Chef's Table Analysis

Chef Dan Barber is introduced on the Netflix series “Chef’s Table.” The narrator explains that Baber is the face of America’s farm to table movement. He pioneers his ideas in having an open conversation with farmers to breed crops for flavor and nutrients rather than solely for profit. Baber’s has an extremely passionate personality, persistent attitude, and a radical idea to add flavor to food by growing better ingredients. Watching this documentary and hearing all of Barbers ideas causes me to reflect on my own inspirations and those of chefs that I have met and worked with.

Previously to coming to Johnson and Wales I had an extremely limited pool of chefs that I have met and/or worked with. In my opinion the majority of these chefs did not have passion for what they do. After years in the industry, the struggles of life weather away their passion. However, once I arrived at Johnson and Wales I discovered chefs that weren’t just dispassionate husks of their former selves. The majority of the chefs here are focused on their passion and how they can achieve a little more every day. This has formed two kinds of chef’s in my mind; those who have lost focus on what is important, and those intrinsically motivated to work

towards their dreams. With that said Dan Barber falls into the second category.
Barber’s passion is to create a more sustainable plate.

He accomplishes this by starting at the very beginning of the plate’s life. America widely popularizes that we can get whatever food we want whenever we want. This amazing idea has only one downfall; the flavor. By importing foods, we are able to have an overabundant pantry that has no flavor. By growing food modified to have a longer shelf life we take out flavor. Barber has tasked himself to reverse this problem. He owns a farm and regularly meets with other farmers, scientists, and breeders. With each interaction he gains the ability to create better ingredients and therefore a better final product. Even with the tremendous amount of work Barber has put into this idea he cannot do it

alone.
As stated in the documentary, this upcoming generation of chefs already has ideas of sustainability in their heads. Because of chefs like Barber who have brought light to the idea of sustainability to the public the next generation of chefs can follow his model to create more viable plates. This means that each new generation can continue this idea as long as they don’t lose focus on what is important.
Before watching this documentary and coming to Johnson and Wales I had always heard how food was a global responsibility, but I never understood how. Since coming here I have had my eyes opened to the fact that food tastes better when it’s made with the best ingredients. Chemically modified food is not only extremely unappetizing, but is also causing many health issues. By eating and cooking cleaner we are impacting future generations to follow in our footsteps. After watching the documentary has inspired me to create an open dialogue with farmers and those who produce essential ingredients in baking. With this dialogue I will be able to ensure that I am creating a better product to sell as well as a product that leaves positive impacts on the earth.
The earth’s natural is our greatest resource and in recent years humans have started to trade this resource for the convenience of an excess of unnatural ingredients. In doing this we deplete the earth of its natural nutrients and also have inferior ingredients therefore product of lesser quality. Chefs like Dan Baber have started a revolution to reverse this damage done to the earth and our ingredients. With the idea of cooking with fresh and local ingredients gaining popularity it is only a matter of time until this revolution succeeds in creating healthier food, healthier people, and a healthier planet.