Jay Weinstein

What was your inspiration for writing The Ethical Gourmet?

After working as a professional chef for years, I saw things in the food industry that were horrible for the environment and it bothered me—I grew up in a family that took nature walks and my parents were avid birdwatchers. I guess you could say that I always wanted to do something in the industry that would make a difference. I would hear from chefs about depleted ocean resources, about fish that were depleted and commercially extinct and I knew that somehow I could do something about that. I came up with the idea of a fish cookbook that would be based on fish that were plentiful and renewable and sustainable. Of course, when I shopped around the fish cookbook, people thought that was too limiting and didn't want a whole cookbook on fish. They wanted me to do a book on sustainable food in general. That became a whole bigger fish to fry, so to speak, but that became my goal.

What are your feelings about eating meat?

I don’t think there's an inherent wrong in eating meat. That's one of the points I try to make in my book, is that not everybody is going to become a vegetarian and that's okay. We don't look out at the Savannah in Africa and say that the carnivores—the lions—are harming the environment or are unethical. It's part of nature. It's just that we've mechanized our system for producing meat and made it so that we're tipping the balance of nature. That's a big problem, and that's what I'm trying to pull back from—and I'm trying to encourage others to do the same.

If we're still going to eat meat, how do you suggest that people do so more ethically?

Although you don't have to eliminate meat to have a more ethical diet, you don't have to make meat the "be all, end all" of every meal. By making the more substantial part of your meal a grain course or a vegetable course, you can pull back on the amount of meat you're buying and eating and still have the deliciousness and the experience of it without having to fill up on it. For example, why not have a meat appetizer and a veggie main course? Or instead of a big steak with a side of mashed potatoes, why not have a big pilaf of wheat berries and nuts and dried fruit with a side of a few slices of beautifully grilled steak? You can have one steak that would be one large portion with a baked potato on the side, or turn that one portion into four and have everyone enjoy it with a vegetarian main dish. In terms of impact on the Earth, that means that less heads of cattle were slaughtered for your meal.

With so many people living on our Earth, how do you convince someone that their eco-conscious actions will really have a positive impact on the environment?

We can only do what we can. If you, for example, use a product in a reusable container instead of one that's disposable, that's one less disposable that was manufactured and used. That's a quantifiable difference. And you can't look at it as it's only me doing it because millions of people are too. And if you're not doing it, then you're part of the problem. People can feel good about what they're doing by knowing that they're no longer part of the problem.

If your grocery store doesn’t carry enough local produce, is there any way to get them to change that?

The bottom line is, vote with your feet. There are so many green markets and grocery stores that carry local produce. If you learn to revel in the summer corn and tomatoes and the fall apples and root vegetables that come into the market, it's going to enrich your life and you're going to be glad that you took those extra steps to find them. People all over the country can find local farmstands on the internet. Go to www.eatwild.com and www.localharvest.com and you'll find clickable maps of your area to help you locate farmer's markets near you where you can buy direct from the farmer.

What do you say to people who feel they can't afford to buy organic, local or ethical foods?

My answer is that people should do what they can. All things being equal, everyone should buy the more ethical product. But I'm a realist. I understand that there are economic concerns and that not everyone can afford to pay extra money for an egg or a piece of fruit. Those people who can't, shouldn't. People who can, should. The vast majority of people in this country have the means. We're closing in on 10% of our family budget going to food. In our parent's generation, it was 25% of the family budget. And in our grandparent's generation, it was 50%. So we're spending less of our family budget now than any previous generation did on food. If we've gone down to 10% because things have gotten so cheap due to factory farming, we can go back up 1 or 2% and that's really the difference we’re talking about here. This isn't the poor country. Stop worrying about what other people can't do and start thinking about what you can do.

Can you explain your stance on genetically modified crops?

The GMO issue is a tough nut to crack because the potential hazards and benefits are both so great. This is a science where there's so much possibility for good. If we totally rule out GM crops that are pesticide resistant, that are able to grow in areas that normally would not support the crops, or in depleted soil, then the alternative is to continue to rely on more pesticides for conventional farming or to continue to exploit new land. I endorse organic farming and organic foods in a big way, but I recognize that with our huge human population, it would be impractical and more detrimental to the environment to try to convert all conventional farms to organic. I see the promise of some of the developments in GM crops in mitigating the worst effects of conventional farming, such as pesticide use. In the U.S. alone, 200 million pounds of pesticides have been taken out of the growing of one crop alone because of the introduction of a pest resistant genetically modified crop. By introducing a gene that creates an enzyme in the cotton plant that resists weevils that would normally destroy the crop, farmers have been able to pull back and save hundreds of millions of pounds of pesticide that would have been applied the year before.

What does green mean to you?

Green means having an impact on the environment in a positive way.

These days, there's a lot of trendiness involved with going green. What do you make of that?

It's a great thing. When people are bragging about the fact that their car has lower emissions than their next door neighbor, instead of bragging about a car that has faster pickup or can go over bigger piles of rocks than their neighbors, that's a good thing.

What is the most recent green habit that you've adopted into your life?

I don't accept disposable chopsticks in Asian restaurants. I carry my own reusable chopsticks in my bag and refuse to use disposables whenever possible. People don't realize that chopsticks are the #1 use of rainforest wood after furniture. Forests are being cleared on a huge scale for disposable chopsticks. But think of it this way: In Japan, there are 140 million people. Every single one of those people uses an average of 1.5 pairs of chopsticks every day. Even if they only use one pair of disposable chopsticks a day, that would be 140 million pairs a day. Disposable chopsticks, which were never used in China before, are now becoming popular in China. Can you fathom the scale on which forests have to be cleared in order to make those sticks? They've already deforested much of China and now they're taking their wood from Canada. I have plastic chopsticks that I've been using for 15 years since I moved to New York City. If there was ever a good use for plastics, it's this.

When was the last time you experienced an eco-conflict?

We're faced with these choices all the time, on a daily basis. I'm very against the use of bottled water. I'm a big believer in water fountains and carrying a canteen. But if I'm sweltering out in the park and I've run out of water in my canteen, sometimes I have to buy a bottle of water. That's a reality. That is a choice. Should I go home or should I buy a bottle of water?

What is your eco-sin?

I don't know where those Del Monte peaches come from or what's in them, but I love them. I have a weakness for those canned peaches, juice and all.