At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

[Glassunion]

3. No farms, no food. Know farms, know food.

Wife and I have a favorite farm to table joint we go to from time to time. They are straight up with exactly where their food comes from. Turns out the duck eggs come from my favorite bartender who works at the taco joint I like to go to. He raises ducks, and sells them to local restaurants. Now I have a duck egg supplier. His name is Adam. Nice guy.

You have to pay attention to labels, and get to know your farmers. We used to go to one of those road-side "farmer's market". They were selling "organic" and "local" produce. It was mostly bullshit. They were stripping labels off of their products. I live in Pennsylvania, there is no such thing as a local Avocado. When I questioned about where some other item (I think tomatoes) came from, they gladly gave me the name of the farm. As it turns out that farm does not nor have they ever grown that item. They were eventually closed down for weights and measures violations.

Get to know who supplies your food, and you will be a happier and more informed customer.

This crap happens everywhere. It doesn't help when there are not strict rules surrounding labeling. Think you're eating Red Snapper? Odds are, you are not.