Restaurant diners beware: That local, organic dish you're wrapping your lips around - and paying dearly for the privilege of doing so - may be a fraud. It may not be all-natural, as your menu promised, and it may come from a huge national vendor like Sysco rather than the family-owned farm that the menu touts.
Restaurateurs be warned: If you're caught mislabeling your menu - and chances keep getting greater that if you are, you will be - then you're not only in for your customer's wrath. You may well be "fired" by the very vendors who supply your best ingredients.
Seem like a stretch scenario? It's not. As the Slow Food movement gains popularity across America, terms like "sustainable" and "artisan" are showing up on more Valley menus. It's not uncommon to find this statement at the bottom of many bills of fare these days: "We proudly support local farmers and producers whenever possible." But what does that really mean?
Or, as a recent e-mail from an industry insider and regular reader of this column posed: "What about restaurants that violate truth-in-menu laws by saying their dishes are organic when, in fact, they are only using organic produce when the vendor sends it to them by chance? They say they offer cage-free eggs (but don't), and organic coffee (yet their brand is not certified). Patrons deserve to know that they are buying into a restaurant that has decided to jump on the Green Bandwagon without actually backing it up."
Indeed, organic food has become big business. According to the Organic Consumer's Association, sales hit $18 billion last year. Though still only about 2.5 percent of the agricultural market, demand for organic has grown 20 percent annually in recent years. While just a few years ago, only small, chef-owned restaurants like Vincent on Camelback listed their boutique vendors on their menus, lately, I've seen artisan ingredients promoted by the chain-owned Houston's in Scottsdale and wild-caught sustainable salmon at P.F. Chang's.
Unfortunately, there are no actual "truth-in-menu" laws, and even the word organic is used loosely. There's a difference between the term "organic," which may mean food raised without pesticides or antibiotics, and the more intensive "certified organic," which is legally regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The phrase "all-natural," meanwhile, is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture only as "minimally processed" with no artificial ingredients or colors.
Essentially, a restaurant may call its ingredients organic whether they're factory-farm Chilean products grabbed from the shelves of Wal-Mart, or whether they're hand delivered by a small Arizona farm after being picked that morning.
Or, as Patrick Duncan, owner of Duncan's Trading Co., a high-end produce farm in Litchfield Park, points out, "There's a lot of wiggle room in that statement, 'whenever possible.' Maybe it's only 'possible' for them to have one tomato a week."
So what's a diner to do?
It's a difficult problem, acknowledges Robert McClendon, owner of a USDA-certified organic produce farm in Peoria. "Chefs find that the Slow Food or local vendor name drives business."
Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/articles/2008/08/13
/20080813diningnews.html
