Chef Jamie Kennedy is all about the food. Granted, it may seem logical for a chef to be focused on food, but the reality is, in an age of corporatism, licensing deals and TV-series ambitions, not to mention the usual bottom-line concerns that drive the restaurant industry (50-80% of new restaurants fail within their first three years, according to the feds' Canada Business department), Jamie stands out for his obsessive concern with 'big picture' issues that focus entirely on food. Where it comes from. How it's grown or raised. When it's at its peak. How to ensure its integrity for future generations.
The chef-owner operates three standout Toronto restaurants, the casual Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, the refined Jamie Kennedy Restaurant and his newest digs, Jamie Kennedy Gardiner at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Arts. Besides overseeing his restaurants, he keeps busy promoting Slow Food (the international movement preaching local farming, humane livestock raising, ecologically responsible farming methods and passion for gastronomy: an anti-convenience food movement, of sorts). He's a supporter of the Endangered Fish Alliance (endangeredfishalliance.org), an organization of food professionals dedicated to raising awareness about the need to protect marine ecosystems, which are being threatened by over-fishing, pollution and habitat damage.
Styleathome.com had a chance to ask the activist-chef a few questions both about the politics of food, as well as this fall's fabulous harvest. Here's some of Chef Kennedy's food for thought.
styleathome.com: So, you joined the boycott of Newfoundland crab, owing to the province's seal hunt. Can you tell us a bit about how you see your role as chef and activist?
Jamie Kennedy: Chefs are positioned in our society in such a way that we can potentially influence people about the choices they make around food and where it comes from.
sah.com: How did you become a supporter of regional and organic cuisine? Was this an interest that developed over time for you? Likewise, when would you say diners seemed to start becoming aware of these issues?
JK: This is an interest that has developed over time. In 1989, Michael Stadtländer and I formed an alliance of environmentally concerned chefs and local organic farmers called Knives and Forks. We had an organic market that convened once per week, and an annual event called Feast of Fields that was a harvest celebration, held in a rural location that symbolized the relationship between chefs and farmers.
Photography by Mary Armstrong
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1 Comment
Thankfully, someone who gets exposure in the media, comes forward and stands strong on buying locally. We need mentors that we admire to speak about buying and cooking with local products, from meat to veggies and everything in between. Especially herbs, for me. I took a course in the Theory of Social Change at U of T (the best prof who advocates and lives the philosphy of buying local food) taught me the changes of how we travelled from local, for eating and healing, to fast food, to ethnic fast food to expand our horizons, how we have damaged our communities and environments by doing so, and back to natural again. I probably learned more from this course then any other, and of course, gender issues were involved in this (one of my majors) so having Jamie come to the forefront is equally inspiring. Men do cook. I would also like to see a woman with the same philosphy give the same interview. Equal opportunity exists in the land of food and eating, as does it's opposite. Let us promote both and BUY LOCALLY! Sherry M