From the Farm to Your Table

The farm-to-table movement is a practice where farms and restaurants or food suppliers have a direct sales relationship. This means that dishes served in homes or those that are sold in restaurants use raw materials that come directly from a farm which is usually located within their vicinity. In the farm-to-table movement, there are no markets, distributors, and stores involved in the process of moving farm goods to the consumers.

The farm-to-table movement is believed to have a lot of benefits for the producers and the consumers. The direct relationship of producers and consumers allow farmers to get the most profit they can get from their goods without having to deal with hagglingwholesalers or distributors. For consumers, they are guaranteed that the products they get are new or fresh and the price of the products they get may be significantly cheaper because there are no middlemen involved in the transactions. Restaurants that order by the bulk can also be guaranteed that they get a steady supply of quality goods for the right price.

This practice also benefits society as a whole because it contributes to strengthening the local economy, and it establishes social relationships. The farm-to-table movement generates income for local farmers, and the continuous demand for farm products allow them to have something they can consider a stable job. Buying directly from farmers also creates a certain level of rapport between the farmers and the consumers. In terms of economy, the support for locally produced products also guarantees the circulation and maintenance of funds within the community, hence improving its economic status. Since this is the case, there may be no financial losses for that specific place.

The farm-to-table movement also helps society by contributing less to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions which are among the leading causes of climate change. In the practice of the farm-to-table movement, the delivery of goods from the producer to the consumer is shortened, so there are lesser resources exhausted, lesser waste produced, and lesser harm brought to the environment. 

Although the farm-to-table movement is now surrounded by controversies because there are a lot of businesses that use it as an advertising ploy, a lot of farmers and restaurants still believe in its future. They say that it is a very good practice that brings a lot of benefits to people, and if more communities would adopt the farm-to-table movement, many of the world’s problems would decrease.