Dan Barber: A surprising parable of foie gras

Summary

The speaker recounts their transformative experience with Eduardo Sousa's 'natural foie gras' in Spain, a method that respects the geese's natural feeding cycle, avoiding force-feeding. Eduardo's approach, which won him a prestigious French gastronomic prize, sparked controversy for its divergence from traditional foie gras production. The speaker reflects on the ethical and ecological implications of food production, advocating for Eduardo's harmonious, nature-led farming as the future of sustainable agriculture and cuisine.

Takeaways

• 🍽️ The speaker had an exceptional culinary experience with foie gras in Spain, which they believe represents the future of cooking.
• 🚫 Foie gras is a controversial food item due to the force-feeding process known as gavage, leading to bans and criticism in various places.
• 🏆 Eduardo Sousa won the prestigious Coup de Coeur for his 'natural foie gras', sparking controversy and accusations of cheating in the French press.
• 🌱 Eduardo practices a method of foie gras production that aligns with the natural behavior of geese, avoiding force-feeding and providing a more ethical approach.
• 🏵️ Eduardo's foie gras is produced in a way that respects the animals and the environment, with a focus on giving the geese what they want, rather than imposing human desires.
• 🌳 The farm in Extremadura is described as a 'Garden of Eden', where geese can roam freely and eat a variety of natural foods, contributing to the unique taste of the foie gras.
• 🟡 The natural foie gras produced by Eduardo is not the typical bright yellow associated with conventional foie gras, but it achieves a vibrant color through the geese's consumption of Lupin bush seeds.
• 🎖️ Eduardo's approach to foie gras production is seen as a potential model for a more ethical and sustainable agriculture, respecting the natural behaviors and needs of animals.
• 🗣️ The speaker was profoundly impacted by Eduardo's methods and the taste of his foie gras, questioning the conventional practices and considering the implications for their own menu.
• 🔍 The speaker's research into the history of foie gras reveals its origins with the Jews and the Pharaoh, highlighting the contrast between the natural product and the industrialized version.
• 🌱 The script advocates for a new conception of agriculture that listens to 'nature's operating instructions' and prioritizes ecological, ethical, and delicious food choices.

Q & A

What makes Eduardo Sousa's foie gras different from conventional foie gras?

Eduardo Sousa produces foie gras without force-feeding the geese, allowing them to naturally gorge on food as they would in the wild. This process avoids the cruelty associated with traditional gavage methods.

Why is foie gras controversial and often banned in places like Chicago and California?

Foie gras is controversial because it is typically produced through a process called gavage, where geese or ducks are force-fed large amounts of grain, causing their livers to enlarge significantly. This practice is considered inhumane by many animal rights activists.

How did Eduardo Sousa address the challenge of producing yellow foie gras without force-feeding?

Eduardo discovered that feeding his geese seeds from the wild Lupin bush, which grows in Extremadura, naturally turned their foie gras yellow, meeting market demands for bright yellow foie gras without resorting to gavage.

What historical connection does foie gras have with Jewish culinary practices?

Foie gras has historical roots in Jewish cuisine, where Jews originally discovered the fattened livers of geese in the fall. This practice was later adapted under pressure from the Pharaoh, leading to the development of gavage to provide foie gras year-round.

What impact did Eduardo Sousa's natural foie gras have on the French culinary scene?

Eduardo's natural foie gras caused a significant controversy in France, leading to accusations of cheating when he won the Coup de Coeur prize. Critics argued that his product wasn't true foie gras because it wasn't produced through gavage.

Why does Eduardo Sousa believe that chefs don't deserve his foie gras?

Eduardo believes chefs don't deserve his foie gras because they often make it their own and overshadow the natural processes and flavors inherent in his product. He feels his foie gras is a pure expression of nature's bounty.

What lesson does Eduardo Sousa's approach to foie gras production teach about modern agriculture?

Eduardo's approach demonstrates that relying on natural processes and respecting animal welfare can lead to more ethical, sustainable, and delicious food products, challenging the industrialized mindset of modern agriculture.

How did Eduardo's geese respond to the removal of electric fencing inside their paddocks?

Eduardo found that removing the electric current inside the paddocks made the geese feel less manipulated, leading them to eat about 20 percent more food, which naturally fattened their livers without force-feeding.

What is the significance of Eduardo's farm location in Extremadura?

Extremadura, meaning 'extra hard land,' was transformed by Eduardo and his family over four generations into a fertile area where geese can freely roam and feed. This transformation highlights the potential for sustainable agriculture even in challenging environments.

