Difference between a Farmer and a Chef

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. Farmers are the backbone of our society. They are the ones who provide us all the food that we eat. Some farmers grow a range of crops, while others breed fishes, produce dairy cows and sell their milk.

Nigeria has 70.8 million hectares of agriculture land areas with maize, cassava, guinea corn, yam beans, millet and rice being the major crops. Nigeria’s rice production rose from 3.7 million metric tons in 2017 to 4.0 million metric tons in 2018. Inspite of this, only 57percent of the 6.7 million metric tons of rice consumed in Nigeria annually is locally produced leading to a deficit of about 3 million metric tons, which is either imported or smuggled into the country illegally. To stimulate local production, the Government banned importation of rice in 2019.

A chef is a highly skilled person who is in charge of food production in a commercial kitchen of a restaurant, hotel, resort, hospital or cruise ship. The word "chef" is derived from the term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen. A chef oversees a restaurants kitchen and these includes planning the menu, maintaining the budget, pricing menu items, preparing food, purchasing supplies, ensuring quality of service, ensuring safety, and managing staff.

Farmer to Chef

A chef who is curious about where local food comes from should see the farm in person. A farm visit is a great way to connect chefs with unique aspects of serving local food.

In person conversation between the farmer and the chef, regardless of whether it's on or off the farm, should always include a sample and anecdote about the farm product that relates to the restaurant's cuisine.

Relationship Between Farmer and Chef

Once a relationship is established, many farms and wholesale cooperatives include chefs in pre-season production planning to determine the kind and the quantity of product a chef will purchase during the growing season.

Standard ingredients (i.e. garlic, potatoes, onions) are generally not the champion ingredient of a restaurant's dish but are products from the farm.

Every farm requires by the chefs to prepare local and intercontinental dishes has a growing season.

Every restaurant is different, which is a good reason to know the type of food a chef cooks before making a pitch. It's also a good reason for a farmer to draw on passion - food is an experience. A farmer can increase interest in products by explaining attractive attributes including a product's heritage, traditional and unconventional uses, and how it fits into the farm's growing scheme (not only seasonal but appropriate for climate, soil, better taste etc.).

Farmers and chefs should discuss on-farm post-harvest handling (i.e. cleaning protocol, storage, presence of pests etc.).

A good farmer-chef relationship is often personal, but maintained by an explicit arrangement. Clear communication and effective systems help each person get what they need from the exchange.