When it comes to our Friday nights out, what requirements do we look for in our restaurant of choice? The majority of SMU students tend to migrate towards downtown Dallas, Uptown or Greenville. After choosing the location, we must then confront the debate over cuisine.
According to CNN.com, Dallas has the largest restaurant per capita in the United States, more than New York City. Therefore, we Dallasites are offered foods from any end of the spectrum; ranging from Italian, to Chinese, to tapas, to the much beloved “Tex-Mex.”
If picking a restaurant couldn’t get any harder, Dallas has added one more challenge to our plates. To go organic or not to go organic? That is the question.
“My personal mission is to create simple, straightforward dishes utilizing as many ingredients from the near vicinity,” Executive Chef of Bolsa Graham Dodds said.
Organicfacts.net defines organic food as, “Items that are produced, processed and packaged without using chemicals.” We find that organic means cleaner food with no pesticides, additives, hormones or steroids,” Steven Elsea, vice president of operations at Villa O, said.
“Originally the organic trend was a strange concept, but we serve real, hearty healthy food,” he said. One of his personal favorites is spaghetti and turkey meatballs, that “just happens to be organically done.” The organic revolution is a global phenomenon that has engulfed every part of the world from the U.S. to Canada, to places as far away as New Zealand.
According to Datamonitor, the global organic food market was about $36.7 billion in 2006, $43.5 billion in 2007 and $52 billion in 2008. And although we are in the midst of a global recession, the organic food industry showed double-digit growth in 2007 and 2008, according to Datamoinitor.
All this growth over the past five years has caught the attention of farmers, manufacturers, and above all, consumers.
“The food industry is one that has picked up on this initiative and recognizing the importance for sustaining the health of the planet and the human race alike,” Greta Eagan, a sustainable living consultant, said.
“I believe that we should use local ingredients to minimize the carbon footprint, and it insures a higher quality of freshness as ingredients are harvested at their peak,” Dodds said.
It seems that this different, yet beneficial way that restaurants such as Villa O and Bolsa are looking at food is not always easy.
Dodds is not only the executive chef at Bolsa restaurant in Oak Cliff, but he is a prep cook, a line cook, a manager and a dishwasher.
The size of Bolsa makes it critical to hold many positions at once. And although Bolsa has the small comforting feel of home, it gives status to the phrase “the smaller the better.”
“One example I can think of is the evolution of corn example that Michael Pollen, author of the ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma,’ gives,” Greta Eagan said.
Eagan uses the corn example from Michael Pollen’s book “Omnivore’s Dilemma” to show how we are not benefitting by not eating organic food. The example shows that through advances in technology and chemistry, we have turned corn into a “jack of all trades.” It is a food source, a fuel source and used as feed for animals.
Unfortunately its widespread use has promoted mass production all over the world. The result is an over supply, carbon heavy transportation, the loss of top soil quality, chemical run-off pollution, diet homogeny and tax payers’ money subsidizing the price of corn to keep farmers afloat.
The idea of eating organically and locally has seem to hit the ground running. But will this trend lose steam and become just a fad? Most people tend to think otherwise.
“I would say that this shift towards more conscious consumption is not a fad, but rather a necessary action towards creating a sustainable lifestyle at present and for generations to come,” Eagan said.
“I think it is a trend that is evolving into a lifestyle for many people,” Dodds said.
With greater awareness and education, this movement will continue to flourish. Not only have restaurants picked up on this organic craze; many grocery stores have taken opportunities that are associated with the movement.
As consumers demand a certified organic or local food source, businesses will respond.
