According to the National Culinary Review: Local is the New Organic

"Chefs are increasingly finding product within 150 miles of their venue" by Laura Taxel.

'It's a fundamental axiom among chefs that to make great food, you need great ingredients. As a measure of freshness and qulity, local has become the new gold standard. So chefs around the country are increasingly turning to products sourced from artisan producers and small family owned and sustainably operated farms located within 150 miles of where they cook.

Noting this shif, the American Farm Bureau, based in Washington, D.C., included farm-to-table cuisine on its list of top food trends for 2009, and local produce earned the No. 1 spot on the National Restaurant Association's most recent "What's Hot" chef survey...'
Laura Taxel, The National Culinary Review. July 2009

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