Chefs Collaborative

When I think about codfish, my thought process goes like this: How healthy are the populations? Where is it ranked on the ocean-friendly fish cards from Chefs Collaborative partners and friends like the Blue Ocean Institute? And finally, how does it taste?

But I rarely consider the culture surrounding the preparation of cod. A recent New York Times article reminds us that as industrialization progresses and artisanal food preparation methods decline, we stand to lose something equally as important: tradition.

In Portugal, salt cod, known as bacalhau, is the foundation of the cuisine, with over 1,000 recipes for its use. Preparing it is a time-intensive process that depends on knowledge accumulated or handed down over time. Today, this culinary tradition is eroding as dietary habits are changing, cod is becoming more scarce and more expensive–and the method is being replaced by something some traditions can’t touch: convenience.

The frozen bacalhau industry is on the rise in Portugal, and according to at least one industry executive, “traditional cod will soon be a thing of the past.”

Framed as progress, this is troubling. What do we have to lose from freezing bacalhau? For one thing, energy. Salting as a preservation method is a sustainable technique that doesn’t require massive amounts of energy. Just salt.

We also stand to lose flavor, amibiance (imagine tapas spots replacing those attractive hanging strips of cod with dangling boxes of frozen fish?)–and the sense of fulfillment we experience when engaging in a rich culinary tradition. On the other hand, we’ll still have convenience.

–Aaron Kagan, www.teaandfood.blogspot.com

by Robin Schempp

As the whirl of Thanksgiving comes to a close I am ever more grateful to the farmers and food producers who have taken seriously the messages of “real bounty” from early Thanksgivings. These are the folks creating a food supply we can be proud of.

A handful of farms, ranches, and programs like the Renewing America’s Food Traditions collaboration and Slow Food’s Ark of Taste work hard at preserving biodiversity and rescuing, restoring, and promoting rare and heritage produce and livestock so that we no longer have to consider them (or that way of eating) endangered.

Sadly, the battle for a more diverse food supply just got harder for Arie McFarlen, a member of the Slow Food Ark of Taste and a friend to the RAFT coalition. News that Maveric Ranch suffered a completely devastating barn fire the week before Thanksgiving hits not only our friend hard but also the rare breeds themselves. You can read below for more details on Arie’s farm and her loss, but first: Maveric Ranch needs your help.

We share Arie’s love for rare breeds and her mission for a better food supply. Please consider doing something a little extra this holiday season for the sake of the ranch and the breeds. Hold an event, pass the hat, send a percentage of the proceeds–or just make a direct donation.

Send a check to:

Endangered Hog Foundation

Maveric Heritage Ranch Co.

47869-242nd St.

Dell Rapids, South Dakota 57022

In addition to personal and beloved family animals and the 100-year-old barn itself, McFarlen lost several rare Mulefoot hog sows and their litter of piglets, an important breeding Guinea hog boar, and an even more rare Wessex Saddleback boar (one of 11 in the U.S.) Attempts to rescue the animals were unsuccessful given the electrical fire, which burned at 2,000 degrees, was so intense it melted the metal farm implements.

They were able to release the pigs from the pens around the barn to escape the heat, however, many were burned and have suffered smoke inhalation. Although they are still nursing the injured animals day and night, the McFarlens continue to lose animals daily.

Although the newer barn was saved, the McFarlens lost power to the entire farm, including the ability to pump water. All the winter feed (approximately 1,000 bales of alfalfa, tools, watering troughs and feeders, buckets, piglet pens,  power cords, winter heaters, saddles and other horse gear, fencing supplies and construction materials were completely destroyed.

A note from Arie reads:

“We cannot replace our rare breed pigs. They simply do not exist. Our work for nearly ten years has been to preserve and save the breeds of these pigs. We cannot begin to express our sense of loss over these animals, not just from our lives, but from all future generations.

This tragedy has made it even more clear to us that rare breeds are in a very precarious situation. At any moment, a disaster, accident, or disease could take another species from this planet.

Our friends have already begun to rally around us and offer support. We have recieved many calls and emails from the folks at Slow Food USA, Animal Welfare Institute, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and Dakota Rural Action. With all of this encouragement, we feel compelled to persevere and ensure that future generations are able to raise and enjoy these breeds, and that the biodiversity of pigs is preserved.

The Endangered Hog Foundation has been established to help us rebuild and continue work with endangered pig breeds. We intend to carry on with our DNA research, breeding program, establishing new breeders and promoting endangered pigs.

