Here at Sprout, we do things a little differently. Over 90% of the food we serve is sourced from local farmers and producers.
One goal is to maximize the amount of money we contribute back in to our immediate economy, which is where we will see the most immediate results. Purchasing ingredients from an out-of-state distributor only transfers dollars to another community, rather than reinvests it into our community and local government.
By dealing directly with local farmers, we can encourage accountability for the ways that our food is grown and processed. When there is a question about the safety or quality of a product, we can go directly to the source to define the problem and fix it. Buying local food makes a direct link between us and the food we serve, which gives us more control over the quality of our menu. We strive to visit each of the farms that we buy from in order to observe their practices and to develop a stronger relationship based on mutual support.
We deal primarily with small independent farms, rather than larger industrial farms, in order to ensure that our products are locally grown and well treated. It is often true that small local farms have higher prices, which in turn makes our prices a little higher than other restaurants, but the quality of the products we get far exceeds the difference in price. Some of the reasons for the higher prices are due to the cost of labor for smaller farms, the natural growing practices rather than herbicide and pesticide ridden growing, the lack of government subsidies to smaller farms, and the more natural/heirloom variety plants rather than hybridized or GMO produce. The cost of such quality repays itself in your health and in the support you provide to your community.
Buying from local farms also cuts down on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the travel of our food. Not to mention, local food is fresher and more flavorful because it was picked in season and used within days of its harvest. Our menu is dictated by the seasonal changes and availability of local food; therefore it will change as the seasons change.
Along with supporting local food, and encouraging a more sustainable food system in Richmond, we also implement many other environmentally conscious business practices, such as recycling, using compostable paper products, and composting kitchen waste. We feel that the choices we’ve made to shape our business are for the betterment of our local community. We hope that this information can help you to better understand the benefits of such practices and we encourage you to ask questions and find ways that you can also be involved.
