June may be considered the “off season” in New Orleans, but the City Council doesn’t think that’s a reason for the Crescent City’s economy to slow down.
Last month, they approved the “Eat Local Month” resolution, and Councilman JP Morrell joined WWL’s Newell Normand to discuss it.
“I could tell you I don’t need any encouragement,” said Normand. “I’m there, baby.”
Members of the city council encourage everyone to eat local and to support local farmers, fishers, food producers, farmers markets, restaurants, and more in June and year-round.
“I think people forget because, they’re not necessarily in the... tourism or hospitality industry across the board,” said Morrell. “But the worst months for our local producers are restaurants – pretty much everybody is June, July and August because obviously everyone kind of checks out. So it’s important for all of us to kind of do our part for all these guys that do so much work year round to make our city sustainable and friendly to both the people who live here and the business that visit it.”
According to a 2018 report from the Hilton Foundation, 12% (72,000) of all workers in the New Orleans region were in the hospitality industry.
“It is necessary,” Normand said of the Eat Local initiative. “You know, we need to create where… there’s really no ‘off season’ here in New Orleans, Right?”
Morell said the movement has gone beyond patronizing local businesses and now includes the establishment of more events during the summer months.
“There’ve been a lot of local efforts to establish interesting new festivals and events during those months because there’s not a lot of competition across the South, generally speaking, for events,” he explained.
Listen to Morell’s full conversation with Normand here.
