Green Cuisine Takes Root in America’s Kitchens

Food

Green Cuisine Takes Root in America’s Kitchens

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Some call it sustainable cooking others clean cuisine, whatever you decide to call it, cooking with a conscience has finally caught up with most chefs and, sub sequentially, their clientele.

Chef and proprietor of Chicago’s White Oak Gourmet, Tom Leavett said “Chefs must be at the forefront of helping people re-connect with real food.” He added that most Americans have lost touch with the original sources of their food supply as a result of the convenience that comes from industrialized agriculture.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chef Stuart Donald of the Mars Hill Cafe in Mobile, Atlanta adds that “Alice Waters talked about sustainable foods in the early 1970s… Since then, it has gone from being a quirky sentiment to a full blown movement.” Although Sustainable may be a new catchword in the media, it’s remains tradition in the kitchen.

 

What Is Green Cuisine Anyway?

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chefs define sustainable cooking in varied ways, but most accentuate the need to produce natural, healthy foods, preferably grown by locals who make use of environmentally responsible agricultural practices.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chef Stuart Donald says, “To me, sustainability means not trying to outsmart Mother Nature… Don’t mess with a plant’s genetic makeup. Don’t manipulate an animal’s life-cycle through diet or chemistry. Let nature take its course.” That typically means selecting non-genetically modified products, organic food, or fair trade goods at any time possible.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Kitchens the world over are inclined to include sustainability principles in their everyday operations whichever way you choose to see it.

Putting Your Food Where Your Mouth Is

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Therefore, how are chefs able to implement working sustainability principles in the kitchen? For most, this entails thoughtfully selecting where to the source their products and trying to discover natural but local alternatives for everything they plan to use in the kitchen. For Chef Stuart Donald, that requires creatively developing seasonal menus that minimize the need for imported products, in this place, seafood.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Chef Tom Leavett has built networks with local farms, composts his food scraps, and goes farther to encourage his clients to maintain their own gardens. Still, he finds it challenging, “Going sustainable in the kitchen is a journey,” says the chef. “It hasn’t been easy considering our country’s overwhelming dependence on industrially produced foods.”

Sustainable Culinary Schools Make their Mark

Just as culinary philosophies and trends continue to change, so should the culinary schools shaping tomorrow’s chefs. Sustainable cooking is no exception.

Dean of Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts, Christopher Koetka says, “Our most important job is to help students developing a sustainability mindset… Sustainability is so much bigger than just buying locally or seasonally; it’s about a comprehensive behavioral change in the kitchen.”

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Instructors at Kendall College teach their students where food comes from and how it’s produced. Kendall’s fine dining restaurant locally sources 85% of all the foods it dishes up. The institution also provides the students with a large garden space to grow their own produce.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Being one of the most renowned names in culinary schools, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is doing its part, too. It prides itself with a long tradition of integrating green principles in its curriculum, and most recently it has begun transitioning St. Andrew’s Cafe, a combined classroom and public restaurant on CIA’s Hyde Park Campus, to a green cuisine restaurant. The restaurant cum classroom recently received a two-star certification by the Green Restaurant Association.

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

CIA Professor and St. Andrews Executive Chef Dan Turgeon had this to say,

“I’m amazed by how many [students] are aware of these issues… But many still don’t know where their food comes from. That’s what we’re trying to teach them.”

Finally, it should be noted that implementing a green cooking approach in culinary education may require persistence and patience but it is worth the time and effort.

Thank you for reading The International healthy-foodnetwork.com ®

People
Photos of Historical Individuals Who Lived Long Enough To Be Photographed

There were public figures who may have not experiences the joy of being photographed. This is because there were no photos to photographs. However, some of them were lucky to live long enough to be taken photos for remembrance. They are as follows: 1) John Quincy John Quincy was the …

Lifestyle
35 Most Beautiful Black Female Celebrities

Black women are beautiful and give the world a lot of things. They entertain us with their acting. We listen to their beautiful music. They also shine their athletic talent. They write books. They draw our attention to serious things. In our article, we want to show you the 35 most beautiful black women.

Food
What Superfoods Improve Your Immune System?

At times like today, most people are trying to protect themselves from the pandemic virus with facemasks and gloves. However, it is critical to understand that the most effective measure that we can take is to boost our immune system. Also, by offering our body with an extra bit of strength, we stay good health, and this helps us during this pandemic. We have put together a list of powerful superfoods that can offer our immune system with a boost and help fight off dangerous diseases.