It boils down to one formula: our capacity for change will determine the change in capacity. Right now, at a fundamental level, demand for local, sustainable and organic easily outstrips available supply. Addressing that reality on a macro level requires a Top 10 list of complex initiatives, including a core shift in agricultural export policies and incentives; a review of marketing boards and supply management policies; decentralization of food processing and distribution facilities; and many more daunting and multi-lateral tasks.

However, there are lots of smaller, and somewhat easier, steps being taken by those trend-setting chefs and their industry partners in every channel: 

-Many multi-unit operators in Canada are collaborating with their national broad line distributors to stimulate more sustainable production and add more local/regional content on regular order sheets.

-More and more independents are turning to specialty foodservice suppliers and local food hubs, such as Biovia Organic Link in Vancouver or the Kitchener, Ont.-based 100 Mile Market, to provide a wide variety and reliable supply of farmdirect or co-operative-supported local and sustainable products. And for many chefs, like their customers, raising their awareness of products, both regional and seasonal, is the delicious by-product of regular trips to the local farmers’ market or fishermen’s wharf.

Though there is certainly a growing niche market for 100-mile menus and other long-on-local concepts, given the supply challenges and related cost premiums the future of sustainable-source products is best served when the majority of operators ‘pick their spots’ to go green. Even the most avid locavores don’t expect, or even want, to satisfy their appetite and commitment in a single meal, so a simple, tasty step or two in the right direction will still be rewarded.

An easy place to start is with a single switch to a fish or seafood product certified by made-in-Canada programs, such as the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and the SeaChoice program, or to a featured protein or produce item certified as local and dietary choices tied to two factors: healthier eating and sustainability.

Other sweet spots might include a local organic honey or seasonal berries from a popular local grower, served fresh or turned into a housemade compote for all-season use. And, of course, if every CRFA member were to decide to ‘start small’ in these ways, the effects wouldn’t be small at all.

However, combinations of actions and trends can offer the biggest opportunity for change. For example, at Vancouver’s Refuel Restaurant, Chef Robert Belcham was unaware that a mainstay of his menu combines three of the top five trends for 2010 with number seven on the list, free-range pork. Every week, he and his kitchen crew get back-to-basics in butchering two whole freerange, heritage breed pigs from Sloping Hills Farm near Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.

“Just some of the benefits of this whole animal butchery include a better product, a variety of menu options, support for the local economy and preserving skills and knowledge that every cook should have,” says Belcham.

At $7.70/kg (from trotter to snout) versus $17/kg for tenderloin from conventional sources, Belcham notes that, after awhile, the economics favour his hands-on, local approach.

” It’s a lot of pork coming in the door every week, and we had our challenges in getting the cuts right, running a cryovac machine, making proper charcuterie and bacon...even dealing with changes due to the animals’ seasonal diet,” he says, “but it’s really worth it to get to know your food this well.”

Belcham adds that he’s never going back to ‘commodity pork,’ and his regular customers likely wouldn’t let him. “Sometimes it tastes 100 times better, sometimes it’s easily 1,000 times better,” he says. “Our customers do appreciate it, and they’re demanding more local, sustainable meats and products everywhere they eat.”

In the end, when going greener in foodservice, it really does all add up.

About the author:

André LaRivière is executive director of the Green Table Network, a Vancouver-based organization  helping operators, suppliers and diners across Canada put “sustainability on the menu.” Find more information at www.greentable.net.