A Place at the Table
Paying it forward in more ways than one, Chef Tom Colicchio spoke at the 7th Annual Chefs Collaborative Summit in NYC, the co-founder of the Food Policy Action (a non-for profit organization devoted to holding members of Congress accountable for their votes on food policy). Through his continuous education and hard work he is spreading the word about WHY we as a nation are experiencing “food insecurity” (aka uncertainty about when your next meal will be) and with his 2011 appearance in the documentary, A Place at the Table, he nails the real issues at hand.
If you are in this industry it is a must see documentary and we believe in what Senator Kristen Gillibrand, also a speaker at this year’s Chefs Collaborative, said, “It is the responsibility within the chefs community to take action for change in our supply chain.” While we do not give away the documentary, we would be remiss in not sharing some highlights:
- 70% of the overall dollars spent by the US Dept. of Agriculture are with the top 10% that are the biggest, largest, and best capitalized businesses.
- Since 1980 up until 2011, processed food costs went down 40% and fruits and vegetables went up 40%.
- Our farm policy has a lot to do with what is subsidized and what is not!
Due to these factors, and so many more, we as a nation are approaching 50M people living with food insecurity. This is putting an expensive hurt on the availability of and access to healthy, unprocessed foods for consumers and US restaurateurs.
If we all do our part we can help reverse these scary trends and, collectively, we can be stronger than as individuals.