What did the speaker mean by saying conventional foie gras is an 'insult to history'?

The speaker suggests that conventional foie gras, produced through industrial methods like gavage, goes against the natural and ethical practices that historically defined food production. This approach undermines the principles of sustainability and respect for nature.

Outlines

00:00

🍽️ The Future of Ethical Foie Gras

The speaker recounts their experience with the best foie gras they ever had in Spain, which was produced by Eduardo Sousa using a 'natural' method. Eduardo's approach avoids the controversial gavage (force-feeding) by allowing geese and ducks to gorge on food naturally as winter approaches. The speaker also mentions the historical practice of gavage, which was invented under Pharaoh's demand for year-round foie gras, and Eduardo's win of the prestigious Coup de Coeur, sparking controversy among the French who questioned the authenticity of his foie gras due to the lack of force-feeding.

05:00

🌱 Eduardo's Goose Whispering and Sustainable Farming

The speaker describes Eduardo's unique relationship with his geese, his innovative fencing method that prioritizes the geese's comfort, and the transformation of the 'extra hard land' of Extremadura into a bountiful farm. Eduardo's foie gras production is highlighted as not only humane but also economically viable, with the geese contributing to the farm's income by eating and leaving behind figs and olives. The speaker is amazed by Eduardo's ingenuity, particularly his use of the Lupin bush to naturally color the foie gras yellow, which is traditionally associated with high quality.

10:01

🎵 The Harmony Between Domestic and Wild Geese

The narrative continues with the speaker witnessing Eduardo's geese calling to wild geese, inviting them to stay, which challenges the traditional notion of migratory behavior. Eduardo explains that the geese choose to stay due to the ideal living conditions he provides. The speaker is deeply moved by the taste of Eduardo's foie gras, which was transformative and unlike anything they had experienced before, and reflects on the philosophical implications of Eduardo's approach to food production.

15:03

🌾 Eduardo's Foie Gras: A Gift from Nature

The speaker reflects on Eduardo's philosophy that his foie gras is an expression of nature and a divine gift for good work. Eduardo's reluctance to supply his foie gras to chefs, who he believes would make it their own, is contrasted with his dedication to preserving the natural integrity of the product. The speaker is left questioning the industrial agricultural practices that are prevalent today and considers Eduardo's methods as a potential model for a more ethical and sustainable future.

20:07

🌱 The Call for a New Agricultural Mindset

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker calls for a new agricultural mindset that respects and works with nature rather than exploiting it. Eduardo's farm is presented as an example of how ecological, ethical, and delicious food can coexist. The speaker emphasizes the importance of listening to 'nature's operating instructions' and adopting agricultural practices that are sustainable and in harmony with the environment, as demonstrated by Eduardo's farm.

Keywords

💡Foie Gras

Foie gras is a luxury food product made from the liver of a force-fed duck or goose. It is considered a delicacy in many culinary cultures. In the video, the speaker discusses the controversial nature of foie gras due to the force-feeding process, known as gavage, which is seen by some as inhumane. The speaker's experience with Eduardo Sousa's 'natural foie gras' challenges the conventional method and offers an alternative that aligns with ethical and sustainable farming practices.

💡Gavage

Gavage refers to the force-feeding process used to enlarge the liver of a duck or goose to produce foie gras. The term is significant in the video as it highlights the ethical concerns surrounding the production of conventional foie gras. Eduardo Sousa's method avoids gavage, allowing the birds to eat naturally, which is presented as a more humane and sustainable approach.

💡Ethical Farming

Ethical farming encompasses agricultural practices that prioritize animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and fair labor practices. The video emphasizes the importance of ethical farming through Eduardo Sousa's natural foie gras production, which avoids force-feeding and instead allows geese to forage freely, reflecting a respect for the animals and their natural behaviors.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in the context of the video refers to agricultural practices that maintain ecological balance, reduce waste, and are economically viable over the long term. Eduardo's farm is described as a model of sustainability, transforming 'extra hard land' into a rich ecosystem that supports both the geese and the production of high-quality foie gras without compromising the environment.

💡Coup de Coeur

Coup de Coeur is a French gastronomic prize that Eduardo Sousa won for his foie gras, as mentioned in the video. This award is significant as it highlights the recognition of Sousa's natural foie gras, despite the controversy and accusations of cheating by the French, reflecting the high regard for his product in the culinary world.

