Chefs support organic food

We live in a world where many of us have become alienated from the production, manufacturing, and distribution of our basic food supplies. Surveys conducted with primary grade children have frequently revealed startling deficits of knowledge about the natural basis of common foods. We can remind our children that eggs are laid by living and breathing chickens however their everyday experience is often mediated by the powerful sterility of supermarket chains and fast food outlets.

Concerns of this nature have been a driving force for a wide range of government and private initiatives to reform childrens education and access to clear information about the interrelationships between healthy environments, food, and lifestyle. A new breed of media savvy chef’s from both sides of the Atlantic have provided strong support for local organic produce.

Internationally recognised personalities like Jamie Oliver have an ability to focus our attention on solutions to current food issues. His latest publication extends the traditional format of cooking guides by including information about how to grow healthy produce. The underlying philosophy is valued by many of the media chefs. To truly value food and appreciate its role in our lives, there is a strong need to maintain connections between the farm or garden and the kitchen, so to speak.

Those seeking to establish genuine links between farm and kitchen are easily embroiled in controversy. While rarely apparent, our contemporary food industry is highly politicised to the extent that alternative solutions can be hastily ridiculed or dismissed out of hand. It wasn’t long ago that raising heritage vegetable varieties without chemical sprays or fertiliser was considered to be the marginalised province of cranks and fanatics. Speak to the proprietors of heritage seed suppliers today, and the recent change of outlook is revealed. Consumers are interested and perhaps astonished to discover the loss of many traditional fruit and vegetable varieties. Most estimates suggest we’re exposed to a minute fraction of the vegetable varieties which were grown one hundred years ago.

One of the real bonuses attached to discovering the natural origins of healthy food can be summed up in a single word: simplicity. An entire generation of successful media chefs have promoted this. Moving aside from exaggerated processing and continual refinements of flavour enhances our capacity to embrace the inherent qualities of fresh produce. These qualities are also sought by organic producers who aim to deliver seasonal foods uncontaminated by chemical agents and practices which detriment against healthy soils, water, and air. As we grow attracted to the privilege of simple dishes, the demand for premium organic produce increases. It’s an old wisdom but one that remains entirely relevant: the simpler the dish, the better the ingredients need to be.

So why not take the advice of our media chefs? Find yourself a decent supply of fresh foods. Whether it’s the local supermarket, organic co-op, or growing at home in your garden. Get involved with the source if you can then stand back in the kitchen. Try to accommodate the natural flavours with simple preparation styles. You’ll probably enjoy eating more than you realise.