One small step for measuring local food

I mentioned here a few days ago my quest to find ways of measuring the local food movement. Counting farmers markets is one thing; getting a handle on overall economic impact is another.

Danny Schwartzman doesn't have that answer, but he does like numbers. Since he opened Common Roots Cafe four years ago at 26th and Lyndale in Minneapolis, he's been plugging his invoices into spreadsheets, categorizing and tracking his sources for steak, onions, coffee, beer and everything else the cafe serves.

So Schwartzman can tell you, for example, that in October, 53 percent of the food he served was "local." By that he means that about four-fifths of the "local" was grown within 250 miles of Minneapolis; another small portion was processed within that radius (mainly beer); and a little bit more came from Organic Valley Cooperative Midwest Dairy Pool, a network of dairy suppliers that spreads beyond the 250-mile radius.

He can also tell you that local percentage has been pretty steady, fluctuating between 47 percent and 64 percent, typically in response to the changing seasons.

And, you can find all this and more for yourself at the Common Roots website.

Schwartzman considers the numbers a form of accountability, a promise, as he puts it, that he's using local onions in a dish, not just local shallots sprinkled on top.

It would be interesting to know whether any other Minnesota restaurants could produce the same set of numbers and whether those percentages have been changing.

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