Dan Barber, How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways:

1. Blue Hill 
2. Blue Hill at Stone Barns 
3. The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
4. That MTV Extreme Close-Up picture of the wild boar testicles you showed to a packed auditorium the other night

Four. I love Dan Barber four ways.

This past Tuesday, Michael Pollan and Dan Barber gave a talk at the 92nd Street Y that was moderated by Joan Dye Gussow. The theme was Hedonistic, Healthy, and Green: Can We Have It All? When I walked into the lobby, the place was absolutely packed, and everyone seemed eager to make it quickly up to will-call so they could take their seats and rain silent praise down upon a couple of our greatest contemporary advocates for local and sustainable eating. I was no exception.

I didn't know what to expect, but the event was pleasantly free-form, with Gussow, Pollan, and Barber each giving a short presentation of sorts from the podium at the beginning but taking comfortable seats on the stage afterward to have a conversation about modern American eating habits. Pollan is fresh off the publication of his latest book, In Defense of Food, which sort of naturally led him to do much of the talking, but Gussow peppered the talk with some personal insight, and Barber forever endeared himself to me with his self-deprecating (and perhaps, at moments, unintentional) comic relief. I mean, after his detailed Powerpoint presentation about how he agonized over what to do with Boris, his wild boar at Stone Barns, when the animal was no longer able to... perform, I kind of had no choice but to love the guy.

Among other things, I came away from the talk feeling reassured that Pollan, who easily runs the risk of becoming a figurehead for whatever you want to call this movement toward more conscious eating choices, is still ceaselessly performing research and ready to not only share his findings, but to interpret and back them up.

Issues of elitism, class, and other impediments to accessing whole, healthy, and/or environmentally friendly foods came up a handful of times, too. I was really pleased to hear Pollan and Barber (whose restaurant is most assuredly guilty of "sticker shock," as Gussow put it) willingly acknowledge that such problems are very real, and also to hear them offer ways in which the public can help change that.

It was really encouraging to see the auditorium at the Y filled to the rafters with folks who are excited about what Pollan and Barber have to say. I may live in a neighborhood that's home to three regular Greenmarkets, a food co-op, and a few CSAs, but despite that (or quite possibly because of it), it's still sometimes hard to tell whether the things these guys and their peers are spotlighting are taking root with the general public. The turnout at this modest talk, however, made it hard to deny.

Video of the talk on the 92y.org blog
The first chapter of In Defense of Food