movers and shakers
by kamyar enshayan
“Puppets” by Matt Kollasch. “Barry Eastman” by Arion Thibourmery
rudy’s tacos: waterloo’s model of local food
A few years ago, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier ran an article
headlined “Chains vs. Independent Restaurants” in which the
independents complained about how the chains are taking their
market share. A few days later, I noticed a letter in response by
Barry Eastman, owner of the local independent restaurant, Rudy’s
Tacos in Waterloo.
“As restaurant owners our job is to create the best food
possible. In order to take the chains head-on, we have to produce
a better product, period. To achieve this goal, we must first
improve the quality of our ingredients. This can easily be done by
purchasing fresh, local ingredients directly from local farmers.
This is something the chains cannot do. And the chains are going
to keep coming. Now is the time for independents to prove what
being local is all about.”
In 1997, a couple of my students and I tracked two chickens
all the way back to the eggs and wrote a report called “A Tale of
Two Chickens.” One chicken was raised locally and organically;
the other came all the way from Alabama, from a ConAgra
processing plant. The chicken contract grower (one of 160) was
raising 140,000 chickens eight times per year, was dissatisfied
with the price ConAgra was dictating to him, and did not even
know what was in the feed. ConAgra brought him the feed,
which contained two kinds of antibiotics, on a routine basis from
a ConAgra feed mill. Based on ConAgra’s most optimistic
projections, the net annual income of the contract farmer I spoke
with—after growing nearly a million chickens per year—was
$21,000.
After trying the locally raised chicken, Eastman started serving
local, organic chicken as a standard part of Rudy’s menu. His
chickens come from Welsh Family Organic Farm near Lansing.
They buy the chicks from an Iowa hatchery, raise the feed
organically and do not give animals any drugs. They raise a total
of 150,000 chickens per year, setting their price so that they can
make a living (“far better than $21,000 a year,” they told me).
On the dinner plate, these two chickens would look identical,
but they represent two different rural economies, two different
futures, two different qualities. In the much shorter, local foodsupply chain, Eastman knows he is getting the freshest, highest
quality ingredients; he also knows exactly where the ingredients
Rudy’s Taco’s owner Barry Eastman with some of his locally grown produce
come from, and he knows the farmers. He is supporting the
livelihood of the farmers, who, in turn, support a variety of other
local businesses.
Now, nearly 10 years later, Eastman buys chicken, beef, pork,
cheese, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cut flowers and soy-based oil
locally. Nearly 70 percent of food purchases for Rudy’s come from
15 or so nearby food and farm businesses. That’s huge compared
to any high-end restaurant in the nation. And Waterloo’s Rudy’s
is simply a popular local diner serving excellent food at a very
reasonable price.
Barry Eastman’s work has been an inspiration other restaurants
in the area. Last year, 21 buyers (restaurants, grocers, retirement
homes, hospitals and colleges) purchased $600,000 in locally
grown foods, a quarter of it by Rudy’s alone. Eastman says it is
easy to buy from local farmers, it has worked great for him and
his customers love it. As Eastman wrote, it is time for
independent restaurants to show “what being local is all about.”
Details
Rudy’s Tacos
2401 Falls Ave
Waterloo, IA 50701
(319) 234-5686
Welsh Family Organic Farm
1509 Dry Ridge Dr.
Lansing, IA 52151
(563) 535-7318
Edible iowa river valley
fall 2006
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