Couple Things About Local

I try as much as possible to source locally...sustainably...organically...consciously.  I don't always get the chance to get everything within those parameters but I try.  The Midwest is such a rich place for nourishment.  However I don't always use local ingredients and when I don't my next step is to shop independent/locally.  For example I love farina 00 flour for making my hand cut pasta and the farina I get is from Italy.  I buy it at a local independent grocer Piatto Pronto in my Andersonville neighborhood (they make killer foot long subs for less than seven dollars).  It's one of those stores that reminds me of the stores my mother tells me about from when she was a kid, a place where they remember you when you walk in and will bend over backwards to serve you.  Every Chicago neighborhood is filled with local independent grocers that don't always have organic, sustainable or local products however they themselves are local, our neighbors, friends, relatives...