant menus in 2009.

Many of the top 20 trends are related to "philosophy-driven" food choices, including local sourcing, organics, artisanal items, sustainable seafood and free-range pork/poultry.

Sustainable seafood came in at No. 10 in the top trends list, with non-traditional seafood items -- including several sustainable farmed species like Arctic char and barramundi No. 13 on the list. Organic wine was No. 18. : Via Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Notes

I wonder, though it would not surprise me, if the same, similar or even better result could be achieved in Britain if such a survey be conducted here.

Another thing which would drive this would be – obviously – customer demand. Ask your restaurant where the food comes from and demand locally grown and produced food and, I am sure, you will get it.

There will be a problem, maybe, and that is to verify the claim of “locally grown – locally produced” by an individual restaurant or restaurant chain unless one really knows the chef and the chef's integrity.

Personally I would not want to reply on any claims as to “locally grown – locally produced” for, as tests have shown in the UK on meat, this is often less than true. There have been restaurants claiming that the beef they were serving was from local farms while tests showed, in the end, that the meat, in fact came from thousands of miles away. So, who verifies the “locally grown – locally produced” label at whichever restaurant?

Grow your own food and cook and eat it at home. Then you know it is “locally grown – locally produced”. This is the only way to guarantee that.

On the other hand it is good to see that people are demanding “locally grown – locally produced” food now, and that not just in supermarkets but also and even in restaurants. Let us now hope that this trend continues and that also the outlets will be honest and use but “locally grown – locally produced” food.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
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