Green Cuisine: Restaurant Gardens

Farm-to-table is a food trend that brings healthy, sustainable food options from the growing fields to diners who want to know where their food comes from. Restaurant gardens can provide a living tapestry of healthy food, just steps away from the dining table.

According to a recent report in the National Restaurant Association, one third of 2,000 chefs surveyed named gardens as a top trend. Many restaurants have found that it costs them less to grow their own produce than to buy it elsewhere and have it shipped. It also gives chefs more control over quality, providing the added flexibility to adjust menus with what is currently in season. A restaurant garden adds a personal touch that you certainly don’t experience in a fast-food chain restaurant.

With the E.Coli outbreak that has killed at least 18 people across Europe, and the banning of importing raw vegetables from some European countries, the question of food safety brings up health issues that make the concept of restaurant gardens not just trendy, but a downright healthy eating out option.

Most restaurants start with small gardens and grow a few basics – lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. The limitations of the growing season, the available space, and the amount of staff needed to tend the garden, will dictate how much “farm to table” food service can be provided.

With the cost, convenience, control, sustainability factor, and the knowledge that food can be served without pesticides or artificial fertilizers, the trend of restaurant gardens is one “green cuisine” direction worth heading in.

Have you experienced eating at a “farm to table” restaurant?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Paula H.

8:02AM PDT on Jul 1, 2011

what a pleasant way to enjoy a meal, thanks

send a green star

Claudia W.

6:53AM PDT on Jun 10, 2011

living in provence we offer 3-course meals to guests made with our own veggies or bought from a bio farm. and our guests love it! (and so do we!)

Sheri P.

7:09PM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

I've not experienced it to my knowledge but I would like to. I think it's a sound idea for so many reasons...

Loo S.

10:40AM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

thanks for the article.

Hugh M.

4:10AM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

this sounds great!

Marzia F.

1:38AM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

Good info

PL T.

1:22AM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

'Meat' is the flesh of a sentient being with many similarities as ourselves. Be it from a feedlot or the mythical 'happy heritage- farm', flesh requires the same vast amounts of water to process these beings to bring them to our table. This trendy 'food model' requires the same amount of environmental exploitation AND the same anount of terror at the animal's last moments on this Earth. Humans want/need to believe this not very well thought out hype because it suits their artificial omnivore palates., their addiction to these beings that we call 'products' - huge disconnect there....

We are killing our entire Earth and our waterways as we continue to entertain these trendy delusions. A local and seasonal vegan diet is by far the healthiest for our bodies as well as our seriously ailing planet. Wake up and stop kidding yourselves! Bottom line, 'meat' is cruel, NOT humane. Animal flesh is RED, not GREEN and no amount of trendy, modern day, 'sustainable' hyperbole can make it otherwise.

carlee t.

4:36PM PDT on Jun 7, 2011

thanx

caterina c.

1:15PM PDT on Jun 7, 2011

Kerry S.

11:38AM PDT on Jun 7, 2011

awesome