💡Force Feeding

Force feeding is the practice of feeding an animal more than it would normally eat, often for the purpose of increasing the size of certain body parts, such as the liver in foie gras production. The video contrasts conventional force feeding with Eduardo's method, which respects the natural eating habits of the geese and avoids the ethical issues associated with force feeding.

💡Natural Foie Gras

Natural foie gras, as described in the video, is produced without the use of force feeding. Eduardo Sousa's method allows the geese to gorge on food naturally during the fall season, leading to a liver enlargement similar to that produced by gavage but without the ethical concerns. This term is central to the video's theme of ethical and sustainable food production.

💡Extremadura

Extremadura is a region in Spain where Eduardo Sousa's farm is located. The region is characterized by 'extra hard land,' but it has been transformed by Sousa and his family into a fertile environment for the geese. The term is used in the video to illustrate the transformation of a challenging landscape into a thriving ecosystem, contributing to the sustainability of the farm.

💡Lupin Bush

The Lupin bush is a wild plant native to Extremadura that Eduardo Sousa uses to naturally color his foie gras a bright yellow, which is traditionally associated with high-quality foie gras. The use of the Lupin bush is an example of Eduardo's innovative approach to farming, relying on natural resources to enhance the quality of his product without artificial means.

💡Heritage

Heritage in the video refers to the historical and cultural legacy associated with the production of foie gras. Eduardo Sousa's method is a continuation of a family tradition that dates back to 1812, emphasizing the importance of preserving traditional practices that are in harmony with nature and ethical considerations.

💡Ethical Choice

An ethical choice, in the context of the video, is a decision made with consideration for moral principles, such as animal welfare and environmental impact. The video argues that the most ecological and ethical choices in food production often result in the most delicious products, as exemplified by Eduardo's natural foie gras.

Highlights

The speaker had the best foie gras experience in Spain, which they believe represents the future of cooking.

Foie gras is controversial due to its production method involving force-feeding, known as gavage.

Eduardo Sousa produces 'natural foie gras' without force-feeding, allowing geese to eat freely and roam his land.

Eduardo's method respects the natural behavior of geese, capitalizing on their instinct to gorge in the fall for winter.

Eduardo's foie gras won the Coup de Coeur, a prestigious French gastronomic prize, causing controversy in France.

Critics argue that Eduardo's product is not true foie gras because it lacks the forced feeding process.

Eduardo's farm in Extremadura is described as an incredible landscape, a 'Garden of Eden' for the geese.

Eduardo's innovative fencing electrifies only the outside to prevent the geese from feeling trapped or manipulated.

Eduardo's geese eat more feed to fatten their livers naturally, without the need for force-feeding.

Eduardo's farm is self-sustaining, with geese eating figs and olives, which he can also sell for profit.

Eduardo's foie gras is naturally grey, but he uses the Lupin bush to achieve the traditional yellow color preferred by consumers.

The speaker was deeply moved by Eduardo's approach and believes it represents a new conception of agriculture.

Eduardo believes chefs do not deserve his foie gras because they alter its natural expression.

The speaker suggests that the most ecological and ethical food choices are often also the most delicious.

Eduardo's method is seen as a return to the natural roots of foie gras, respecting the history and biology of the product.

The speaker calls for a new agricultural mindset that listens to nature's operating instructions, as Eduardo does.

Transcripts

I went to Spain a few months ago

and I had the best foie gras of my life.

The best culinary experience of my life.

Because what I saw, I'm convinced, is the future of cooking.

Ridiculous, right?

Foie gras and the future of cooking.

There's not a food today that's more maligned than foie gras, right?

I mean, it's crucified.

It was outlawed in Chicago for a while.

It's pending here in California, and just recently in New York.

It's like if you're a chef and you put it on your menu,

you risk being attacked.

Really, it happened here in San Francisco to a famous chef.

I'm not saying that there's not a rationale

for being opposed to foie gras.

The reasons usually just boil down to the gavage, which is the force feeding.

Basically you take a goose or a duck

and you force feed a ton of grain down its throat.

More grain in a couple of weeks than it would ever get in a lifetime.

Its liver expands by eight times.

Suffice to say it's like -- it's not the prettiest picture of sustainable farming.

The problem for us chefs is that it's so freakin' delicious.

(Laughter)

I mean, I love the stuff.

It is fatty, it's sweet, it's silky, it's unctuous.

It makes everything else you put it with taste incredible.

Can we produce a menu that's delicious without foie gras?

