Sustainable Comfort Foods? Pollan Says Yes February 16, 2010

Favorite:

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/02/09/Referendum_on_the_Jewish_Deli_Menu

Food Rules author Michael Pollan argues that sustainability in the traditional Jewish deli is achievable. He says that industrial agriculture has changed what once was considered deli food, and favors a return to older methods.

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What does sustainability mean for the future of Deli cuisine and culture? Local, organic versus industrial systems, externalized costs of cheap food and...collective memory and food traditions.

Even "authentic" cuisine can obstruct progress towards more just, sustainable food. How does a business committed to being part of the solution persuade traditionalist customers of the importance of change?

For example, towering pastrami sandwiches once signified success, security and abundance, an immigrant's celebration of the American Dream. But given the realities of meat production in America today -- 99 percent is factory farmed -- how can we continue to stand by this as an icon? What taste memories and flavors of The Deli have been provided by an industrial food system?

How can we look at our nostalgia critically? How might we evolve a shared cuisine together and how can we bring our people along with us -- away from grieving the disappearing deli, into the conversation and into the future?