Recipes
Browse by: Dish Type Ingredient Cuisine Cooking Method Diet Season Menus Recipe Collections Quick Dinners View All
How-Tos
Cooking Techniques Ingredient Guides Equipment Kitchen Tips Entertaining View All
Product Recs
Equipment Reviews Taste Tests Buying Guides Editors' Picks Books Shop View All
Culture
Cuisine Guides Food History Food Science Personal Essays Podcast Travel Diaries Profiles Food Industry SE HQ View All
Dining Out
Boston Chicago Los Angeles New Orleans New York Philadelphia Portland, OR San Francisco Washington, DC View All
Game Day
Chili Dips and Spreads Drinks Guacamole Mains Nachos Salsas Snacks Sweets Wings View All
Your account
Saved Recipes > Newsletters >
Follow us
Recipes
Browse by: Dish Type Ingredient Cuisine Cooking Method Diet Season Menus Recipe Collections Quick Dinners View All
How-Tos
Cooking Techniques Ingredient Guides Equipment Kitchen Tips Entertaining View All
Product Recs
Equipment Reviews Taste Tests Buying Guides Editors' Picks Books Shop View All
Culture
Cuisine Guides Food History Food Science Personal Essays Podcast Travel Diaries Profiles Food Industry SE HQ View All
Dining Out
Boston Chicago Los Angeles New Orleans New York Philadelphia Portland, OR San Francisco Washington, DC View All
Game Day
Chili Dips and Spreads Drinks Guacamole Mains Nachos Salsas Snacks Sweets Wings View All
Saved recipes > Newsletters >

Search for recipes and articles

Popular Searches

Staff Favorites

  • Burgers
  • Korean
  • Corn

New York Culinary Experience: Q&A with Dan Barber

Chichi Wang
0 Printer-Friendly Version
Published: October 8, 2009 Last Updated: August 9, 2018
20091007-danbarber.jpg

[Photograph: Chichi Wang]

In a Q&A session with Dan Barber at the New York Culinary Experience, the issues of the day were sustainability, the true meaning of "organic," and the role of taste in changing our collective behavior and preferences. Dan Barber, executive chef/co-owner of the Blue Hill restaurants and a board member of the Stone Barns Center, has been raising awareness about better-tasting, local food for years through his cooking and writing.

Hosted by Gillian Duffy (Culinary Editor of New York magazine), the session started with a discussion of the nation's transition from the "organic" movement to that of "sustainable farming." Barber noted that while the organic movement began with an emphasis on understanding the origins of one's food (hence, the etymology of the word), the current and more limited definition of "organic" is essentially that of refraining from fertilizers and pesticides. On the other hand, the sustainable farming movement recognizes the ecological and environment impacts associated with our food choices.

Barber's Sustainable Farming Practices

Barber's broad definition of sustainability is to participate in a food chain that is ecologically beneficial—i.e., to give back to the land as well as to take. In addition to the flavorful pink veal that he raises (truly delicious, as confirmed by Gillian Duffy), Barber discussed his brood of hens. Most famously expounded by Michael Pollan, the instance of raising chickens that peck at the manure of the grazing cows—thereby fertilizing the land while gaining nutrition themselves from the grubs present in the manure—was touched upon by Barber, who raises such chickens on his own farm.

In Barber's case, his brood of one thousand hens follow his sheep. This mimics the natural system of birds following herbivores—a system that is found in so many instances in the wild. Ever the pragmatic idealist, Barber uses the Tyson/Purdue breed of chicken rather than a heirloom variety: the former can produce up to five eggs per week, while the latter, only one egg per two weeks. (His turkeys, by the way, are broad-breasted whites rather than the heritage breeds that much higher in price.)

While Barber freely acknowledged the culinary benefits of having mangoes in the winter, he emphasized the logic of buying local foods rather than having them shipped from faraway locations. (Oil—its role in distributing pesticides and fertilizers, in addition to transportation—prevents the fossil fuel from being a sustainable choice in the future, especially taking into account the rising prices per barrel.) While there was limited time to expound on the matter, Barber touched upon using solar-based systems as the right alternative.

The Importance of Taste

At the end of the day, Barber spoke passionately about the importance of taste in convincing us to alter our eating habits. The rest of the issues—ecological sustainability, humane treatment of animals, environmental well-being—are arguments rather than catalysts for true change. In order to support local movement and farmers, we must prize taste. To recognize that a locally grown carrot tastes intensely like a carrot is the first step. For Barber, our resolution that we simply won't eat tasteless food anymore, or feed it to our friends and family, is the key to real action. Chefs, Barber concluded, are uniquely capable of using the taste tactic. So then are we home cooks, who must also make the same choices everyday about what we buy and consume.

All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

Chichi Wang Columnist
  • Profile
  • Contact

I'm a really good eater and a decent cook. Activities in the kitchen that I find soothing: seasoning my cast iron skillets, boiling bones, rendering lard. When I'm not reading, eating, or writing, I try to balance out my life with non-sedentary activities, such as swimming, uh, and walking to restaurants.....

0 Printer-Friendly Version
Tags
  • celebrity chefs
  • dan barber
  • interviews
  • michael pollan
  • new york culinary experience
  • q and a
HIDE COMMENTS
Sign In or Register
No comments
Comments are closed
HIDE COMMENTS

Popular Recipes

Appetizers and Hors d'Oeuvres

Jamaican Pepper Shrimp

That red color tells you what you need to know: They're HOT!

Jillian Atkinson
Chicken

Homemade Pollo Campero (Central American–Style Fried Chicken)

Here's how to make this Central American classic at home.

Karla T. Vasquez
Chinese

Easy Fried Rice

Light seasoning helps fried rice shine.

J. Kenji López-Alt
Baking

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza

Pan pizza, Motor City–style.

J. Kenji López-Alt
Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest recipes and tips!

More "interviews"

Grilled: Mark Estee of Burger Me! in Reno, Nevada

Grilled: Mark Estee of Burger Me! in Reno, Nevada

Grilled: Joshua Spiegelman and Lynn Gorfinkle of Roam Artisan Burgers, San Francisco

Grilled: Joshua Spiegelman and Lynn Gorfinkle of Roam Artisan Burgers, San Francisco

Grilled: J. Dean Loring of Burger Lounge

Grilled: J. Dean Loring of Burger Lounge

Serious Eats
  • Latest
  • Masthead
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Jobs
  • Sitemap
  • FAQ

Follow Us

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your California Privacy Rights
  • © 2021 Serious Eats Inc., by Dotdash

Welcome! Please sign in.

Forgot password?