Your Grist article should be required reading for anyone interested in making sustainable food mainstream (will post on Twitter later). Injecting yourself “smack in the belly of the agribusiness beast” took a lot of guts, but I also sense you knew it was the right place to be.

It would be great to follow up offline, as I am working on some things in Vermont that I am guessing you will appreciate. I’ll be in contact soon or if you get this first please shoot me an email at robert.b.smart(at)gmail.com.

Cheers!

Rob Smart
Founder, Every Kitchen Table
a.k.a., Jambutter on Twitter

I wrote for Grist.org some time ago on the challenges of being a sustainable-minded chef in the belly of the agribusiness beast. The way I see it, we chef’s have been at the forefront of this movement for some time now, and have been bringing the farmers along with us – although it’s true enough that it could be seen in the reverse as well. When I started in this business 30 (ahem) years ago, restaurants were judged on the distant exotic-ness of their ingredients. Today, the closer the source is to the kitchen door, the better.

Bravo to Mr. Smart, and keep up the good work! if I can be of help, let me know.

The next post in the Pro Food series will focus on how the sustainable food industry might unfold. One thing I would say for now is that Pro Food is less movement and more business, which is how it will be fundamentally different than previous efforts.

In my next post, I will highlight several existing businesses and organizations that are thriving based on their embrace of Pro Food principles, well before I wrote about them.

One more sneak peak: I intend to draw parallels between sustainable food and the Internet, both of which center on democratizing and/or decentralizing industries once dominated by consolidated power.
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi

The next post in the Pro Food series will focus on how the sustainable food industry might unfold. One thing I would say for now is that Pro Food is less movement and more business, which is how it will be fundamentally different than previous efforts.

In my next post, I will highlight several existing businesses and organizations that are thriving based on their embrace of Pro Food principles, well before I wrote about them.

One more sneak peak: I intend to draw parallels between sustainable food and the Internet, both of which center on democratizing and/or decentralizing industries once dominated by consolidated power.

Warren: In some ways, I believe sustainable food as an industry can be compared to the Internet, in terms of its potential. Specifically, as early entrepreneurs help establish successful projects, more money will flow to infrastructure. Eventually, you can see a Pro Food 1.0, 2.0, etc. that will serve entrepreneurs and investors well.

Zach: As a fellow leader in Pro Food, its great to read how you embrace Slow Food in your personal life, while embracing Pro Food’s role in increasing sustainable foods in the US market.

Fredo: Your knowledge of Slow Food and how Pro Food has the potential to “free up some of the many aspects of Slow Food’s growing agenda” is great to read. Having been in Silicon Valley in the relatively early days of the Internet, what you suggest reminds me of the magazine Red Herring, which wrote about the “Business of Technology”. Perhaps Pro Food, simply put, is about the Business of Sustainable Food.