We’ve already begun the clean-up process and will begin construction of a facility to continue working with our pigs as soon as spring arrives in South Dakota. Temporary measures to provide for the pigs during the upcoming winter are underway.

We need your help. Our immediate needs are for physical labor to help with clean-up and building temporary shelter to winter the pigs. We also need to find a source of alfalfa hay square bales, to obtain portable shelter for the pigs due to farrow in early 2009, hog equipment, and hand tools.

Donations can be sent to the “Endangered Hog Foundation” in care of Maveric Heritage Ranch Co. at the address below, or visit our web page at www.maveric9.com.

Thank you to everyone who has offered support. I cannot describe how it feels to stand in a place of profound grief and intense gratitude at the same time. We will carry on through the support and love of our friends.” –Arie McFarlen, PhD, Maveric Heritage Ranch Co.

Happy Thanksgiving! At this point, you’ve probably heard about the Sarah Palin turkey slaughter video. If not, you should watch it now.

After granting one turkey a pardon, Palin fielded questions for an interview while a man slaughtered turkeys behind her. It may have been embarrassing for Palin, but the scenario was both entertaining and disconcerting for You Tube viewers.

It’s hard to say what’s worse: the fact that the Governor of Alaska could be so oblivious to her surroundings, or the fact that Americans were so alarmed to see that turkeys have to be killed in order for us to eat them. By coincidence and thanks in large part to youtube, we’ve all been granted access to the metaphoric glass abattoir described by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

This incident, and the attention it drew, is further proof how disconnected eaters are from the sources of our food. If Palin had been standing in front of a nicely browned and stuffed bird with those little frilly things on its drumsticks, there would have been no controversy. But stick her next to a killing cone and it’s a different story. The interview was a mistake on Palin’s part, but with Thanksgiving here it serves as a reminder that a turkey doesn’t turn into dinner by magic.

Why did viewers react to the video so viscerally? I’ve watched it several times in mixed company, and each time a few people react with disgust. If they were vegan, I might understand, but if you’re going to eat meat, you shouldn’t be as squeamish as a fifth grader in sex-ed.

This is the connection Chefs Collaborative works to strengthen. “Farm-to-Table” is more than a catchphrase, it’s a path food takes on its way to your gut. But without an understanding of the various paths food can and does take, ”farm-to-table” is more like “out of thin air to table.”

So this Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks to people who produce our food, and to that special someone who helped you show a little more gratitude: Sarah Palin.

–Aaron Kagan, www.teaandfood.blogspot.com

In the latest Producer Profile, Chefs Collaborative member Ray Brandhurst of Four Winds Seafood lists some of the sustainably caught products he offers besides his trademark shrimp. Among the options are finfish like sheepshead and croakers.

One hundred and thirty years earlier, Mark Twain mentioned those same two fish among the American foods he missed the most while on tour in Europe. In addition to “Sheep-head and croakers, from New Orleans” he included the following:

American butter

Saratoga potatoes

Connecticut shad

Baltimore perch

Brook trout, from Sierra Nevadas

Lake trout, from Tahoe

Black bass from the Mississippi

Virginia bacon, broiled

San Francisco mussels, steamed

Philadelphia Terrapin soup

Canvas-back-duck, from Baltimore

Prairie hens, from Illinois

Missouri partridges, broiled

… just to name a few (there are 85 total). He asked that all of them “be hot when I arrive.”

While Four Winds offers species that many shrimp lovers are unfamiliar with, Twain’s letter is a reminder that the regional foods like croaker and sheepshead are nothing new. Hence the “R” in RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions), the coalition project of which Chefs Collaborative is a lead partner. 

The introduction to the latest RAFT book states the intent in choosing the word “Renewal” over the original suggestion of “Rescuing.” “Renewal” implies a return to an existing tradition, while “rescuing” gives the impression that without the effort, the subject of the rescue would otherwise crash and burn.

Without the support of consumers, this could be true of products like Ray’s shrimp, which face steep competition from foreign imports whose impact is far worse for both the planet and the palate.

While there is a very real sense of urgency around supporting our local food producers, Twain reminds us that by valuing regional cuisine, we are completing a circle only broken within the past hundred years or so. By choosing local, heirloom American foods over their mass produced, potentially poisonous Chinese counterparts, we vote with our forks (or crab mallets) to renew the rich American food legacy that lies waiting for us to reclaim it.

