Fresh Food: What Is Farm to Table?

Three chefs from around the world teamed up in Illinois to create Epiphany Farms, where they raise pigs, chickens, cows, and crops. In addition to selling at a local farmers market, Epiphany conducts tours for children, other kitchen professionals, and the general public; engages in community-supported agriculture; hosts educational dinner parties; and trains a generation of enthusiastic young agriculture and culinary students as interns. Producer Melanie Nelson and director Judy Jennings manage to cram a lot of information into this rapidly-narrated profile, including a brief history of American agriculture, an overview of current production practices (food travels an average of 1,500 miles from production to store in the U.S.), a description of family farms, and a discussion of the differences and similarities between organic and sustainable farming. Offering a solid bite-size introduction for students to the growing trend of local, sustainable food production, this is recommended. Aud: J, H, P. (F. Gardner)