Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with the PBS App + Encore Monday, April 29 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS 2
If you've eaten in a sit-down restaurant, no doubt you've heard of farm-to-table or farm-to-fork, the movement that directly connects farmers with chefs and restaurants. It means that your meal is made from fruits, herbs, and vegetables — even fish and meats — that were locally grown and produced. It all sounds so romantic, but how does farm to fork really happen? Who are the people making it all happen? How do the farmers and the restaurants find each other and how do you know that what you are eating really did start its life on a local farm?
On this episode, we meet a self-described "foodie" and former restaurateur who is dedicated to facilitating San Diego County's farm-to-fork movement. She recently founded a voluntary registry for farmers, producers, and restaurants, so the dining public gets confirmation of authentic farm-to-fork experiences. Next, we follow the chef and chef/owner of a San Diego restaurant to a local farmers market where they visit their regular vendors.
They scout the market, looking for the freshest ingredients, buying some produce, ordering more, and planning the weeks' special dishes based on what they discover. We watch them prepare what came from the farm that morning. It is delicious. We visit a tiny restaurant where the inventive chef/owner buys most of her produce from an urban microfarm located just a few miles away. The farm is run by a military veteran whose encounter with a life-threatening health problem set her on a quest for the best quality, organically grown produce. When she couldn't find it, she decided to grow it.
Now, she supplies several restaurants, offers a subscription vegetable service, including a subscription for others with significant dietary requirements.
In San Diego's north county, we meet two men — one a chef, and the other a farmer — who have collaborated for years. We visit the farm, in a residential neighborhood overlooking the ocean. The sun, the sea, the produce are dazzling.
In the restaurant, we watch as that gorgeous produce gets transformed into unimaginably delicious dishes. The farmer and the chef are innovators — together their synergy is palpable. And the food they each contribute to, is legendary.
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About The Series: From earth-friendly and water-wise gardens to organic foods and habitat restoration, San Diegans demand options that protect our health, feed our communities and protect our natural resources. Hosted by Nan Sterman, A GROWING PASSION explores backyard food production, major horticultural growers, low-water landscapes and sustainable practices around the home and in the garden.
