Hello Everyone!
Chef McCue is a chef-instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, he teaches a class called Quantity Food Production. Chef McCue has a group Facebook page and the other day he had a very thought provoking wall post. I reached out and asked if it would be ok if I used his post to open up a blog response. This is what Chef McCue said:
"I have always stated that a Chef, a true chef is the custodian of the earth. We take life to give life. Our's effects our environment more through use of resources and creation of refuse than most other industries. We also employ more people (food service) than any other. With so much on our plate already (pun intended), politics is deciding the "Future of Food" ? We are where the rubber hits the road...how will the dollars you spend on food vote on our future...Ladies and gentlemen...what is the future of food ?"
That let alone is a great question which I really feel that needs attention. Being a graduate already and have seen so much happen within our industry in the past two years has been incredible. Look back at past events, last year the huge egg recall, the rise of Monsanto, the current "pink slime" case, the USDA labeling pizza as a vegetable. So much has defined our industry in current events its beyond crazy. Being a recent students and to those in school now, to those wanting to pursue a career in our industry, to those just starting out, we can do a lot to have an impact on everything going on with food. I'm not trying to downgrade those generations proceeding us but as the generations in front of us are moving out and we are moving in, these problems, issues are going to be on our shoulders. So first I really, really want to say that now is the time for us to become involved, we the newer generations of future Chefs, industry leaders, etc, we need to become informed, stay up to date on all the happenings going on.
If you look at food, its one of the bases of life in the world along with water, sunlight, oxygen, etc. Food is a building block for civilization, it brings people together, its wholesome, it nourishes. But what makes me question is that how will my tomato so to speak look 2 years from now, then 5 years from now and then 10 years from now and so on and so forth. Will the tomato I grew up with be the same tomato my children will have? The reason why I ask is that because we have had the huge....massive decline in farmers in the United States and we had the rise of the huge, mega farms processing a genetically modified tomato so everyone can go to the big box store and enjoy them year around. When those of us know that the best tomato is grown in the summer and if lucky able to taste that of a heirloom tomato grown down the road and if done right, taking those tomatoes and preserving them by canning so summer's splendors can be enjoyed in the winter. But then what is canning? Does the average American household know how to can? How to preserve? Quite honestly, canning and preserving though its making a comeback, most people haven't found a need for such a thing because one can go to the big box store and pick up a can of diced tomatoes. Then another question that arises is what happens to that farm down the road that's been family owned for years, will it still be standing in the years to come or will the worst come and they will be forced to sell for commercialization, will the economy stand up so they can continue the hard work they do to provide a service to the community, will the seed soon become genetically modified? Those are all questions that come up.
Then we need to look at these ongoing and "new" trends that keep popping up. Using organic, local ingredients, etc. Whats mind boggling is that these are the so called "new trends" of restaurants, is that process of using local and organic ingredients used to be the way of life. "Back in the day" you used to have to resort to using what you had and what was in season or use the food one had preserved or canned. The farming industry back in the years used to be one of the largest sectors of industry in the United States, the amount of local farms was high and even then the major jump in home gardens soared in World War Two because food needed to be sent to support the troops so "Victory Gardens" we planted and used. But then after the war was over and industrialization was on the rise, these "convenience foods" and we fell to the ability to go and get a can of tomatoes from the big box store and the need to have a home garden or the need to can.
This is where I want to look at education. How do you teach a concept like food, good healthy food, eating well? We as future leaders in our industry we can do that through our place of work but going in to the educational system and teaching children, teaching teachers, teaching parents. Its reaching out and making the extra mile but how do you do such in a economy that is questionable in stability. Where school district are making huge budget cuts to make it by and the government has say on where money flows to. But then it goes even higher into the ranks, the USDA, the FDA, etc in where honestly members of large corporations sit like from Cargill, Monsanto, etc. Literally to change the future of food your talking about possibly changing the American life and changing some of the largest producers of food know to date.
How do we do that? What do we need to do? Honestly, I feel fortunate because where I'm going with my job all our produce is sourced right on our farm. Not only that but the staff goes out and we participate in planting, taking care of the fields, picking for service, etc. But what do we need to do, support our local economies yes it sounds great but what if you cant 100% fully commit to local produce? Those are the questions that do get brought up. There's lots of what ifs, and conditions that occur, but I think what we need to do being future industry leaders and professionals is come together. Speak as a whole, we want a change then we need to come together and make that change happen. But before we make a change happen we need to be educated, we need to see the inner workings of all aspects of our industry and we need to come together to educate those in our communities and promote better eating and promote use of better food and ways to preserve that food. Then as a whole, take a step forward for what is better, in what could honestly bring a lot of people closer. It is hospitality we are talking about, and food is one of the great things that brings people together.
-Garrett