Yes, sure.

You can also bike the Tour de France without steroids, right?

(Laughter)

Not a lot of people are doing it.

And for good reason.

(Laughter)

So several months ago, a friend of mine sent me this link to this guy,

Eduardo Sousa.

Eduardo is doing what he calls natural foie gras.

Natural foie gras.

What's natural about foie gras?

To take advantage of when the temperature drops in the fall,

geese and ducks gorge on food

to prepare for the harsh realities of winter.

And the rest of the year they're free to roam around Eduardo's land

and eat what they want.

So no gavage, no force feeding,

no factory-like conditions, no cruelty.

And it's shockingly not a new idea.

His great-granddad started -- Patería de Sousa -- in 1812.

And they've been doing it quietly ever since.

That is until last year,

when Eduardo won the Coup de Coeur,

the coveted French gastronomic prize.

It's like the Olympics of food products.

He placed first for his foie gras.

Big, big problem.

As he said to me, that really pissed the French off.

(Laughter)

He said it sort of gleefully.

It was all over the papers.

I read about it. It was in Le Monde.

"Spanish chef accused ... " -- and the French accused him.

"Spanish chef accused of cheating."

They accused him of paying off the judges.

They implicated actually, the Spanish government, amazingly.

Huh, amazing.

A huge scandal for a few weeks.

Couldn't find a shred of evidence.

Now, look at the guy.

He doesn't look like a guy who's paying off French judges

for his foie gras.

So that died down, and very soon afterward,

new controversy.

He shouldn't win because it's not foie gras.

It's not foie gras because it's not gavage.

There's no force feeding.

So by definition, he's lying and should be disqualified.

As funny as it sounds, articulating it now and reading about it --

actually, if we had talked about it before this controversy,

I would have said, "That's kind of true."

You know, foie gras by definition, force feeding, it's gavage,

and that's what you get when you want foie gras.

That is, until I went to Eduardo's farm in Extremadura,

50 miles north of Seville, right on the Portugal border.

I saw first-hand a system that is incredibly complex

and then at the same time, like everything beautiful in nature,

is utterly simple.

And he said to me, really from the first moment,

my life's work is to give the geese what they want.

He repeated that about 50 times in the two days I was with him.

I'm just here to give the geese what they want.

Actually, when I showed up he was lying down with the geese with his cell phone

taking pictures of them

like his children in the grass.

Amazing.

He's really just in love with -- he's at one with --

he's the goose whisperer.

(Laughter)

And when I was speaking to him, you know, I thought,

like I'm speaking to you now, right,

but sort of in the middle of my questions, my excited questions,

because the more I got to know him and his system,

the more exciting this whole idea became.

He kept going like this to me.

And I thought, OK, excited Jew from New York, right?

I'm talking a little too aggressively, whatever,

so you know, I slowed down.

And finally, by the end of the day I was like,

Ed-uar-do, you know like this?

But he was still going like this.

I figured it out.

I was speaking too loudly.

So I hushed my voice.

I kind of like asked these questions and chatted with him through a translator

in kind of a half whisper.

And he stopped doing this.

And amazingly, the geese who were on the other side of the paddock when I was around --

"Get the hell away from this kid!" --

when I lowered my voice, they all came right up to us.

Right up to us, like right up to here.

Right along the fence line.

And fence line was amazing in itself.

The fence -- like this conception of fence that we have

it's totally backward with him.

The electricity on this fiberglass fence

is only on the outside.

He rewired it. He invented it.

I've never seen it. Have you?

You fence in animals. You electrify the inside.

He doesn't.

He electrifies only the outside.

Why?

Because he said to me that he felt like the geese --

and he proved this actually, not just a conceit, he proved this --

the geese felt manipulated when they were imprisoned in their little paddocks.

Even though they were imprisoned in this Garden of Eden

with figs and everything else.

He felt like they felt manipulated.

So he got rid of the electricity,

he got rid of current on the inside

and kept it on the outside,

so it would protect them against coyotes and other predators.

Now, what happened?

They ate, and he showed me on a chart,

how they ate about 20 percent more feed to feed their livers.

The landscape is incredible.

I mean, his farm is incredible.

It really is the Garden of Eden.

There's figs and everything else there for the taking.

And the irony of ironies is because Extremadura, the area --

what does Extremadura mean?

Extra hard land, right?

Extra difficult. Extra hard.

But over four generations, he and his family

have literally transformed this extra hard land into a tasting menu.

