Many restaurants that serve up dishes of seafood and poultry do not rely on local ingredients. In order to cut costs and try to save as much money as possible, they may purchase ingredients from national distributors. This is going to have a major impact on the freshness and the overall quality of the ingredients. Restaurants such as Marker 32 continue to use local Jacksonville ingredients due to the major benefits that they bring to the table.
Fresher Ingredients
The biggest benefit to using local Jacksonville ingredients is that it is going to be fresher from star to finish. Things such as fish and poultry that are purchased from national distributors are going to have to be shipped from far away states and distribution centers. This means that by the time that the seafood or poultry makes it to the restaurant and ultimately your plate, it could be over a week old at least. When local ingredients are used, you could in theory be eating seafood that was caught from a fishing boat in Jacksonville the day prior or that day.
Better Taste
The fresher that the ingredients are, the better tasting that the food is going to be. Ingredients that have to travel long distances are likely going to have to be frozen. This is going to force a lot of the taste out of the food. The improved taste from fresh food is a straight benefit from using local ingredients. The other thing to consider is that the local seafood is also likely going to be more geared towards dishes that the people of Jacksonville are really going to enjoy. Seafood that can benefit from the creativity of chefs in the Jacksonville area can be amplified when it is caught locally.
Helping the Community
The final major benefit to using local ingredients is that it helps the community that the restaurant is a part of. Marker 32 has been a major part of the Jacksonville community for years now. The fact that they use local ingredients helps those fishermen in the area. Those who sell poultry are also going to benefit. Putting money back in the community can keep the community thriving and keep bringing people back to a restaurant that they can take great pride in. This cycle is fantastic to keep an atmosphere going at a restaurant that is centered around creating a true neighborhood feel.
Restaurants are going to benefit in a lot of ways when they choose to use local ingredients. The benefits are vast, from helping out the community, to having better tasting food, as well as overall fresher ingredients. Marker 32 is a restaurant that is all about using local ingredients. The seafood and poultry from the Jacksonville area are the best to allow the chefs of Marker 32 to create their five star dishes. This all feeds into generating a restaurant that the community of Jacksonville can take a lot of pride in and is what keeps the restaurant running strong to this day.
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