Of course having shad, terrapin and prarie hens in the same meal might not qualify as sustainable eating, but Ray’s sheepshead, croakers, or shrimp would be a good place to start.

–Aaron Kagan, www.teaandfood.blogspot.com

If 2008 had proof of a summer,  it was Bruce Sherman’s anise-hyssop sorbet. Served after the James Beard Foundation Awards, the sorbet shared the table with the potted herb that gave it its flavor and its name.

Visit Sherman’s Chicago restaurant North Pond in the winter, and dessert will perfectly suit that time, too. A self-defined “seasonal cook,” Sherman links his dishes–both savory and sweet–with the year’s cycle, and that dedication shows throughout his menus.

Sometimes, working seasonally means looking in a different field. “For me, talking about farm to menu, it doesn’t mean exclusively local,” Sherman says. “In the wintertime, we use citrus, and we use a farm in California. That’s not local at all, but it’s seasonal; that’s what we do.”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding about what people who support local are about. I’m a seasonal cook first and a local cook second. Local is not the be-all-and-end-all for me. Seasonal is. In the late spring and summer and early fall, it’s great because the two work together.”

Sherman balances imagination with practicality. His aim is “to work seasonally and offer a creative, diverse menu that satisfies the diner, the cook, and the cash register.” It’s a balancing act. There’s always something chocolate on the menu–but the seasons have their say.

Sometimes, that’s about planning ahead. In cold months, Sherman works with fresh fruit from California, Florida, or Texas, but he also makes use  of stored things, such as dried fruits and preserves. Listening to him describe a cool weather dessert (a nougat glace on pain d’ epice sponge served with house-made cherry jam), it’s easy to long for winter.

Sherman revels in the changing challenges of the year. “Each season has its own pleasures in that it’s new again every year. My analogy is snow, because we live in Chicago. People look forward to the first snowfall of the year, and it’s always a magical thing. It last a couple of months, until it becomes a burden to shovel and navigate around. By the end of the season, people are glad it’s not going to snow again and bitter about how much precipitation there is.”

“And it’s no different with–plug in a fruit or plug in a vegetable: leeks, apricots–people may be tired of using them or eating them by the end of their season, but when they become available again, people really look forward to them. For me, it’s a real shortcoming of living in a place where there are no seasons, when things are available all year. Some of the magic is gone.”

As this year cools and darkens, Sherman is working with squash and Jerusalem artichokes and chestnuts. “We just started getting these awesome apples,” he says, his tone of voice sounding as if autumn fruits were the definition of luxury.

A little something stored, a little something from the farm, and a whole lot of inspiration from the season…Bruce Sheman is making sustainability sweet indeed.

–Seanan Forbes, www.creativedichotomies.com

It’s been a month since I spent 36 hours on a shrimp boat on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, sorting  twitching white shrimp by size, fighting with crabs, and trying to toss baby croaker back overboard before they died. I went right before Chefs Collaborative presented a panel on the shrimp industry for the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs conference.

Why has it taken me so long to write about this trip? Well, in part, fall is a busy time of year here at Chefs Collaborative–we’re stacked with fundraising events, harvest festivals, speaking engagements, and piles of regular old desk work.

That’s my excuse. But the real reason might be that the trip was humbling. We got caught in a big storm–seasickness ensued–and I spent two nights in a tiny bunk under a scratchy blanket without my toothbrush. I peed in a bucket.

When Ray Brandhurst, the boat captain, called me into the wheelhouse to tell me he didn’t intend to bring me out on the boat to do actual work,  I told him it was fine-fun, even-because I didn’t have to do it again tomorrow.

But he did. He’s still out there, pulling 16, 22, 36-hour stints on the water, trying to haul in as much shrimp as he can before it gets too cold and the shimp migrate offshore. Sometimes his deckhands disappear, so Ray works alone, driving the boat, searching for shrimp, hauling nets, sorting the stuff, cleaning up, and starting over.

If he sells his shrimp to processors, he can barely get $2 per pound for it. Operating this way causes shrimpers like Ray to lose money. Meanwhile, fixed costs for commercial fishermen keep rising, as does everyone’s cost of living, and we continue to import over 90% of our shrimp supply from shrimp farms in developing countries like Thailand, India, and China–flooding the market and driving down domestic prices.

