An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz | By Katharine Wroth | Grist | Grist Feature

Sustainable Table's Diane Hatz answers reader questions

19 Oct 2007

Sow What? A Grist special series on food and farming

Earlier this week, we spoke with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz, who was fresh off an eating tour of the United States. Today, Hatz answers reader questions on everything from seafood to the farm bill to the best pie she encountered on her travels -- complete with links to the recipes.

What's Sustainable Table's take on tropical products that can't be grown locally in the U.S. -- coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.? Should we cut down on these? Is fair trade a sufficient guarantee of environmental and social responsibility?

-- Tom Philpott, Grist, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Diane Hatz.

It's not really for Sustainable Table to tell people whether or not they should cut down on their consumption of coffee, tea, and other non-local products (though if you're having 10 cups of coffee a day, you might want to think about it!). But if you are going to buy products like bananas or chocolate, we do urge people to look for the Fair Trade label -- Equal Exchange and Rainforest Alliance are two good fair-trade associations. As far as I know, Fair Trade is a good guarantee of environmental and social responsibility.

What does "sustainable" food even mean?

-- Name not provided

That's a great question! Sustainable food doesn't have an actual literal definition, but we define it as food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage for the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities.

We're increasingly receiving conflicting recommendations from various sources to eat more seafood, basically for health reasons. I don't see any mention of seafood by your organization. What's your take on "sustainable" seafood? For example, what are your recommendations on farmed vs. wild?

-- Elaine Corets, Seattle, Wash.

I'm sorry to say, I'm as confused as you! I'm still waiting for a definition of sustainable seafood that I'm comfortable promoting, which is why we haven't put up information on fish yet. If you ask me about farmed vs. wild, though, I would strongly urge you to eat wild.

Snack and Diane

An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz

Farmed fish are raised in mainly factory farm operations and create a lot of pollution in the surrounding area and cause a lot of problems for wild fish in the area. (A lot of fish farms are pens stuck in the middle of a lake. They dump antibiotics and pesticides in the fish pens to ward off disease from having so many fish so close together.) And when you're looking for wild fish, you should look for line-caught wild fish. Using fishing nets causes a lot of problems, including the huge amount of bycatch (other fish caught at the same time that aren't used) which causes huge amounts of waste and problems with other sea creatures -- turtles and dolphins -- that can get caught in the nets and drown. There's also a problem with mercury and pollutants in fish, so you might want to do a little research on where the fish was caught.

I'm on a gluten-free diet, and I'm wondering if you can suggest any resources for connecting with local restaurants when I travel.

-- Chantal Birdsong, Newton, Mass.

I'm wheat free and use HappyCow when I travel -- it's for vegetarians, but I find that vegetarian restaurants tend to be very receptive to people with food allergies and food problems. Other people I know use Healthy Highways, but you need to buy that book.

Beyond shopping at the farmers' market, joining CSAs, and patronizing restaurants that buy local, what can consumers do as citizens to support local farming and restore some sanity to the food system?

-- Tom Philpott, Grist, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Turn the farm bill into a food bill! The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture does a lot of work with this -- check out various actions you can take on their site.

I've noticed a lot of manufactured organic foods (not fruits and vegetables) have higher amounts of fats in them. Do you know why? Can the fats not be removed and still be organic? Is there a list of healthy snacks that are organic?

-- Ryan Healey, Mansfield, Mass.

This gets a little out of my realm of expertise, but all fats aren't bad. You should look at the amount of saturated fat, and even with saturated fat, we need a certain amount to remain healthy. And a low-fat processed food could be extremely high in sugar, which might have 0 grams of fat but is still converted into fat in your body -- and it's not a good fat. Have you ever noticed that people who struggle with their weight tend to eat the diet cookies and foods that are highly processed, low in fat, but have high amounts of sugar?

I would suggest you cut back on the amount of processed food you eat and combine it with whole foods, like fruits and vegetables. And if you're going to eat fats, have healthy fats from whole foods: butter (yes, butter!), avocado, olive oil, local sustainable cheese. Eating whole fat foods will make you feel full quicker. The trick is to know the right kind of fats -- and when to stop!

What effect do you see Farm Aid having, now that it's more than 20 years on, and will such a festival continue to be relevant (or even necessary) 20 years hence?

-- Kurt Michael Friese, Iowa City, Iowa

First -- hello, Kurt! (Kurt hosted us for dinner when we were on tour in Iowa City. His restaurant, Devotay, is a must-do dinner experience when you're in the area!)

