The local food movement continues to gain momentum as people become more aware of what they are eating, where it comes from, and the circumstances under which the food was raised or cultivated.

We have our local "gems" that raise awareness about healthy food and food delivery systems. One luminary is Shelburne Farms, which models best farming practices and cultivates relationships between our schools, local farms, and communities with its many diverse educational programs. Additionally, we have many local farms, restaurants, supermarkets, and our Town’s weekly Saturday farmers market, all of which play an important part in providing Shelburnites with an opportunity to find a healthy bounty of local farm fresh products.

For example, many of our local restaurants are members of the Vermont Fresh Network, a farm and chef partnership. Our Town is fortunate to have many participating fine restaurants, with menus to please any palate. I spoke to three Shelburne restaurants that offer family dining with a focus on local food.

William Wisell, one of the chef/owners at Cucina Antica recalls his excitement when he discovered that he could secure fresh pasta from a Vermont company in Ludlow. He learned through seeing it at our local supermarket that it was available on a regular basis and so began his commitment to serving this delicious homemade pasta. Additionally, a young farmer showed up at the back door one day with a basket of fresh vegetables. He promised that he could deliver tomatoes, fresh bell peppers, mushrooms, and other seasonal vegetables on a regular basis. So began Cucina’s relationship with that young farmer whose garden plot services restaurants from a basket at the back door. Add the nearby fresh herb garden where Wisell picks herbs and you have a serious commitment to serve customers the freshest and most local foods possible.

Wisell said, "It feels good to keep the money as much as possible within the community and my customers notice the difference and appreciate my commitment to fresh local food."

Emily Betz at Bistro Sauce shared that one of her primary motivators for opening the restaurant five years ago was a commitment to support local farmers, which meant it needed to be located near many farms. Local farms need places to readily sell the products and often this requires consistent business from local restaurants and stores. Despite challenges, Betz tries hard to have 50-75 percent of the restaurants’ food come from local sources around the state and lists them on the Web site. Currently Pete’s Greens supplies year round vegetables and Betz hopes that other farms will be able to do more year-round production in the future.

Her earth friendly philosophy drives the business and the restaurant clearly reflects Betz’s value of using the land in intentional and naturally sustainable ways. Sometimes this means the restaurant can’t serve pork chops every night, because when Betz purchases an entire pig from Rockville Market Farm, she crafts a menu that utilizes most of the pig. It’s easier to have consistency on the menu with items like skirt steak from La Platte Farm.

She states, "It’s so important that the more you can participate in your small local economy, the better it is for everyone. It pays off in big ways." Clearly Betz has made local food work for her restaurant and the community that she cares about.

Jill Spell, one of the owners at La Villa, a restaurant that serves Italian and American cuisine in a casual friendly atmosphere, agrees that as the local movement gains popularity it has been easier to find local providers with affordable prices. Like Bistro Sauce, La Villa purchases the whole pig and has it butchered, which allows for variety and a more reasonable price. Some local meats are more expensive and they try to find creative ways to meet all their customers’ needs including running "specials" on certain local seasonal items.

Spell shares, "We try to be the restaurant you go to once a week, and therefore need to keep our menu affordable and also focused on as much local food as possible."

It is clear that the ability to support local farmers is a value shared by each of these restaurant owners. Keeping the menus fresh, affordable, and with an abundance of local food takes creativity, work, and commitment, but the rewards for everyone are well worth the effort.