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ditto ocgirl.

if it's artisanal that's important, fine. but call it that.

local (to me) means a one-day drive. not an 8-hour plane flight crossing multiple time zones.

while "local" has a nice ring to it - regional might be a more practical approach in terms of larger-scale economies of agriculture...of course living in oregon...that puts me in a sweet spot!

Thomas Keller's got it backwards. I find food producers who use the word 'artisanal' often imply a degree of local production. But I'd never read the word 'local' and think artisanal.

That's crap. Local is local. If your restaurant is in California and you get your butter shipped in from Maine, and you call it "local" just because it's high-quality, then you're lying to your customers and to yourself. Seriously, Thomas Keller--there's no good producer of artisinal butter on your coast?

I find that quote to be massively irritating. Local is, by definition, about geography. If you're not talking about geography, you're really talking about something different. If he wants to think beyond local (to artisanal, for instance), well, that's great, but don't change the definition of "local" because you want to talk about something different. If we get to change the definitions of words when we feel like it, we begin to lose the ability to communicate to each other with language.

Of course the definition of local is what it is. But this is a new era and the world is becoming a smaller place. Because of that many people are going to be thinking more about the concept of local rather than the definition of local. Are Piemontese white truffles local to Thomas Keller's restaurant in Manhattan? Obviously not. If he said "local Piemontese white truffles" on his menu that would be a lie.

But those truffles are a local treasure for those in Piemonte and we are fortunate enough in this country to have them at places like Keller's restaurants. The important thing to me is that we don't stop our appetites for all these great things that people in little villages across the world have been producing for generations.

These are their local specialties which are on the verge of disappearing like endangered species. In this country we have farmers who raise heritage breeds of pigs or heirloom seeds. These people may not geographically be local to me but I will certainly support them because they are keeping these local specialties from disappearing.

I think there is a big difference between what defines local food and the definition of local.

Good point, art, and certainly more clearly stated than my comment.

I think you're right that there's value in celebrating food that is special to a particular region (as someone who grew up eating Maine lobsters and Wellfleet oysters fresh out of the ocean, those foods are precious to me and to my sense of home). At the same time, I would probably talk about the concept of "terroir" rather than the concept of "local." You mentioned heritage breeds and heirloom seeds, I think the idea of heritage or heirloom agriculture is really exciting, and perhaps worth distinguishing from local.

Um, he's off-topic and it's a dodge. I guess the best interpretation of his statement is that he thinks quality is really an important issue. But quality wasn't the topic. So therefore we can assume he disregards the value of 'local'. Okay. Hmmm. Time to re-ask him the question?

What an idiot. Someone needs to introduce him to a dictionary. While there are varying definitions of "local", the differences tend to involve distances, not the quality/freshness/artistry involved in making an item half a world away.

"What do you think? It seems like he's arguing here that local really means artisan - who is the best artisan, making the most authentic and artisanal product? Is that a legitimate way to approach local food? Or is local, to you, defined purely in terms of geography?"


Quality is certainly important and I am glad that you assumed that from my entry. Poor quality is not attractive. But you are correct it is not the topic and I didn't bring it up.

Since you brought it up poor quality is an issue with any local produce or manufactured product and it can significantly impact the livelihood of any local producer. An entire cherry orchard could be wiped out in Michigan due to an early cold snap. One Illinois farmer's tomatoes may not be very sweet and juicy one summer. Poor quality is a large part of why local and organic produce is so expensive. If the farmer loses a percentage of his or her crop it's turned into compost. If a pig gets sick? It's sold to the commodity market.

All local artisans have to work harder than the big producers. I support all local artisans.

Is local, to me, defined strictly be geography? No.

Do I disregard the value of 'local'?
Who and why would anyone assume that I do?

The art ful dodger would like to extend an apology for his incongruous and misdirected remarks. He is no longer able to comment on conscientous matters.