Chef Brandon says that he started seeking out local foods because they are simply the freshest, most flavorful ingredients available. No tomato picked green and shipped from California can possibly compete with a truly vine-ripe juicy red wonder picked less than 24 hours ago. Shopping seasonally also lets him vary menu items every couple of weeks. He doesn’t try to coax life out of asparagus in October; instead, he’ll feature winter squash instead – just coming into its peak.

To get his local ingredients, Chef Brandon often visits the farmers’ markets in both Saline and Ann Arbor every day they are open, as well as some individual farms. If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is.

“I do enjoy it,” he told me. “I like talking with the producers and hearing what looks good this week and what new things I can expect soon. I used to just dash in, pick up my ingredients, and leave, but it’s getting to the point where it takes me half an hour to pick up a box of produce!” And at least the farmers’ markets are close by and bring a number of local vendors together – otherwise, he’d also be spending endless hours just trying to locate producers of individual items.

Part of our goal at Eat Local Eat Natural is to help ease some of the time investment for chefs like Chef Brandon by researching local meat, egg, and dairy producers, vetting the products for quality and sustainable growing practices, and offering “one-stop shopping” for several locally-produced foodstuffs.

One of the difficulties remains the way we restaurant patrons order meat. Certain cuts are far more popular than others – think filet mignon vs. chuck roast. But there are only so many servings of these preferred cuts per cow or pig, so a restaurant can eat up the entire local supply of, say, tenderloins long before the rest of the meat is used. Chef Brandon gets around this, in part, by finding delicious ways of serving less well-known cuts of meat, such as making his own sausage.

In September, Chef Brandon held a special “100-Mile Dinner” event. Everything but the salt, pepper, and olive oil came from within 100 miles – not a terribly difficult task, he assured me. The event was very well attended, and guests raved about the food. Chef Brandon says the upcoming Harvest Celebration Dinner (Nov. 12, 7pm) will also feature nearly 100% local ingredients. Contact Vinology for reservations, and tell Chef Brandon you love to Eat Local, Eat Natural!

There is something we can do, however, and it’s a pretty tasty solution: eat more local food!

Eating locally-produced and –prepared food strengthens our local economy in a number of ways. Obviously, it preserves jobs for farmers and restaurant employees. There’s no cut of restaurant profits that goes to a corporate headquarters, so those profits tend to circulate through our community rather than go out-of-state. Eating locally also means fewer of our food dollars go to pay for petroleum, so we’re a little more insulated from changes in fuel prices. 

But here’s another thought. The more we develop our local food economy, the more self-reliant our area can be. Not that we’d ever want to live without coffee and chocolate, oranges and avocados, and corn from Iowa if we have a bad drought here. But wouldn’t it be nice to know that you’d still eat well even if fewer truckloads of California produce trekked across the country?

Eating locally now helps ensure we can continue to eat locally in the future.

Roll your mouse over the icons to learn more about our restaurants and suppliers! (Farms are green, restaurants are purple.)

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I was running so hard to make it to all the food booths between chef demos and writing that I was only able to take notes while they were still open! So I'm writing this up after *sniff* all the adventurous chefs packed up all the beautiful food and headed back to their kitchens. 

Silvio’s pizza – as always, Silvios had fantastic pizza and gnocchi. The pizza was suffering a little today from the humidity, but it’s still hard to beat that hand-tossed crust with the fresh toppings. One of the pizzas not only featured local ingredients, it was “beyond organic,” meaning that the ingredients not only meet the letter of the organic certification laws, but also stay true to the spirit of sustainable agriculture practices that are not codified by the USDA.

Zingerman’s whipped up a trio of local delicacies. First, chicken paprikash over Al Dente noodles. I asked about the wheat for the noodles – it is certified organic, and comes from the Dakotas. You really just can’t buy good pasta wheat in Michigan, it seems. But still – shipping a truck full of wheat berries or flour is much more efficient than shipping the finished noodles, because you can fit a much larger weight in the same volume truck. So back to Zingfood: Paw Paw Gelato! And potato leek soup! I didn’t have the soup, but the gelato was quite interesting. Paw paws are a native fruit that seems almost too tropical to grow in this part of the world. The paw paw puree gave the gelato a fruity sweetness reminiscent of peaches. I also learned – contrary to my assumption – that gelato actually has proportionately more milk than cream.