Upgrades the life for these geese.

And they are allowed to take whatever they want.

Another irony, the double irony

is that on the figs and the olives,

Eduardo can make more money selling those

than he can on the foie gras.

He doesn't care.

He lets them take what they want and he says,

"Usually, it's about 50 percent. They're very fair."

The other 50 percent, he takes and he sells and he makes money on them.

Part of the income for his farm.

A big part of his income for his farm.

But he never controls it.

They get what they want,

they leave the rest for me and I sell it.

His biggest obstacle, really, was the marketplace,

which demands these days bright yellow foie gras.

That's how I've been trained.

You want to look and see what good foie gras is,

it's got to be bright yellow.

It's the indication that it's the best foie gras.

Well, because he doesn't force feed,

because he doesn't gavage tons of corn,

his livers were pretty grey.

Or they were.

But he found this wild plant called the Lupin bush.

The Lupin bush, it's all around Extremadura.

He let it go to seed, he took the seeds,

he planted it on his 30 acres, all around.

And the geese love the Lupin bush.

Not for the bush, but for the seeds.

And when they eat the seeds, their foie gras turns yellow.

Radioactive yellow.

Bright yellow.

Of the highest quality foie gras yellow I've ever seen.

(Laughter)

So I'm listening to all this, you know, and I'm like,

is this guy for real? Is he making some of this up?

Is he like, you know -- because he seemed to have an answer for everything,

and it was always nature.

It was never him.

And I was like, you know, I always get a little, like,

weirded out by people who deflect everything away from themselves.

Because, really, they want you to look at themselves, right?

But he deflected everything away from his ingenuity

into working with his landscape.

So it's like, here I am, I'm on the fence about this guy,

but increasingly, eating up his every word.

And we're sitting there, and I hear [clapping] from a distance, so I look over.

And he grabs my arm and the translator's,

and ducks us under a bush and says, "Watch this."

"Shush," he says again for the 500th time to me.

"Shush, watch this."

And this squadron of geese come over.

[Clapping]

And they're getting louder, louder, louder, like really loud, right over us.

And like airport traffic control, as they start to go past us

they're called back -- and they're called back and back and back.

And then they circle around.

And his geese are calling up now to the wild geese.

[Clapping]

And the wild geese are calling down.

[Clapping]

And it's getting louder and louder and they circle and circle

and they land.

And I'm just saying, "No way."

(Laughter)

No way.

And I look at Eduardo, who's near tears looking at this,

and I say, "You're telling me that your geese are calling to the wild geese

to say come for a visit?"

And he says, "No, no, no.

They've come to stay."

They've come to stay?

(Laughter)

It's like the DNA of a goose is to fly south in the winter, right?

I said that. I said "Isn't that what they're put on this Earth for?

To fly south in the winter and north when it gets warm?"

He said, "No, no, no.

Their DNA is to find the conditions that are conducive to life.

To happiness.

They find it here.

They don't need anything more."

They stop. They mate with his domesticated geese,

and his flock continues.

Think about that for a minute.

It's brilliant, right?

Imagine -- I don't know, imagine a hog farm

in, like, North Carolina,

and a wild pig comes upon a factory farm

and decides to stay.

(Laughter)

So how did it taste?

I finally got to taste it before I left.

He took me to his neighborhood restaurant

and he served me some of his foie gras, confit de foie gras.

It was incredible.

And the problem with saying that, of course, is that

you know, at this point it risks hyperbole really easily.

And I'd like to make a metaphor, but I don't have one really.

I was drinking this guy's Kool-Aid so much,

he could have served me goose feathers and I would have been like,

this guy's a genius, you know?

I'm really in love with him at this point.

But it truly was the best foie gras of my life.

So much so that I don't think I had ever really had foie gras until that moment.

I'd had something that was called foie gras.

But this was transformative. Really transformative.

And I say to you, I might not stick to this,

but I don't think I'll ever serve foie gras on my menu again

because of that taste experience with Eduardo.

It was sweet, it was unctuous.

It had all the qualities of foie gras,

but its fat had a lot of integrity and a lot of honesty.

And you could taste herbs, you could taste spices.

And I kept -- I said, you know, I swear to God I tasted star anise.

I was sure of it.

And I'm not like some super taster, you know?

But I can taste things.

There's 100 percent star anise in there.

And he says, "No."

And I ended up like going down the spices,

and finally, it was like, OK, salt and pepper,

thinking he's salted and peppered his liver.

But no.

