Sacramento's Farm-To-Fork Restaurants Look For Help To Grow

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Sacramento's farm-to-fork restaurant owners could soon get a new incentive to grow their businesses inside city boundaries.

Those owners could soon become eligible for "zero percent city loans" as part of a farm-to-fork expansion plan.

"The whole community has come to circle around the idea that we are America's breadbasket," said Chef Patrick Mulvaney, owner of Mulvaney's B&L, at this past weekend's Bacon Festival.

With the farm-to-fork brand now seared into Sacramento, a new plan to help restaurant owners expand to a second spot is also heating up.

"These are for restaurants that already have a proven track record, of knowing how to run successful businesses," Wood said.

Josh Wood is the executive director of Region Restaurants. Wood is proposing that city hall offer zero percent loans to farm-to-fork restaurant owners whose businesses have been open at least five years and who want a second location.

"A high percentage of restaurants fail within in the first five years and so if you've already crossed that threshold, then there's something to be said for the success of your business," Wood said.

Sacramento's appetite for farm-to-fork food is now inspiring a new type of farm-to-fork finance.

"Anything that makes business easier to open and operate in the city of Sacramento is a great idea," Mulvaney said.

The idea has already received support from some councilmembers.

Any new disbursement of public funds would require a council vote.