Where ever your local may be, it’s underpinned by some kind of food culture and connection to regional biodiversity.  Wine has terrior, the central plate looks to ‘local’ as a way to better connect food system with community, culture and family.

Eating international cuisine isn’t a problem—but, as Simon Preston points out, there are benefits to having a local food culture, as well. So he asks this interesting question: is it possible to invent a food culture in the 21st century? He decided to try and create one in the rural Aberdeenshire (UK) town of Huntly:

It’s an interesting idea, especially for many American who have lost the culinary cultures of their past, due to the burgeoning influences of other cultures and food chains in their homelands. Excepting certain cities with distinctive gastronomic traditions, like New York City or Philadelphia, many American towns don’t have dishes to call their own. But as Preston points out, it’s never too late to begin examining local ingredients again: our states, counties, and cities offer us a wealth of history, terrain, crops, and animals with which to build a local food culture.