He takes the liver when he harvests the foie gras,

he sticks them in this jar

and he confits it.

No salt, no pepper, no oil, no spices.

What?

We went back out for the final tour of the farm,

and he showed me the wild pepper plants

and the plants that he made sure existed on his farm for salinity.

He doesn't need salt and pepper.

And he doesn't need spices, because he's got this potpourri of herbs and flavors

that his geese love to gorge on.

I turned to him at the end of the meal,

and it's a question I asked several times,

and he hadn't, kind of, answered me directly,

but I said, "Now look, you're in Spain,

some of the greatest chefs in the world are --

Ferran Adria, the preeminent chef of the world today, not that far from you.

How come you don't give him this?

How come no one's really heard of you?"

And it may be because of the wine,

or it may be because of my excitement,

he answered me directly and he said, "Because chefs don't deserve my foie gras."

(Laughter)

And he was right.

He was right.

Chefs take foie gras and they make it their own.

They create a dish

where all the vectors point at us.

With Eduardo it's about the expression of nature.

And as he said, I think fittingly,

it's a gift from God, with God saying, you've done good work.

Simple.

I flew home, I'm on the flight with my little black book

and I took, you know, pages and pages of notes about it.

I really was moved.

And in the corner of one of these -- one of my notes,

is this note that says, when asked,

what do you think of conventional foie gras?

What do you think of foie gras that

99.99999 percent of the world eats?

He said, "I think it's an insult to history."

And I wrote, insult to history.

I'm on the plane and I'm just tearing my hair out.

It's like, why didn't I follow up on that?

What the hell does that mean?

Insult to history.

So I did some research when I got back,

and here's what I found.

The history of foie gras.

Jews invented foie gras.

True story.

True story.

By accident.

They were looking for an alternative to schmaltz.

Gotten sick of the chicken fat.

They were looking for an alternative.

And they saw in the fall that there was this natural,

beautiful, sweet, delicious fat from geese.

And they slaughtered them, used the fat throughout the winter for cooking.

The Pharaoh got wind of this --

This is true, right off the Internet.

The Pharaoh got -- (Laughter)

I swear to God.

(Laughter)

The Pharaoh got wind of this and wanted to taste it.

He tasted it and fell in love with it.

He started demanding it.

And he didn't want it just in the fall, he wanted it all year round.

And he demanded that the Jews supply enough for everyone.

And the Jews, fearing for their life,

had to come up with an ingenious idea,

or at least try and satisfy the Pharaoh's wishes, of course.

And they invented, what? Gavage.

They invented gavage in a great moment of fear for their lives,

and they provided the Pharaoh with gavage liver,

and the good stuff they kept for themselves.

Supposedly, anyway. I believe that one.

That's the history of foie gras.

And if you think about it,

it's the history of industrial agriculture.

It's the history of what we eat today.

Most of what we eat today.

Mega-farms, feed lots, chemical amendments,

long-distance travel, food processing.

All of it, our food system.

That's also an insult to history.

It's an insult to the basic laws of nature

and of biology.

Whether we're talking about beef cattle

or we're talking about chickens,

or we're talking about broccoli or Brussels sprouts,

or in the case of this morning's New York Times, catfish --

which wholesale are going out of business.

Whatever it is, it's a mindset that is reminiscent of General Motors.

It's rooted in extraction.

Take more, sell more, waste more.

And for the future it won't serve us.

Jonas Salk has a great quote.

He said, "If all the insects disappeared,

life on Earth as we know it would disappear within 50 years.

If human beings disappeared, life on Earth as we know it would flourish."

And he's right.

We need now to adopt a new conception of agriculture.

Really new.

One in which we stop treating the planet

as if it were some kind of business in liquidation.

And stop degrading resources under the guise of

cheap food.

We can start by looking to farmers like Eduardo.

Farmers that rely on nature

for solutions, for answers,

rather than imposing solutions on nature.

Listening as Janine Benyus,

one of my favorite writers and thinkers about this topic says,

"Listening to nature's operating instructions."

That's what Eduardo does, and does so brilliantly.

And what he showed me and what he can show all of us, I think,

is that the great thing for chefs, the great blessing for chefs,

and for people that care about food and cooking,

is that the most ecological choice for food

is also the most ethical choice for food.

Whether we're talking about Brussels sprouts or foie gras.

And it's also almost always, and I haven't found an example otherwise,

but almost always, the most delicious choice.

That's serendipitous.

Thank you.

(Applause)