Between the low prices at the dock, the rising operating costs, and the competition from cheap farm-raised imports, the odds are stacked against someone trying to make a living this way.

That’s why Ray and his wife Kay have taken on a second job–marketing, sales, promotion and shipping of their shrimp. They target restaurants and chefs in markets that are less saturated with fresh head-on shell-on shrimp than their own. Places like San Francisco, Boston, and New York are prime markets for this great domestic product, and when you can get it delivered to your door less than 48 hours out of the water, you can’t argue with the quality. By going directly to the end user, the Brandhursts get a better return on their investment of equipment, time, and labor.

And the benefit goes both ways. Chefs pay a little less than they would for a premium product that goes through traditional supply channels, and diners get an experience: the sweet-briny taste of the shrimp and the story behind it.

Until the FDA steps up their efforts to ban shrimp imports of questionable quality, domestic shrimpers will continue to get obscenely low prices at the dock. It’s an unfair situation with at least one relatively straightforward solution.

Whether they’re buying direct from a shrimper like Ray, or going through their purveyors to get spot prawns, Maine pinks, and other shrimp harvested in a sustainable manner, chefs and consumers can choose to support this domestic industry. It’s one way we can help change the game.

I already had a soft spot for Tom Stearns, president of High Mowing Seeds, a participant in the Renewing America’s Food Traditions project–he has infectious energy and great ideas for revitalizing local agriculture. And sometimes, Pete’s Greens show up in a market here in Boston–grower Pete Johnson’s season-extending skills mean we can have Vermont greens in Boston in December. Oh, and Bayley Hazen blue cheese from nearby  Jasper Hill Farm…in terms of building functional, thriving local food systems, Vermont’s got it going on.

And, as reported by the New York Times, they’re organized, too!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to join our friends at the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy for their annual conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) works to promote and preserve heritage breeds of livestock and is a partner with Chefs Collaborative and Slow Food USA in the Renewing America’s Food Traditions project.  Livestock producers from around the country gathered at Tillers International to attend workshops on both raising and marketing these traditional breeds.  ALBC’s work is more important than ever before as modern food production favors specialized breeds that are selected for maximum output in confined living operations.

Chef Matthew and ALBC Producers

Chefs Collaborative was excited to partner with ALBC on two workshops throughout the conference, including a pig breakdown led by chef Matthew Millar of Journeyman restaurant in Fennville, Michigan.  We met at Zazio’s restaurant in the Radisson Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo.  Matthew broke down at 150 pound Tamworth pig that had been donated by ALBC producer Nila Robinson of Shiocton, Wisconsin.

Chefs aren’t the only ones interested in learning how to work with whole animals.  Producers are also interested in what happens to their animals once they leave the slaughterhouse and arrive at a chefs’ door.  Marjorie Bender, the Research & Technical Programs Director for ALBC, facilitated an engaging dialogue between the audience and chef Matt.  Questions regarding food safety, direct marketing, and culinary preparations were plenty.

The highlight of the day was the preparation of the two tenderloins (yes there are only two per animal) by Judd, a line young cook, at Zazio’s.  The tenderloins were lightly seasoned with a rosemary sea salt and seared to perfection.  Many of the workshop attendees had never eated pork so lightly prepared and realized immediately what a special product they have.  Many of these breeds have such beautiful and distinct flavors that preparation and seasoning is minimal.

Chef Judd seasons tenderloins

The remaining cuts were brought to chef Julie Stanley’s Food Dance Cafe, where the conferences’ inaugural dinner was taking place.  The menu featured Nila’s Tamworth along with Giant Chinchilla Rabbit, Red Poll Beef, and Bourbon Red Turkey.

It was a real treat getting to see and taste, all of these beautiful animals and meet the producers who work so hard to bring heritage varieties back to our family farms and tables.  To learn about the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and their producers, visit www.albc-usa.org.

Slow Food Nation put on an amazing celebration of the local, sustainable, delicious food we all value - with a beautiful Victory Garden in front of City Hall the most moving and memorable element.  It convinced me it’s time to put a kitchen garden of my own in my backyard.  And the whole event inspired me to redouble my efforts here at Chefs Collaborative.

