I agree, localvore is a bad word, but we believe that supporting small farms in the area is imperative. Most of my produce travels on the average about 1500 miles to get to the restaurant. It is easier for us to use local produce during the summers and there are many local farms interested in working with small restaurants to supply us with the freshest ingredients. We've worked with Larriland Farms in Howard County the past two summer and use their terrific fruit, herbs, berries and vegetables. But there is more that we can do, and are currently exploring other options such as sourcing local meats, and contracting with farms to grow other vegetables & herbs. There are several important motivations: supporting local businesses, offering fresh ingredients, & managing costs. This ultimately results in a better dining experience for our customers.

Dear Mrs. Large,
Whenever I espouse locavorianism at home, my dogs run and hide. They understand that I'm zealous to appear punctiliously moral and that they are, strictly speaking, the only local meat around. What saddens me, and even weakens my resolve to achieve gastronomic holiness, is that, of my two dogs, the tastiest looking one is the lab mix. Alas, she is also by far my favorite. Of course, a good person, a true locavorian, would make due with whatever squirrels and gophers he could trap. But they take so much time to prepare and afford so little meat.
Advice please!

Sorry, but I find jl's comment offensive. Read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" for some good background on what it means to eat local and why it's so important. You don't have to be crazy (or "holy") to try to limit your consumption to what local farmers produce. It's environmentally responsible, and better for you in the long run.

Under your modest proposal, true Baltimore city locavores like myself would fill their larders with rats, an abundant source of local protein!

Kudos to Dogwood and Woodberry Kitchen!

I try to buy local food when I can, but total "locavorism" (I hate the word also) is not really practical unless one lives in a warm climate. Around here, fundamentalist locavores would have to forgo bananas, citrus fruits, rice, etc.

Back in the last century, when I was a kid, we all ate local. We grew a lot of our food in the garden and purchased other vegetables from my uncle who truck patched. I remember bushels of beans, peaches, plums, apples, peppers, onions, tomatoes.... I had to help pick them; then we canned. And we canned. Jelly, chow chow, preserves, spiced crab apples. God bless Birds Eye for frozen peas! Our butcher came to our house in a truck every Thursday and the meat was locally raised. Milk was from Rutter's dairy. Would this then be retrolocavorism? Zuruckkehrenfressen? We didn't eat Cotes de Porc a l'Auvergnate; we just had pork chops with sauerkraut. Today, I'm really glad that Brogue Greens is just down the road. It's wonderful to have fresh arugula in January.

I think there is a balance that can be reached. As Kingsolver's book acknowledges, we can all make empowered choices about what we eat and where it comes from. Her family didn't forego their morning coffee, for example. If you need an orange, eat an orange. But if you're going to buy kale or chard or squash, why not buy from one of our local farmers instead of California via supermarket?
These restaurants won't kill global cuisine, just provide another option. The risotto at Dogwood is one of the best things I've ever tasted, but so is Thai Restaurant's Pad See Ew. There's room for everybody.

I think the madness is spreading.

I think that as with any other food idea, it's possible to go off the deep end, even if the basic idea is sound. But even so, getting into the habit of cooking with the seasons is wise, efficient, and not at all the insurmountable task some are portraying. The early settlers in Maryland certainly seemed to do OK without winter produce from Chile, or even the "Inland Empire" agricultural region of California.

It was not all that long ago that the American homemaker was programmed to believe that cooking without a can opener was similarly old-fashioned, impossible or absurd. At some point, we need to examine the "truth" that is propagated by those in the food industry with a vested interest in shaping our tastes and our food buying and preparation habits - and that includes those marketing the "eat local" idea.

But let's look beyond the artificial absolutist position. I think the real point is one of increasing, not of absolutes. For example, if you look in your larder and realize that 100% of your current food purchases travel more than a few hundred miles to get to you, it's still an improvement if you get to 50% local. And you might find that you actually enjoy the freshness and variety of eating with the seasons, making connections with local providers, and trying food options that you hadn't previously considered.

Is that bad?

I love the fact that so many people are thinking seriously about what they eat!
This is most definitely a good thing, and may lead to some personal changes.

Warthog said:
And you might find that you actually enjoy the freshness and variety of eating with the seasons, making connections with local providers, and trying food options that you hadn't previously considered.

Absolutely! I try to buy more local food, but because it tends to be better more so than because I consider it to be environmentally desirable.

I have mixed feelings, though, about the decline of "in season" as a component of vegetable buying. I really like being able to buy decent fresh produce in the winter (usually from the southern hemisphere). But some things have gotten worse in the process. I remember how much I looked forward to the first decent tomatoes every year (not actually local, but Arkansas beefsteaks). But nowadays it takes a bit of effort to find decent tomatoes even in the summertime (the tomatoes in the supermarkets pretty much are crappy year round).

Years ago we lived in Switzerland, and the local produce was clearly most appreciated. Strawberries arrived first from Israel, then closer to home, finally from Switzerland. The biggest sign went up to say "Die Thurgauer sind da!"
Cause for celebration.

I would say fusion isn't going away with the local food movement; it is evolving. You now see the fusion of global techniques with local ingrediants. For instance, sushi with rock fish instead of tuna.

Elizabeth, I go away for a few days and come back to angst and feuersturm . I guess that I will just have to stay home from now on!

I especially like Bonnie's take on this topic. Certainly I prefer local produce when it is available but I do not want to have a diet that does not include items that we have come to know and love. No oranges or my favorite grapefruit? No shrimp from the Gulf states? No Maine lobster? I think not. Life is just too short to deny myself these small pleasures.