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comes from organic beets—I assure you it is fully cooked and the color doesn’t indicate that it is ‘rare’ or underdone. It is NOT a burger.” Much like our Abbott and Costello vaudeville skit, this bit goes on a while. The humor in overtly and ironi- cally naming this dish “NOT A BURGER” was lost here. A disc-shaped plant-protein patty made only of organic, non-GMO, gluten free, unprocessed, whole-food ingredients, grilled and served with lettuce/tomato/fried onions on a round bun was just too confusing. Unfortunately, we too often find this type of
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linear thinking in life and for me, as a chef who advocates slow, whole, clean, functional, and sustainable foods; seeing the passive, bifurcat- ed thought process through which much of the public approaches food can be a bit challenging. In fact, whether it is a result of conditioning, a goal of big business and marketing firms, a factor of culture/history, or a misstep in our thought process, accessing food that is good for the planet, good for society, good for our bodies, and sustainably produced is much more difficult than it should be. Since the dawn of industrial agricul- ture and industrially produced, processed food in the mid 20th century, access to this type of food for many communities around the world is much further removed from day-to-day life now than it has historically ever been.
What You Perceive Is What You Get I’m not here to debate the pros and cons of being able to grow and produce food on a large scale (especially during times of war or global eco- nomic depression and famine), or to critique the worth of many new industrialized plant-based foods, but rather to continue to ask questions, challenge our perception of our modern food system, and to hopefully inspire some rethinking and positive changes. I believe there are multiple factors at play here. In my opinion our approach to food is very much an issue of perception, part of which is related to our food vocabulary and education. Another is the misperception of the global food system at large—which we must remember that, as consumers, we have the poten- tial to effect tremendous changes simply by using our voices through our choices. Speaking of the global food system, perhaps
you are familiar with the 1973 Charlton Heston sci-fi thriller Soylent Green (based upon the 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison), in which a dystopian version of the future (year 2022) faces scarcity of natural resources and mysteriously processed foods? Well, today, in the year 2021, you can have a sausage-and-egg fried rice that contains no sausage, no eggs, and no rice. And yes, there is also an actual company named “Soylent,” founded in 2013 by a group of Silicon
“Not a Burger,” whole-food, plant- based protein patty, topped with artisan pickles from Naples Canning Co.
SPRING 2021
ESSENTIAL Naples
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