The Politics of Eating and Sourcing of Natural Food
What exactly are the ethics of eating? What criteria do we use as consumers, chefs and home cooks to determine what is best for us, our community, our families or even the planet? The question is not new or unexplored. To the contrary the question has been discussed for centuries and more recently in countless books, movies and magazines and still the answer continues to evade us. Is it our access to everything all the time that has made us so unsure of our choices? Is it the plethora of diets and studies and pills that promise to make us healthier, happier or more beautiful? Is it the politics of eating that keep us wondering? Is it the ethics of living as we do when most of the world is starving?
It has to be a bit of all of these and more that factor into our decisions to buy what we buy and cook what we cook and to sell what we sell. As a business person and then a chef, my focus has always been to eat low on the food chain. As a matter of fact my original coffee house, also called Planet X, had a motto “Low on the food chain, high IQ’s” A testament to our food philosophy (we were entirely vegetarian) and the fact that the staff I assembled to open the original site were all graduate student friends. I had just left a job as an anti-nuclear activist and was very interested in the politics of food and the environmental impact it had on the planet and on global hunger. Being a vegetarian establishment was also a bit of a moral statement as my great grandfather had become a Seventh Day Adventist shortly after moving to D.C. from Sicily and three generations later some family members were still vegetarian. I remember being told that a vegetarian, non-smoking coffee house with jazz and poetry and classical music would never be accepted in a college town, but I had been doing grass roots organizing with college students and I knew that the politics of eating were changing.
Buy Local – The Restaurant Dilemma
Is the choice to eat or sell vegetarian food the answer? Not by any means! The fact that we, as a planet’ need to eat less meat in order to feed more people is clear. As is the fact that there are numerous environmental and ethical issues to consider. The simple answer is that there are no simple answers. I no longer run an exclusively vegetarian restaurant for many reasons but mostly because as a chef I began to explore food more deeply and I did want to appeal to more people than before. I have, however, tried to use my purchasing power to support suppliers who I feel raise animals ethically and use the greenest possible methods when purchasing meat or poultry for Planet X Cafe. I also know realistically that not everyone is willing to give up meat so it is important to also allow vegetarians and meat eaters alike to dine in a restaurant where they know we are sourcing the best available product.
Ah, but if it were only that simple. The meat dilemma is one facet of this complex issue. But to me as a chef and person on this planet the question of sourcing is deeper. The trend for years has been for chefs to buy locally and organically (we have always had this philosophy) but what exactly does that mean? I know that here, on the eastern shore of the mid Atlantic region of the U.S., many small farmers are unable or unwilling to be certified organic. This is sometimes an issue of cost or the bureaucracy involved, but many times these farmers are simply happy to grown what they grow naturally and without chemicals as they have always done, Our choices are even more complex than that. Do we source only from these farmers and which takes precedence organic or local? And do we shun the big companies like Sysco who are promoting buy local, sell fresh and who have made great strides to become more green and to use alternative fuel vehicles and to package and consolidate foods so that the minimum amount of fuel is used to ship the staples that all restaurants need?
In the case of Planet X Cafe we have always been aware of the plight of the small farmer and the fact that we choose local food whenever possible. Through research and getting to know personally the local mushroom farmer, the small orchard grower, the natural chicken supplier, and my Sysco rep. I have learned a lot. I get a list every week from my Sysco rep
showing me what is available from within a 150 mile radius of my restaurant and some of my small farmers even sell to them. This enables me to prevent 20 trucks a week from delivering one product each but more importantly is the fact that these small farms are able to thrive and grow with the help of such a giant as Sysco. Nothing beats going to farmers market and picking the best of the local produce available but sometimes I want organic arugula on a regular basis and again, my Sysco rep is able to provide a huge amount of organics regularly and this lends some consistency to our regularly updated menu so that we can make room for the ever changing seasonal items my small farm suppliers provide.
Besides these issues we have chosen to enlist the help of a friend who consults on our wine and gets to know the story of the vineyards we buy from. Some are organic; some are not certified but have always been green. In his research I am sure that our friend Max Wolff has enlisted the same criteria we have with food. Buy from the companies you believe in and sell the product at a reasonable cost and know the story behind the product. There are ethics involved but also a tradition of knowing where your food and drink come from. A tradition that I believe could make all of these decisions easier.
Getting to Know Your Local Farmers
I don’t think that any of this is simple but I trust that we are all becoming more educated about what we need to do. In my humble opinion it boils down to this, know your local farmers, and educate yourself, your family and your customers about the story behind the food you are serving. Cook more, eat fast food less. Eat meat if you choose but eat less and eat only ethically raised meat. Support restaurants and markets that sell local food. Attempt to stay away from insane packaged, processed foods. Establish food traditions that focus on the ethics and environmental impact of the food you eat. Maybe the motto “Low on the food chain, high IQ’s” was ahead of its time.
Justine Zegna is the chef and owner of Planet X Cafe and Planet X Catering and is passionate about natural and organic food sourcing for her restaurants.
