They Are Both Trying to Serve Nothing But Organic Food!
Two restaurants worlds apart are attempting to accomplish what few restaurants anywhere seem capable of doing. Why, because societies, in their countries, value organic foods so lightly that they are hard to come by!
A Pakistani Restaurant
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a self-governing state under Pakistani control, in the Neelum Valley Imtiaz Awan is a man on a mission. The Neelum Valley attracts tourists, not for its beauty alone but also for organic food. Awan is the owner of the first restaurant ever to serve organic food. He says:
The food we serve is from those farms where no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers of any kind are used.
Besides non-organic food, processed foods like chicken, mutton, bread and milk --foods now available everywhere in the country--are also hazardous. Chemicals are mixed to enhance flavor of these products, which must be discouraged.
Awan believes that ailments increasing among the masses can be overcome by making "purer" food available. For that reason, he is striving to revive the "dying culture" of organic eating across Azad Kashmir. A senior teacher working in the Neelum Valley, Muhammad Saeed says;
The dilemma is how to get the basic necessities to far flung areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. . . We have to promote organic foods and their cultivation to save human lives.
Our forefathers had an average age of 100 years. Today, we do not live more than 60 or 70. This is because of non-organic sustenance.
Maine
In Portland, Maine, David Levi, has plans for Vinland, a 39-seat restaurant to open this fall in the city's Congress Square. Levi says it will be the country's only restaurant to serve 100 percent locally sourced organic food.
By "local" he means really local! Levi will avoid staples such as olive oil, cane sugar, lemon, and pepper because they're not produced locally. Salt use will be sea salt, harvested along the Maine coast. Instead of lemon, he'll use rhubarb or condensed yogurt whey, both of which give the acidic "zing" of lemon. Rather than wheat flour, he'll substitute parsnip flour.
He says:
By being 100 percent local, we can honestly say that every dollar we spend on food is supporting our neighbors, whether they're small organic farmers, fishermen, or foragers. This is what Vinland can do to help.
Nevertheless, his restaurant will serve coffee and tea, because they can't be produced locally. Also, few wines are produced locally. Facing reality, Levi confesses:
There's a line between the (locally produced) form we want and being in a straitjacket. I don't want people to feel as if going to Vinland is like doing penance.
Restaurants Around the World
Take Note!
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