When a vegetable patch at the White House eclipses the famed presidential rose garden, it's clear the local food movement has gone mainstream.

Direct sales of food from farms grew 49 percent to an impressive $1.2 billion between 2002 and 2007, according to the latest government agricultural census. Yet many local meat farmers are struggling.

Part of the problem, chefs and local producers said, is how Americans cook and eat.

From pigs, for example, consumers are mostly interested in eating "high on the hog," which describes the choicest cuts.

"The loins and racks of a pig, for instance, are easy to sell," chef and meat expert Bruce Aidells said, "but that leaves the legs, shoulders, head and belly, which make up most of the animal."

Farmers often end up selling less sought-after cuts at a substantially lower price per pound or, as a fallback, turn them in to ground meat. But turning the meat into processed foods or grinding it into patties or nuggets, as industrial farmers do, is more difficult on a smaller scale.

Frank Pace, a trained chef and the meat manager at Healthy Living Market, a large natural food store in South Burlington, Vt., agrees. For the most part, his customers go for loins, chops and steaks because those cuts are suited to the type of quick cooking Americans are used to.

"Customers that live in areas with lots of farms are more likely to buy a variety of cuts, but for most, it's whatever they can throw on the grill for a fast meal," Pace said.

Shannon Hayes raises chicken, beef, veal, lamb and pork with her family at Sap Bush Hollow farm in upstate New York. To sustain local agriculture, she said, consumers need to have a basic understanding of how to work with each of the different parts of the animal so they can make meal planning decisions based on what the farmer has in stock, "not what the recipe featured in the latest cooking magazine tells us we have to run out and buy."

Hayes said she often helps her customers select alternative cuts "either to suit their budget, or to meet their needs with what I happen to have." Each time, she said, they learn to work with something new, their confidence grows and her business benefits. She has even written two cookbooks, "Farmer and the Grill" and "Grassfed Gourmet."

The Obamas have helped support the local food movement in other ways, as well.

Last spring, they dined at New York City's Blue Hill Restaurant, where award-winning chef Dan Barber's menu showcases local producers as well as meat and produce that the business raises

on its own farms.

Other chefs have also supported local, natural and organic meats. The effort has been pushed along by recent meat contamination scares and high fuel prices involved in shipping food from around the country and around the world.

Most top chefs will create their daily specials (or in Barber's case the whole menu) based on what is the freshest and most delicious at the market each day. Learning to eat locally is about learning to work with what is there, Hayes said.

"Surprisingly, this broadens our culinary experiences, rather than narrows it, because most local foods are only in season for a brief period, and thus our menu repertoires are always needing to change," she said.

When it comes to meat, Barber said it's the more muscular, tougher cuts such as chuck, shoulder and brisket that have the most flavor. Home cooks just need to "reacquaint themselves with the low-heat, slow-cooking methods that are needed to bring out the tenderness," he said.

At Healthy Living Market, Pace is starting to offer cooking classes and demonstrations to teach his customers techniques like braising and slow-roasting to that end.

In the meantime, Pace is purchasing whole animals and using his culinary training to turn the parts that don't sell as well into prepared products such as gourmet pates, terrines and rillettes, which are made by slow-cooking finely shredded meat in seasoned fat for preserved spreads that can be served on toast or bread.

Consumers can also support local meat growers by joining a CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm. These farms work similar to a magazine subscription, though in this model you pay in advance and then receive various foods as they are harvested or come to maturity.

With CSA membership, Aidells said, the farmer can't make money by just giving you steaks and chops, so you occasionally get a box with "lots of mystery cuts in it."

No worries, he said -- many of the best tasting dishes can come from the surprises.

Black bean-infused foil-wrapped pork shanks

Pork shanks are a perfect choice for braising, but you may need to ask your butcher to get them for you. Wrapping them in foil before roasting is a great way to slow-cook the meat while producing a delicious, intense sauce. If you can't find shanks, the recipe works just as well with chunks, Boston butt or blade-end pork loin roasts.

Start to finish: Four hours, 15 minutes (30 minutes active)

Servings: Eight

8 dried shiitake mushrooms

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons Asian black bean sauce

1 teaspoon peanut oil

1 teaspoon sugar, plus extra for sauce

2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar or balsamic vinegar, plus extra for sauce

2 large pork shanks (about 4 pounds total)

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 teaspoon soy sauce, plus extra for sauce

In a small bowl, cover the mushrooms with the boiling water. Let soak for at least 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain the mushrooms, and reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Cut off and discard the mushroom stems, then thinly slice the caps. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the ginger, garlic, cilantro, black bean sauce, peanut oil, 1 teaspoon sugar and the vinegar. Process until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut six to eight deep, equally spaced gashes in the meaty part along the length of each shank. Fill the gashes with the bean and cilantro paste, then rub any remaining paste over the rest of each shank. Place the shanks in a large bowl, and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the sherry, reserved mushroom soaking liquid and chicken broth. Boil the mixture over medium-high until reduced to 4 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce, and set aside.

Measure two 18-inch pieces of heavy-duty foil. Place half of the scallions and half of the sliced mushrooms into the center of each sheet. Spoon half of the reduced sherry mixture over the vegetables.

Place one pork shank on top of each mound of vegetables with the bone vertical. Loosely pull the foil around the shank, taking care not to let any of the liquid spill out. Pull the foil tightly up around the shank to seal in the liquid (the bone can be exposed).

Place the shanks vertically in a deep casserole or roasting pan. Roast for two to three hours, or until the meat is almost falling from the bone.

Remove from oven. Over a bowl, carefully remove the foil so as not to lose any of the braising juices. Pour the juices into a saucepan, skim away any fat, then season with sugar, vinegar and soy sauce.

Remove the meat from the bones, then drizzle them with the sauce. Meat can be served as is, or with bread or buns.

(Recipe adapted from "Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork," Harper Collins)

Chipotle-marinated flatiron steak with avocado-corn relish

The flatiron steak, often referred to as a top blade steak, is a marbled cut of beef from the shoulder. It does well in braises such as goulash or Swiss steak, but can also be butterflied and cooked quickly on the grill. Here, it gets a smoky Southwestern-style marinade and is accompanied by a relish that would work well with almost any type of grilled beef, pork or fish.

Start to finish: 40 minutes (20 minutes active)

Servings: Four

1-1/2-pound flatiron steak, about 3/4-inch thick

1/4 cup orange juice

1 canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can

1 large clove garlic

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 Hass avocados, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 1 ear)

1/4 cup minced red onion

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon lime juice

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Light a charcoal fire, or heat a gas grill to medium-high.

Set the steak on a flat surface. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut through the meat, parallel to the work surface, leaving 1/2 inch of the meat attached at the side so it can be opened like a book. Set the butterflied steak in a medium bowl or baking dish.

In a blender, combine the orange juice, chipotle chili, adobo sauce, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Puree until smooth. Pour the mixture over the steak, and marinate for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, gently mix the avocados, corn, red onion, jalapeno, lime juice and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the steak from the marinade, letting the excess drip back into the bowl; do not wipe off the marinade. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Grill the steak, turning once, until medium, about six minutes per side.

Transfer the steak to a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for five minutes. Thinly slice steak across the grain, and serve with the avocado-corn relish.

(Recipe from August 2009 issue of Food & Wine magazine)

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