Carson’s American bistro had perhaps the most innovative serving technique of any food: salad on a stick. This featured greens, grape tomatoes, and house-made mozarella cheese threaded onto a skewer and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Carson’s was also serving fresh fruit smoothies, and a cold watermelon soup topped with jalapeno salsa!

Vinology featured a number of local products in their dishes. I was most intrigued by the buckwheat crepes filled with goat cheese. They get their goat cheese from Four Corners Creamery in Tecumseh, which in turn buys their milk from what I believe is the only certified organic goat dairy in Michigan.

I'm sitting in the demo tent listening to the Saints playing great funky blues. I'm singing out loud and probably look like a dork, but I'm having so much fun, I really don't care!

My second foray into the food tents was even better than the first. First I visited Eve herself, of Eve (the restaurant). She was serving up a really interesting spiced bulgar salad. It had peaches and honey, but also a nice little kick of spice and arugula. It's a recipe from her cookbook - check it out for a really nice light summer supper.

Arbor Brewing Company had a fantastic idea - they served up their homemade black bean burgers in a mini-size for one ticket. This means you can actually get a taste of everything at the festival! The burgers were very tasty, on a tiny, toasty, wholegrain bun and topped with fresh salsa.

Perhaps my favorite food of the event so far has been Slow's chicken wings. First of all, they look like the actual wings of actual birds - wing tips and all. Slow's gets all their chicken from Miller's via Eat Local Eat Natural.  Then the aroma: woodsy, smoky, spicy. And the taste - good grief, how to describe? Rich, meaty, smoky, and not at all greasy. Absolutely fantastic. I gnawed the bones to the nubs and was tempted to slurp on one like a pacifier for the rest of the afternoon!

Holy cow. I eat one of Pilar's Tamales for breakfast every morning I'm at the market. But Silvia (the owner) is steaming the chicken and sweet corn tamales right here on the site, and they are even more fabulous than I've ever tasted them. Add a side of cortido, and I'm in heaven.

Silvia is sourcing a number or ingredients locally: cream, chickens, melons, cantaloupe, and corn.  The melons go into a couple of her famous beverages – you really have to try it! One sip, and you’ll say, “Wow! That’s watermelon?” Apparently, the secret it to let the melon sit for a couple weeks until the pulp collapses in on itself into a puree.

I also realized I’ve been thinking of Silvia as “Pilar” in error. She explained to me today that Pilar was the refugee name her oldest aunt took when she arrived in the US. It means “pillar” in Spanish, and Pilar was, indeed, a pillar of strength for her family. So Silvia asked if she would mind if she called her business “Pilar’s Tamales,” and Tía Pilar said she would be honored.

As you can tell, I only kinda liked my tamale. 

Is it wet? Well...yes. Are we having fun? Absolutely! And does it smell like heaven? Oh, my, oh, my. Indeed it does! It's 11:05 am - gates are open! - and from Pilar's tamales topped with cream and queso to Zingerman's chicken paprikash to Slow's Barbecue, it's a mouth-watering affair. Even if the rain is warm and steady at this moment.

Come on down! You were going to the market anyway, right? Come sit under the live music tent, dash out for a tasty local lunch, and watch our expert chefs do cooking demos under the big tent! The first demo is at noon. Chef Nick Seccia, of the Henry Ford in Dearborn will be preparing squash cherry chutney and butternut squash bisque. So you'll know what to do with those gorgeous butternuts you got at the market this morning!

This coming Saturday, September 13th, Eat Local Eat Natural will be at the Homegrown Festival in Downtown Ann Arbor! Come by the farmers' market in Kerrytown, then look across Detroit street toward Community High and you'll see us there in the big refrigerated truck with the Eat Local Eat Natural logo on the side.

The festival will feature a number of local chefs, restaurants, and farms. The idea is really unique - each restaurant is featuring foods from a particular farm. So come and get to know your local restaurants and farmers, sample some food, hear some local music, watch chef demos, and more! See the full schedule of activities and a map to the event.

I'll be blogging live from the scene! Check back throughout the day for pictures, interviews, and updates.