Go Blue

Today is the first U.N.-sanctioned World Oceans Day, an opportunity to recognize and address the issues we have created with our most abundant and exploited resource, the sea.


The people at The Ocean Project are encouraging everyone today to "Wear Blue, Tell Two" as a way to increase public awareness of the issues our oceans face.

In addition, a documentary The End Of The Line is being released today that addresses the issue of overfishing and the damage the current commercial seafood industry has done.

Here we have yet another opportunity to recognize how our food choices affect the world we live in and how we can make a difference simply by voting with our dollars and choosing seafood that is responsible and ethical.

The Monterrey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program provides many resources including a handy and helpful list that makes responsible seafood choices that much easier.

Full Circle

When I first started this blog a little over a year ago, my first post was regarding Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, and how it had changed the way I thought about our food system and as a result what I put into my body. The book made me take into consideration the source and the impact of the food (most specifically the meat) I was eating.

Having just finished Peter Singer and Jim Mason's The Ethics of What We Eat (also published as The Way We Eat) I now find myself edging closer and closer to eliminating meat from my diet altogether. In a very well written and extremely informative tome, Singer and Mason break down three different family's eating habits, delving into the not-so-nice world of factory farming, the 'locavore' movement and 'fair trade' products.

This book is a wonderful (if not shocking) read and I recommend it highly.

As I get older (and wiser, hah) I generally feel more and more responsible for the choices I make and how they affect not just me but the world I live in, and the ethical questions raised in this book have really made me analyze what makes it's way into my shopping cart. As a chef, I feel it is my responsibility to lead by example and to educate as best as possible regarding our food system and how choices as seemingly simple as what we eat can have larger and permanent consequences.

All of that being said, this blog should making something of a shift towards vegetarian cuisine, as I limit the amount of meat (sustainable or not) that finds it's way into my pantry, so bear with me and (hopefully) enjoy the ride.