I would like to think that a Farm Aid concert won't be necessary 20 years from now, but unfortunately, it might be -- but I'd like to think we'll be having it to raise money to support sustainable food initiatives and to help farmers transition from conventional to sustainable. I think Farm Aid is very effective, and most people probably don't see or understand all that they do. The money that they raise goes directly to farmers and farm and food organizations who are doing great work to promote small family farms and sustainable food. So even though some people might think of Farm Aid as a concert happening once a year, it's actually an organization that helps support a lot of local, grassroots groups around the country. And the real change in food is coming from these small, grassroots groups -- that's something we found while crossing the country on the Eat Well Guided Tour.

Make shroom for pie.

Photos: sustainabletable.org

Where did you have the best pie on your cross-country trip?

-- Multiple questioners

It was a four-way tie! I had a blueberry pie from The Solstice Café in Corvallis, Ore. -- the blueberries aren't cooked, they're mixed in a berry sauce and then put into the baked pie crust. It was topped with lemon zest and homemade whipped topping and was a taste sensation -- the blueberries popped summer when we ate the pie! (Here's a photo and recipe. I also had a tart cherry pie from Ypsilanti, Mich. -- unfortunately I don't have a recipe, but I didn't even know Michigan grew cherries, and the pie was amazing. The third pie was an Oyster Mushroom Pie from Jackson, Wyo. (oyster mushrooms, not oysters!) -- it was a meal in a pie! Photo and recipe are also found on our tour blog. And the fourth pie was a Very Berry Pie from Marilyn's Bakery in Hobart, Ind. This was berry pie heaven! The tricky part with this pie is that Barbara, the piemaker (Marilyn's daughter) knows how to adjust sugar amounts with the sweetness of the berry being used (some crops are sweeter than others), so you might have to play around with this a little if you want to try the recipe.

Katharine Wroth is Grist's story editor.

Comments: (5 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

even local farms are not sustainable.

I would like to point out that animal agriculture is not sustainable whether local or not. A 2006 UN report reveals that animal agriculture is responsible for far more greenhouse gasses than any other source including all transportation on earth. No matter where a cow is raised she is still going to expel gas. The environmental community is taking notice and I am pleased to say that the food at this year's Green Festival in DC was vegan except for one dairy item I was told about. The EPA has long been telling us that runoff from farms is the largest source of water pollution. In addition animal agriculture is resource intensive, the water consumption alone being an average of 30 gallons for one pound of beef.
In 2005 the USDA reports that in addition to what we imported the US slaughtered 9 billion chickens and 32.4 million cows. We simply do not have the space or water to keep these animals? I hope Ms. Hatz will either modify her position or change the name of her group.

by nosuchthingashumanemeat at 1:40 PM on 15 Oct 2007

Meatrix

I think the Meatrix is brilliant and I know of a number of people who've gone vegetarian or decided to eat a lot less meat because of viewing it. The Meatrix II is great as well.

by amc89 at 9:47 AM on 16 Oct 2007

Spreading the message

nosuchthingashumanemeat -

While I agree with you about the harmful effects of meat, your last comment illustrates many of the problems with the way we are approaching the sustainable food revolution. While I encourage everyone to dramatically reduce their meat consumption, it is something that many people simply refuse to do, either they like it too much or they don't feel they can make a difference(even those who understand the consequences). In order to create the desired change of eliminating industrial meat production, it is not a feasible goal to ask everyone to stop eating meat because most people will not. Instead, we should focus on the steps Ms Hatz laid out in her interview and hope people will at least begin to ask questions about where their food comes from. Only when people begin to understand the connection between farm, food, health, the environment, and their purchasing power can we hope to increase sustainable farming. For individuals, we must start with the basics.

by nancyht at 8:16 AM on 18 Oct 2007

sustainable food = vegan food

Sustainable Table defines "sustainable food" as "food that that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage for the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities."

Such food would by definition be vegan, since it is not healthy for animals nor respectful of them to kill them merely for use as food. Virtually all animals raised for food, including those first used for egg or milk production, are ultimately killed, usually after having lived only a small fraction of their natural lifespan.

There's nothing respectful about harming an animal for food when there is a bounty of healthful -and delicious- non-animal food readily available and often more affordable. There is also no ethical justification for it.

Respect life, including your own: Go Vegan. See: http://www.TryVeg.com

Mary

by Mary at 11:16 AM on 19 Oct 2007

Rainforest Alliance

Great interview with Diane! I just wanted to point out one error in the answer about tropical products and ethical labels. The Rainforest Alliance is not a fair-trade association. We have our own sustainable agriculture certification program that encompasses environmental, social and economic criteria for farms that produce tropical crops such as coffee, cocoa, bananas and tea. To earn Rainforest Alliance certification, farms must meet a set of standards covering worker protection, housing, pay and medical care; education for farm children; water and soil conservation; agrochemical reduction and wildlife protection, among other things. To see a video of Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Colombia, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF3MFxpeeFc.

by rainforestalliance at 3:15 PM on 19 Oct 2007

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?

Second Helpings

Sustainable Table's Diane Hatz answers reader questions