OK, maybe North Korea has some flaws, its attempt to push the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon chief among them with a recent bout of journalist kidnapping close behind. But even this isolated totalitarian dictatorship has succumbed to the lure of fast food by opening Samtaesong, a U.S.-style quick-service restaurant located in Pyongyang, the country's capital. The place has caught on so fast that North Korea, a country still unable to feed its citizens without outside help, is ready to grow the concept. We don't know how the country's demographics stack up, but never in the history of restaurant development has there been a market as competition-free as this one is right now.

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It's got to be a political first. Current San Francisco mayor and 2010 California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is making healthy and sustainable food a cornerstone position of his upcoming campaign. And he's not just talking the talk. He's walking the walk by using the power of his current office to issue a sweeping directive that places strict controls San Francisco's food practices. Among other things, restaurants that want to cater or host a government meeting in San Francisco are now required to offer menus centered around healthy, sustainable and, preferably, local items. How is it that a candidate's position on food has become a way to attract more votes?

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Just-released research shows that restaurant operators see the ability to offer more and different kinds of fresh produce as a key point of differentiation. Now the produce industry is gearing up to help them do it. The lone sticking point: Operators also say what they particularly want more of is produce that comes from local sources, preferably farmer and/or artisan grown. That's a good option for the tiny percentage of restaurant operators who do business in areas where the growing season never ends. Everyone else will have to make do with the current system—buy local at harvest time, stick to mainstream national suppliers when it's over.

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