LOG 003
righteous indignation
On the road picking my way through the southern united states and northern Mexico I find myself battling psychologically with the reality of the state of food and the food service industry. It seems as though no one cares, no one cares what the calories they are feeding other living beings consist of, no one cares the effect it will have on their guests or the ecosystem, no one cares whether or not they are working to honor both.
I would like to share a story of some magical moment in which I realized I wanted to become a cook tied intrinsically to a landmark experience in my life but the truth is I cant remember the moment, nor a moment where I had thought that I was made for any other purpose. Maybe it was the love connected to food through my family, maybe it was that the most peaceful and heart warming moments of my youth were at my grandmothers table with my entire family breaking bread, maybe it was growing up in a place like Vermont where farming was an intricate part of the community. Whatever it was that drew me in surely came with a feeling of responsibility, a responsibility to care for those whom I was preparing food for, their health, their emotion, their thought.
I spend most days torn to pieces by the state of food, a right has become a commodity and as with most commodity it has bred a battle for profit. The bottom line has replaced the humanity, investors have replaced owner operators, trend following has replaced creativity. Unique experiences and expressions of place and time are fewer and farther between as people have accepted the fast past life we live and found the mechanism to exploit it for gain.
The excuse is that the other way is too difficult, to access food of substance is too time consuming, too costly. This is a fallacy, a work around for those who would rather work less to make more, those who are happy to look the other way so long as the bottom line is met.
Maybe I have been at this too long to make any exceptions, maybe it is because I have employed symbiotic practices at scale and seen both the profit and homeostasis it can provide but I have zero empathy for those who decide to do harm knowingly, those who choose to disregard the data and continue to serve food that is not only empty calorically but ridden with harmful additives that are leading the charge to the demise of health and happiness. It is time to take a stand, to get louder, to battle for truth and demand change.
I am well aware that the journey we are about to embark on both here and through our videos will alienate me from a great many of my peers but I have never been one of the brotherhood, I speak and will only speak truth, everything is backed with both data and science, there is no counter, we can no longer prioritize profit over people, we must battle for a future that’s not wrapped in plastic decadence and not be distracted by awards or accolades.
I find peace in the wisdom I have acquired through a dedication to truth, through the farmers and producers I have met along the journey, through witnessing nature and community rejuvenated by the people who are unwilling to make acceptations and are willing to sacrifice their own comfort to do the right thing because they know that it may not be today but change will come, either through necessity or acceptance of truth, and their reward will be the nothing more than the equanimity it brings to their community.
I look forward to sharing pathways to a symbiotic future with you all, thanks for being along for the ride.