b'asked & answered FOOD FOR THOUGHTTop Chefs Tom Colicchio and universities, their cafeterias,hearing about] people whothemselves out of work. A sporting arenas and things likewere staunchly middle-class,lot of families, even if theyre on the U.S. Food System,that. A tremendous amount ofmaybe even upper middle- upper middle-class, theyre notTOP LEFTfood goes through there, andclass, in January and February.stocking a ton of money away.farmers had to pivot and tryAnd all of a sudden, they foundWhat Im hoping comesColicchio, who runs fine dining Cooking During the Pandemic to do something to get thatIts really forcingout of this is that theres aestablishments food directly to the consumer.greater empathy, and we canin New York, Some did a really good job ofstart moving away from theLas Vegas and it, and some struggled with it.us to take a deepstraw man thats set up: ThatLos Angeles, at work in one Interview by Pierre Ferrari, Heifer president and CEO Its really forcing us to takelook at how foodthe person [at the food bankof his Crafted a deep look at how food isis] just working the welfareHospitality We can end hunger in America. We justgrown, how its processed, theis grown, how itssystem or someone whos lazy.restaurants.systems through which theprocessed, and theNo one wants to be born intoBOTTOM RIGHThavent had the political will to do it, wroteColicchio and food flows and how they havesystems throughpoverty, and its hard to get out.Executive renowned chef Tom Colicchio and Heiferto be more resilient. WereIm hoping now that someoneChef Matthew which the foodDahlkemper International CEO Pierre Ferrari in a joint op-edhearing stories and werewho was solid middle-class,preparing a meal seeing on the newsthe linesflows and howwho never thought they wouldin the kitchen published by Time earlier this year. In the piece,of cars three hours long, peoplethey have to behave to line up to get food,of Colicchios Colicchio and Ferrari note that the COVID-19lining up at food banks lookingmay have greater empathy forTemple Court more resilient. restaurant in pandemic illuminated stark deficiencies in ourto feed their families. [Weresomeone whos struggling. New York City.food system, and that shorter supply chains involving local, small-scale farmers are key toPHOTOS COURTESY OF CR AF TED HOSPITALIT Ymaking that system more resilient.Colicchio is known for his role as lead judge on Top Chef as well as for his group of highly respected restaurants, Crafted Hospitality. A James Beard award recipient and described by Bravo as one of the worlds most celebrated culinary figures, Colicchio also spends much of his time and effort advocating for healthy food and food systems in the United States. Before they penned the Time op-ed, Colicchio and Ferrari discussed the U.S. food system as a part of Heifer Internationals ongoing live chat series. Colicchio emphasized the importance of a decentralized food system that spreads out production among smaller, localized farmers, processors and packaging plants. Excerpts from their conversation follow, and you can watch the full discussion at Heifer.org/TomColicchio.PIERRE FERRARI: Can you tell usarea, one in Los Angeles anddidnt have a market anymore. a little bit about your experiencetwo in Las Vegas. When thoseThere is a two-tier distribution working in food systems duringrestaurants closed, I laid off aroundsystem in this country: One is the pandemic? 470 people. But we also spendgeared toward supermarkets and millions of dollars a year [on]the other one is geared toward TOM COLICCHIO: I operatefood that we purchase. So, whenrestaurants. And then, factor in four restaurants in the New Yorkthose restaurants closed, farmersinstitutions like college campuses 18| SUMMER 2021 HEIFER.ORG |19'