For 2,200 years this statement dominated the medical community. It has only been in recent times, 1805 that medicine took a dramatic left turn and abandoned this thinking. This was the year a German pharmacist Friedrich Serturner discovered morphine named after Morpheus the god of dreams. This discovery set the precedence for today's mindset of how the medical community manages health. We no longer use food to make our bodies run with optimum efficiency. Just pop a pill. Because of the poor nutritional value of our food today we no longer have the pharmacy our ancestors had in their day. There are many problems with our food supply today. The fruits and vegetables we eat are virtually void of vitamins and minerals and trace elements our bodies so badly need. Most of these problems stem from erosion of the soil that has taken place for thousands of years, and depletion of the soil by over farming the land. Our soil is almost dead today.

In 1936 Senate document 264 was published. People were informed by this document that the food supply back then was no longer adequate to sustain human life. Now 71 years later our food supply has deteriorated more, and so has our nation's health.

Some people have adopted the vegetarian/vegan life style. I have no problem with their choice. Man is basically an omnivore which means he can eat and process both meat and vegetables. The other two kinds of eaters are carnivores, herbivores. Carnivores don't always eat only meat; they will in the wild eat plant matter too. In nature nothing is set in stone. It amazes me how people who have adopted these life styles are totally clueless as to the potential danger due to the lack of vitamins and minerals and trace elements our vegetables offer today.

As a "maverick" chef I think outside the box as much as possible. More people are going out to eat in this fast pace society. Most of our food is grown on large corporate farms by people who have little to no skills in agriculture. It's all about the bottom line. Not the quality of the food. Our food is distributed by large clearing houses whose goal is to centralize and control our food supply. This has a sad and profound effect on local economies. Centralized distribution has had, and will have a large part of disseminating food born illnesses through out the country. And no doubt the world. Depending upon the restaurant and where they buy their food, you could be eating the same brand of lettuce in a five star restaurant that is served on a Big Mac. You are paying more for the five star's lettuce and getting the same product. Most high end restaurants it is all about the Chef. Not about the quality of the food. I believe it should be all about the quality of the food. I am 100% convinced that if we revitalize our food supply a good portion of our health problems will disappear. Remember the old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"? We need to go back to that mind set.

Food is what restaurants are all about. My next installment will help you understand and define our food today.



--Maverick Chef