Terroir, the annual hospitality industry symposium drew 500 foodies together to contemplate the pleasure of dining and the future of food in the digital age. Photo Credit: Alexa Clark and Ger Olsen

On Tuesday, I spent the day gabbing and noshing with the who’s-who of Toronto’s foodie world — chefs, farmers, food writers, and wine folk — nearly 500 people who gathered at U of T’s Hart House to participate in the 5^th annual hospitality industry symposium, Terroir. One of the subtle but reoccurring themes was this nagging issue of what to do next with the local food movement. Or as Globe & Mail columnist Mark Schatzer, asked in the newspaper yesterday: Has eating local become annoying?

It’s a provocative question. But it’s one that was barely touched upon during the breakout sessions and keynote talk that I attended.

So-called “eating local” — the term, alone, drives a farmer friend of mine batty — is undeniably the single strongest and most-enduring food trend of the last decade. And it is Terroir’s attendees who are driving the local food movement in this province. So when it comes to local, organic, seasonal, and sustainable food, who could be more keenly aware (and loathe to admit) that these words are getting tired, watered-down, and even abused. As UK Chef Fergus Henderson, the godfather of nose to tail eating, put it in his keynote speech, The Pleasure of Dining (a self-described quiet rant): “It’s the stuff we’re all trying to strive for…The ambitions are right, but it’s all gone very wrong.”

I was disappointed that the symposium didn’t delve more deeply into this conundrum, but the organizers are no doubt aiming to keep the tenor positive. The purpose of this gathering, after all, is to inspire industry insiders and to share ideas about where things are going. So here is what I gleaned about what restaurant patrons can look forward to in the future:

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