Arrow Senior Living Celebrates Earth Month with Farm to Table Dining

The last week of April is a special time for the culinary departments within Arrow Senior Living. In honor of Earth Month, we will be celebrating and embracing the Farm to Table concept. While the terminology is often overused, the idea is a basic one that stems from the days when the food you ate came from the farm you lived on or near. Practices may have changed but utilizing the produce and livestock from local farms and growers has many benefits. For example, did you know most produce loses nutrients within 24 hours of harvesting? Or that meats and other proteins lose moisture and quality when frozen? When we use imported products that are grown and harvested from significant distances away, we are not only using a less nutritious product, but we can’t track where it came from and ensure that the food safety practices that were used met our high standards.

Farm to Table also helps strengthen the local economy by providing jobs and keeping money in the hands of businesses run by our neighbors and friends. It helps to build relationships between the farmer or rancher and the customer. Both sides benefit greatly from sourcing local items. If an item becomes scarce, or pricing becomes high, this valued relationship can be instrumental in helping us to continue to provide the exceptional food our residents have come to expect from us with minimal interruption.

I remember when I started buying from my local farmers market, I would be upset that the fruits and vegetables were ripening and turning bad so quickly. I was saddened to see the fresh baked bread was getting moldy much quicker than the bread I was buying at the grocery store. It didn’t take me long to realize that that was the healthy lifespan of these products. That without added chemicals to retard aging, the normal aging of locally sourced, fresh ingredients is much quicker. And the flavor of the tomatoes, the juiciness of the peaches, the crispy bite of a fresh cucumber can’t be matched by produce shipped in from out of state. Buy local isn’t just a bumper sticker. It should be embraced and promoted as possible. I hope you not only enjoy seeing what all our culinary directors created this week, but that it also inspires you to visit some of the localized vendors our chefs have used to celebrate our Farm to Table week.