Quickthink

For a while now, I have talked with a group of people here in Tartu about how we can get better and more local food. It’s not that the food on offer now is unacceptable (one need only compare it to the stuff was on offer in the early 1990’s). Food retailers and restaurants here have seriously upgraded, and they continue to do so. For example, Nico’s menu at the re-opened Vilde offers some nice eats. And Tony tells my the Chinese food at Kung Fu is great. But it is still hard to find things that are “special” and “local”. Instead, we rely heavily on importers and corporate producers.

I thought I would mention four trends that are influencing my thinking. The first is the slow food movement that started in Italy. The idea is that eating is a core social activity to be savored rather than rushed. The second is the locavore movement. the idea is to find ways to use locally produced ingredients for better quality and to do a favor for the planet. The third is the underground dining movement. The idea is for people to informally build a community around food ideas. The fourth is the healthy food advocacy of  Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters. They argue that kids and low income households should eat well too. In other words, gourmet is not for snobs. It is for the rest of us too.

Let’s see if we can build a community around any or all of these ideas over time.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 11:28 am and is filed under Fun with Food, Tartu stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.