The event was kicked off with a plenary session called, “The World Food Crisis.”  Moderated by Michael Pollan and featuring Vandana Shiva, Carlo Petrini, Raj Patel, and Corby Kummer, this opening discussion placed our work in the U.S. to promote a more sustainable food supply in the context of a global movement.  It looked at how U.S. international policies adversely impact the availability of local, fresh, healthy food in developing countries.  For example, when our country provides poor quality grains to developing countries at low prices local farmers can’t compete.  This has relevance for our own policies here at home - especially when it comes to farm subsidies, which benefit industrial farms and have consequences for the survival of mid-size and small farms.

I was moved to learn about the Bay Area Community Services “meals on wheels” program where they switched to a “Farm to Table” model, which costs more, but not much more.  With fresh local food, the ingredients cost 5 cents more per meal.  The kicker is this: With every meal comes a little envelope, into which people are gently encouraged to place a donation if they can, to help cover costs.  In the three months since the farm to table service started, donations have gone up by $20,000 - a 23% increase.  This is from the poorest people in the Bay Area, in the middle of an economic crisis.  This says something about people’s willingness to pay for fresh, healthy food and the need for educating people about the real cost of food.

And finally, I walked away with a greater understanding that for a new food system to be successful - one that does a better job distributing local, fresh food - we need two things in place:  1) “Right relationships,” where each player has a stake in the well being of others, and; 2) An infrastructure to support distribution of local, sustainable products.

Chefs Collaborative views chefs as vital conduits for changing our food system.  We are part of a greater movement to promote a more sustainable food supply and national events like Slow Food Nation that bring stakeholders and experts together provides valuable opportunities for sharing new ideas and inspiring one another.  Hats off to the organizers of Slow Food Nation!

Melissa Kogut, Executive Director

One of the dirty little secrets of the food business is how much waste we really create. The U.S. wastes over 30 million tons of food per year. We waste more than a pound of food per person per day. More than 27% of the food bought at the retail and consumer level remains unused and enters our waste system.

Why should we care? Because waste is pricy. We can combat the rising costs of food by reducing our food waste—and still eat as much and as well as we are now. Amazing! Where to start? Buying with more awareness is the first and most important thing to do.

First and foremost, we can make sure we are signed up for a composting and recycling contract for our food waste disposal. These services are an increasingly common option, but are still not universal.

In fall 2004 when we opened The Sunny Side Café in Albany, a small town on the edge of Berkeley, there was no composting or recycling offered. It took nearly two years for us to get that option, thanks to groups like the Green Albany Project of the Green Chamber of Commerce.

Such waste reduction efforts are a centerpiece of the Low Carbon Diet. Levels of energy used to produce and transport the food, as well as the carbon dioxide and methane released as it decomposes, can all be reduced if food waste is reduced.

But, unfortunately, this is not enough. We need to re-integrate our food into its original ecological cycles.

We have removed our food system from both the life cycles and the nutrient cycles that they traditionally resided in. This is why our food scraps are called “waste” in the first place, because we haven’t realized that they are, in fact, useful for something.

The solution is to return to a Table to Farm culture.

Growing up I spent about half my childhood on a small farm in Sacramento. We certainly had a compost pile reserved for weeds and other farm waste, but our food scraps went directly into the chicken coop. The free range chickens were allowed to forage for insects and wasted grain beneath our rabbit cages. We saved our eggshells and ground them up to be fed back to the chickens for calcium. Once a year we hauled piles and piles of excellent new soil from the chicken coops onto the vegetable beds. We didn’t create food waste. The concept simply didn’t exist. These ideas aren’t radical, but they have been forgotten on the national level.

The term “Farm to Table” has become increasingly popular as people realize the numerous benefits of eating fresh local food. Table-to-Farm completes the cycle.

Table to Farm is the age-old system of utilizing our discarded food scraps as a food and nutrient source in our food production system. Prime examples are chickens and pigs. For centuries, both animals have been seen by traditional cultures as “free food.” Certainly you have to care for and protect them. But pigs and chickens are excellent recyclers of scraps, efficiently turning unused food back into animal protein. Contrast that to our present system, where both hog and chicken farms require large quantities of prime corn and other grains—and are becoming more and more expensive to raise.

The move toward such a system, from where we are now, would not be easy, and would involve rethinking many parts of our food chain. But consider the potential benefits: more food, grown for less cost, with less environmental impact.

Given the staggering inefficiencies of our current system, there’s hope that a Table to Farm system will prevail. In the meantime, we all can do our part to reduce our personal waste percentage, saving money in the process. And helping to build better dirt for our Farm to Table food to grow in!

–Aaron French, www.eco-chef.com