Talking Compassion and Feeding the Hungry
By Sherry Li 
May 11, 2010 
13 Comments
Compassion. That’s not a word that comes to mind when someone mentions a Michelin star restaurant in New York City. You probably think “extravagant” or “exotic”. But compassion is exactly what Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and David Chang of Momofuku Ko are. Both of these renowned chefs follow the Buddhist credo of empathy. As they discussed various aspects of Buddhist cuisine with Tim McHenry of the Rubin Museum moderating, I was impressed by their continued effort to be mindful of the environment and living things that inhabit it.
Jilly Stephens, Executive Director of City Harvest, introduced the two chefs at the LUCKYRICE Buddhist Cuisine program, highlighting their dedication to the fight against hunger in New York City. Chef Ripert is heavily involved with City Harvest as the Chair of the Food Council and whose restaurant has donated over 180,000 pounds of food to help hungry New Yorkers.
Food, as well as the ingredients that compose our meals, is often something that we take granted for. We often go through 3 meals a day without thinking about the consequences of eating – a simple everyday necessity. However, nowadays, in order to provide for the vast amounts of food – both meats and produce – that we consume, there are farms and fishing practices that cause tremendous suffering to animals before they die. As a practicing Buddhist, Chef Ripert has struggled with this fact. Although he hopes to find a permanent solution to this problem “within [his] lifetime”, he has made tremendous effort in not serving endangered species at his restaurant, finding sustainable sources for his ingredients, and promoting the virtues of protecting the environment.
David Chang: “By putting a limit on the ingredients we can use, we are forced to be more creative.”
Chef Chang expressed similar attitudes, emphasizing the significance of respecting the cycle of life. The theme of being “mindful” of the repercussions of one’s actions came up several times in the evening. I walked away on the warm Friday evening with the intriguing thought of being more aware of my sphere of influence. The chefs preached that if our actions don’t benefit other people, at least we should take care not to harm others. Not mind boggling… but food for thought, indeed!
Buddhist values come into play in other ways than the ingredients. Chef Chang’s trip to Korea fascinated him with new cooking techniques. He made this discovery in, of all places, Buddhist temples, where nuns were preserving vegetables for the winter. Garlic is one ingredient that Buddhists avoid because of its strong flavors (which is in contradiction to one of the Buddhist principles of strong stimulations). Even without the use of garlic as a spice, they were still able to produce spicy food, like kimchi. It seems like even a celebrated chef like David Chang can be overwhelmed when it comes to food!
No doubt, it was enlightening to see two successful chefs be so devoted to making a difference with their efforts both in and out of the kitchen. While they make the difference on a grander level, we as individuals can make a difference at the grassroots level too. The idea of being “mindful” is key here. If we can be mindful of not eating animals on the endangered species list, we will be one step closer to saving these precious animals from extinction. If we continue supporting restaurants that acquire meats and produce from sustainable sources, other restaurants will start doing the same. Chef Tadashi Ono of Matsuri, another member of LUCKYRICE‘s Culinary Council, is an advocate of restaurants making a conscious effort not to include blue fin tuna on the menu (more on our interview with Chef Ono in a future post!).
Other than preserving the environment and our ecosystem, we can also play a part in ending hunger. Imagine not having enough food to eat everyday. Most of us have never experienced this – I definitely have not. Over 1 million New Yorkers go hungry during the year, of which more than a third is children! In our exclusive interview at the event, Ms. Stephens illustrated the importance of fighting hunger at the grassroots level.
Currently, City Harvest has many programs and initiatives in place, from food rescue to emergency food to nutrition education. The individual citizen, says Jilly, can contribute to the cause by supporting local sustainable farmers and by donating food and money. Here’s a tidbit for you to sleep on tonight: 22 cents will rescue and deliver one pound of food. That’s less money than a stick of gum!
Join Appetite for Good on May 12th by skipping lunch to help feed hungry children and families. The price of an average NY lunch – $10 – helps feed 15 families!
Photos by Patrick Chang for Appetite for Good.
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Very thought provoking. Thank You!
Jason
Thanks for reading! I think everyone in the audience, including myself, were quite enlightened that night
Thoughtful, interesting post. Thank you! Sounds like a discussion not to be missed.
Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad I was able to spread a little bit of the chefs’ kind philosophies through this post!
Nice article.. well thought out and how awesome to hear these chefs speak. A reminder to us all that we can accomplish things in ways we never thought of before!
Thanks much! I was very grateful to have attended the event! Eric and David are very inspirational for the food community. It was an honor!
And you’re so right about going beyond our limits. Like David said, scarcity fosters creativity!
great post, thank you for sharing.
Thanks for reading! Much appreciated!
Fantastic post, very informative:)
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed
I think you are right; we do take the fact that most of us can get three meals a day for granted. Kudos to these chefs for doing what they do. Nice article.
Definitely! Chefs Ripert and Chang were very inspirational!
Thanks for reading!
One of the main reasons for why I became vegan- a bit extreme for most people, but this subject really compelled me. It’s turned out to be a culinary adventure for me, so it’s been all positive! Thanks for the post – glad to hear that these role models in the culinary world are making such a great example for others to follow!