little mines, shaped like plates.
15 January 2006 | maura dot com | No Comments
some recent discussion of two local joints‘ newfound menu overlap on the neighborhood board got me thinking about sysco, the agribusiness/restaurant supply giant, and its unsung prominence in the dining experiences of many americans. you hear a lot about the adverse effects of fast food, but companies like sysco, which specialize in medium-speed food — the recipes section on its web site shows the way its products, which seem to travel pretty far (and in huge refrigeration trucks) to get to your plate, can be presented by restaurants with any aspirations — are still under the radar as far as this sort of examination goes. (heck, sysco even has its own vegetarian line.)
inspired, no doubt, by the often brilliant writings of jim kunstler, i’ve been trying to find resources on avoiding this sort of trucked-in, mass-produced food. but i’ve had little luck; aside from an article describing sysco’s methods for feeding a lot of people under a more upscale restaurant’s banner (hint: it includes using chafing dishes as cooking devices) and a site for independent america, a film about its creators’ efforts to avoid interstates and chains while driving around the country, most of my google results about avoiding sysco led to pages bigging up the company and its subsidiaries. i know that, as far as new york city goes, focusing my dining-out dollars on establishments that trumpet their use of locally sourced ingredients is the way to go, but i’d love to find any resources that would take this to the next step, and spotlight/congratulate those establishments that get their food from mom and pop sources as a way of everyday business. is this a pipe dream, or am i trying to hold on to an era in this country that’s passed? i really hope not.
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