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Dan Barber On The Self-Righteous Vegetarians

Written by Vegetarian Star on Friday, June 29th, 2012 in Chefs, Environment-Eco-Green, Food & Drink.

Dan Barber

Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of NY’s touted as sustainable Blue Hill restaurant, has written a piece for the Wall Street Journal, criticizing vegetarians and vegans who automatically presume their diets are more environmentally conscious.

“I’d like some to explain the phenomenon of the self-righteous vegetarian to me,” Barber wrote.

“I’m not here to say I don’t eat vegetables—I do, a lot of them—but, from a soil perspective, they’re actually more costly than a cow grazing on grass. Vegetables deplete soil. They’re extractive. If soil has a bank account, vegetables make the largest withdrawals. So without animal manure, where are you going to get your soil fertility for all those vegetables in an organic system? You are, by some measures, forcing crops into a kind of imbalance.”

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It seems like every major newspaper and magazine is featuring veganism lately.

Newsweek ran an article on vegan CEOs. The Wall Street Journal talked about almond milk. If periodicals with readerships in the millions are talking about veggies regularly, we must be on our way to world where more meals eaten by the majority of people are plant-based.

Recently, WSJ ran an article called “Meet the Meaty Veggies,” where it discusses how popular chefs like Blue Hill’s Dan Barber cook up veggies for herbivores and meat eaters alike.

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In The Green Kitchen: Techniques To Learn By Heart. Author: Alice Waters.

Renowned chefs Alice Waters and Dan Barber have vowed to take bluefin tuna, a critically endangered fish that’s high in mercury, off their menus as part of the Center For Biological Diversity‘s campaign to protect them.

The campaign was launched on November 30, 2010, after the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas refused to take action to protect the species. Both the Western and Eastern Atlantic varieties of bluefin have declined in numbers by 80% since 1970 and 74% between 1957 and 2007, respectively.

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2009 NATO Summit

Blue Hill restaurant in New York received a great deal of attention after a tipster told the press Barack Obama and wife Michelle had a dinner date there.

Now, Observer writer Rachel Cook is calling vegetables from Blue Hill the “new sex.”

This should really increase business.

“Mesmerised, I removed a carrot from its spike, and took a bite. “Vegetables,” I thought. “They’re the new sex.”

Blue Hill is somewhat an environmental eatery, with ingredients being sourced from local farmers, Barber being championed a locavore by the media.

But Blue Hill isn’t a vegetarian restaurant, by any means.

The menu will make you cover your eyes as selections containing pork, chicken, and the dreaded baby animal veal are included.

And Blue Hill chef Dan Barber has discussed how to make foie gras for his restaurant in the future.

To experiment, Barber had “free-range” geese and didn’t use gavage.

An expert he called upon, Eduardo Sousa, doesn’t believe in force feeding methods to fatten a goose’s liver, saying he believes in “ethical foie gras.”

Barber was less than satisfied, calling the geese livers “ping-pong sized.”

In his determination to succeed in getting foie gras on the plate, will Barber resort to crueler farming practices?

Ideally, Blue Hill would put more locally grown plant based dishes on its menu.

Perhaps find that sought after chef who can create faux foie gras.

Because at Blue Hill, vegetables may be the new sex, but they’re not having nearly as much of it as they could.

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Celebrity Chef Daniel Boulud Proves He Can Cook Vegan

Written by Vegetarian Star on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 in Chefs, Recipes.

Raffles Hotels & Resorts and Elite Traveler Celebrate the Latest in Luxury

Oh, yeah. Vegan chefs are rocking!

First, we told you how hottie Adam Levine and his Maroon 5 band mates chose vegan raw chef Ani Phyo to cater their Halloween party. Now, the ever so popular celebrity chef movement is recognizing that vegan food deserves its star on the Walk of Fame too.

“Great Chefs Cook Vegan,” is filled with dozens of recipes from celebrity chefs such as Dan Barber, Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Todd English, and Daniel Boulud, pictured here.

“Great Chefs” was compiled by vegan Linda Long, who decided she wanted to challenge the chefs to offer more than lettuce leaves, and cook three or four course meals that would make any vegan beg for seconds and thirds. Long has been a vegan for 33 years, so she definitely could tell them when to send a dish packing!

For an example of what made the cut, try Cauliflower “Steak” With Quinoa.

Great Chefs Cook Vegan would make a lovely complement to One Can Make A Difference this holiday season, don’t ya think? Start dropping hints about your wish list now! Or, if you prefer, you can always buy it for yourself and sing the song of, “Happy Holidays to me.”

via Lancaster Online

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