Chef’s Table
By: Michael Formichella
The future of food production
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
I read an article headlined “Noma Restaurant defining Nordic cuisine” in the Netherlands, and how the restaurant had recently dethroned “El Bulli” as the world’s best restaurant this year. The bulk of Noma’s menu is foraged herbs, mushrooms and vegetables, a true link to the earth and what it has to offer.
As I scrolled through the snippets of news I came across a very different article talking about “heart-smart” bacon and “healthy” hamburgers. Monsanto, the biotech giant, thinks it’s found a way to make red meat better for you, and that’s got some overseas environmental activists worried. Monsanto has genetically engineered a type of soybean that contains a plant-based version of omega-3, the fatty acid that has been shown to improve cardiovascular health. Omega-3 is typically found in seafood; hence, all those recommendations to eat more fish.
In the 2008 movie “Food Inc.,” Monsanto was cast as the evil chemical company devising a diabolical plot to control the world’s food supply. This may or may not be true. You’re entitled to your own opinions, and it is not up to me to impose my views on that subject here. The gist of the article was how Monsanto patented the “perceived benefits” of their product. The article covered how the new patents have touched a nerve with many activists, which have made statements such as, “Do you want some of the most basic elements of our food supply chain controlled by a chemical company?”
This raises a plethora of questions for me, and some I hope for you to think about. Here are a few that come to mind…How are we going to feed the world when the population doubles in not so many years ahead? How is the industrialization of our food supply and farms affecting us all? Are we truly concerned about getting back to basics, knowing where are food comes from and being aware of what we eat and how we eat? Or are we simply fixated on purchasing inexpensive food?
These are some of my thoughts passed on to you all as I look across the room at my children and wonder what kind of future are we really leaving them and their children?
P.S. Real bacon still rules!
September 24, 2010
