1948, Baldwin Park, CA—the small restaurant In-n-Out Burger changed the restaurant industry forever.  At the time, drive-in restaurants with bellhops were quite common; customers would drive in to the stands, place orders to the waiters who came out to their cars and then be on their merry way with food in hand.  But Harry and Esther Snyder, co-owners of this small restaurant, changed this by introducing a two-way speaker, creating the drive-thru and unintentionally lending to the distancing of Americans from the source of their food.  Now, 62 years later, Silver Diner, a small, local, privately owned restaurant chain is poised to propel the entire restaurant industry in a nourishing, refreshing direction by reintroducing Americans to those who grow their food.

Cities, towns and rural areas across America have seen the growth in popularity of farmers markets.

People are eager to support their local farmers, are motivated to buy local produce, meats, eggs and dairy, and many individuals seek restaurants that source from local farms.  Restaurants have noticed this trend and some make a modest effort to find local products, while a few have even gone to considerable effort, but most still do not.  For the DC area chain of 18 Silver Diners, they are taking seriously the mantra “support your local farmer.”

The Diner’s efforts to source from regional small family farms are nothing short of heroic.  Silver Diner has wholeheartedly embraced locally sourced foods; their menus are filled with year-round local meats, eggs and dairy and seasonal produce from local farms.  Now, they are taking an additional step by introducing and leading the charge for restaurant-markets by inviting farmers to set up stands and sell produce in the diner parking lots. The restaurant will buy from these farmers, as well as offer their customers the opportunity to do the same, thus expanding the potential customer base for these farmers while promoting fresh and local nutrient dense foods.

Imagine taking the family out for breakfast on Saturday morning.

It’s blueberry season right now so you have a delicious breakfast of pancakes (made from unbleached flour) smothered in butter from a local dairy farm and topped with a plethora of local blueberries.  In fact, the farmer that grew those blueberries is sitting just outside the restaurant.  After this fantastic meal, you exit the restaurant and pick up a pint of blueberries from the same farmer who grew the blueberries that topped your pancakes.  And, while you’re there, you buy some fresh salad greens, spinach, green onions, some cucumbers and maybe some early tomatoes for a nice dinner salad for your guests that evening.  This is the beginning of the market-restaurant.

I am fascinated and inspired by this new concept!

Silver Diner has the potential to change, for the better, the face of the restaurant industry and transform the American countryside while creating prosperous family farms.  As head chef Ype Von Hengst states, they feel it is their “moral obligation” to do what they can to help make healthy foods available to their customer base.  What better way to do this than to invite the farmers to set up at their restaurants, source directly form those farmers, and introduce the farmers to a new customer base?  Fascinating.  As other restaurants witness the implementation of Silver Diner’s vision, and as the consumer demand grows, the market-restaurant concept has huge potential to grow and alter our dining out experience.

I realized several years ago the multi-faceted benefits of eating local foods from small farms that practice good stewardship of the land: helping the environment and improving the economy while providing healthy food for people.  Simply put, buying nutrient dense foods from local farmers brings good nutrients to our own tables, keeps small family farms in production (rather than turning into a housing or mall development), and pumps money back into rural America by paying the salary of hard working American farmers who then generate prosperity in their communities and beyond.  When we support small scale, local farmers, we transform the way we experience food while contributing to a grassroots revitalization of rural America.

It is inspiring to witness an unpretentious restaurant make the effort to transform the way we think about our food and the relationship we have with the farmers who produce our food.  Unlike the disengaged drive thru, eating at the Silver Diner gives their customers the opportunity to intimately experience their food and meet the farmers who grow it.  It is clearly a vision, with intense passion behind it, for the owners of Silver Diner.

About Liz Reitzig
Liz Reitzig is President of the Maryland Independent Consumers and Farmers Association and serves as Secretary of the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (www.nicfa.com).  As a champion for real foods and farm freedom, Liz is a regular contributor to Liberation Wellness (www.LiberationWellnessBlog.com) and a certified Liberation Wellness Nutritionist. Liz is the co-founder and partner in a farm fresh buying club and raises her own family on real foods from local farms. She is also a Chapter Leader for the Weston A Price Foundation.

To schedule an interview with Liz or another representative of Liberation Wellness, call 800-327-9010.