Once again, the 3rd Annual Pallet to Palate Event in August 2009 featured not only great food and wine (a big SIP poster made appearances at several events, and Baileyana/Tangent wines were poured at the SLOcovore event on Monday), but also a thought provoking panel discussion. This year’s topic was “Let’s Be Frank … About Local Food,” a perfect title since one of the participants was Larry Bain, co-founder of Let’s Be Frank, a company that produces and sells hot dogs made from sustainably raised grass-fed beef, family-farmed pork, and pastured turkey. Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm and renowned chef Bradley Ogden, most recently of Root 246 in Solvang, ably rounded out the panel, but the remarks of the engaging Bain (whose résumé also includes running a social justice non-profit and opening Acme Chop House in SF, the country’s first sustainable steak house) were the ones that really stuck with me.
Here are some snippets …
Bain chose hot dogs as his “haiku on a bun,” as his “frank” way to begin conversations about food issues because hot dogs are the ultimate egalitarian street food. No matter what class of person is eating a hot dog, “they’re all going to end up with mustard on their shirt.”
“Access to good food is a right, not a lifestyle.”
“We can’t keep balancing the economy on the backs of farmers. To make farmers economically viable we have to shorten the supply chain.”
Bain used to work in women’s prisons, and commented on the fact that many of those incarcerated were from rural areas where the farming systems had collapsed and the women suddenly found themselves with no job skills befitting an urban lifestyle. As a result, most of them were in jail for “poverty crimes,” i.e. petty theft, prostitution, passing bad checks, etc.
And lastly … “It takes a community to feed a community,” but communities don’t make themselves, so we – as individual consumers – need to buy locally, get involved in local/state/national political issues, and support organizations that champion sustainable causes.
P.S. the hot dogs were really good, especially on the local buns from Pure & Simple Bakery in Paso Robles!
