There's no plate like home

Rockhill already sells its cheeses to Snake Creek Grill in Heber, the Blue Boar Inn in Midway, Sundance Resort, Bambara, Little America, Grand America and Squatter's.

Local first

Slow Food is one of many consumer groups pushing a "local first" food agenda, and not just in California or Florida, where produce is abundant year-round. Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, of Vancouver, B.C., started a "100-Mile Diet" in which people limit themselves to food raised within 100 miles of their home. They say ingredients for North Americans' meals typically travel at least 1,500 miles.

Some New England communities are taking the "Localvore Challenge," pledging to eat only local foods for a time period. And students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison successfully lobbied for locally grown organic food in its cafeteria menu — tortilla chips made from Wisconsin-grown blue corn, burgers from Wisconsin-raised cows, and so on.

Even big retailers are jumping on the bandwagon — last month Wild Oats markets kicked off a "Choose Local" campaign, where local products are identified with a special tag.

These groups say the "local first" concept contributes to the local economy, cuts down on the packaging and fuel used in shipping, and helps preserve small family farms. And local food is usually fresher and tastes better. Strawberries and tomatoes developed to stand up to the rigors of shipping and storage have a tennis-ball texture and little flavor.

Eric Bell, chef of Squatter's and Zola, has found that local and organic ingredients are a major selling point with his customers. "You don't have to spend money on a billboard, because you're telling a story about how you support the community, and that story is bigger than the billboard."

It would seem to make sense — instead of using the peaches shipped from several hundred miles away, why not get them from the orchard down the road? Why not buy your lamb or beef directly from the rancher in the next county, where you know how the animals are raised? This was how it was done years ago, before technology and industrialization made it so easy to ship food cross-country, even globally.

But in a busy restaurant, using local products presents some challenges — consistent quality, getting enough to meet customer demand, Utah's growing season, reliable delivery and costs.

"With the volume that restaurants do, we can't do everything local and organic, but we can develop side menus of two or three items every day, so we can use what is coming in," said Robert Barker, chef of Bambara.