Look who I met today: Gary Hirshberg, the CE-Yo of Stonyfield!!!
Gary is such a friendly and charismatic guy. Of course, I was star struck. š³
This afternoon, I had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with Gary and some other local food bloggers. Gary visited Boston today, so he wanted to share his views about how we can restore balance to our health and our planet’s health by looking at what we eat and how it’s produced in a roundtable-style discussion. We also had the opportunity to ask him questions, share ideas, and learn more about what we can do to shake up our food system. I definitely learned a lot this afternoon. I actually feel empowered about what to choose when it comes to the food that I eat.
The Stonyfield luncheon was held at EVOO in Kendall Square. EVOO serves eclectic New American cuisine, using as many local ingredients as possible. Their menu changes daily depending on what is in season. Very cool.
It was nice to see some of my favorite bloggers at the event: Meghan, Elina, and Jennifer! š
Lunch was delicious and, oh, so fresh. I loved seeing all of the different shades of green on my plate!
Asparagus, Peas, Fiddleheads, Radish and Arugula with Great Hill Blue Cheese, Herbed (Stonyfield) Yogurt Dressing and Course Crunch Crunch
I loved the addition of Fiddleheads. They’re fun to eat! š
I love dining with food bloggers!
Chinese Box Full of Crisp Fried Mustard-Glazed Tofu, Asparagus, Gingered Vegetable – Cashew Salad and Organic Brown Rice
This dish was also really fun to eat. It was basically a tower-o-food!
The fried tofu was to die for. Honestly, it was perfect. The mustard-glaze was a wonderful compliment to the tofu, veggies, and rice. I loved this dish and definitely recommend it.
Stonyfield Yogurt Tart with Balsamic-Basil Glazed Strawberries
Dessert was also incredibly fresh and delicious. It’s amazing how much more flavor organic ingredients have to them.
While we enjoyed our meal, Gary shared a plethora of information with us about organics– all of which was fascinating and made me realize that I need to step-it-up in the organic department.
What I found most important was Gary’s point about making a difference one purchase at a time. Some people may think that going organic is an all or nothing way of living, but even just purchasing one organic product instead of conventional makes a difference in the lives of farmers, animals, and our earth.
Gary also emphasized a number of reasons to chose organics:
- Profitable to farmers
- Healthy animals with longer lives
- More nutritious food (organics have more antioxidants)
- Better tasting food
- Smaller carbon footprint
- Benefits our children
Basically, everyone wins with organics. Plus, if you think about it, there’s only one reason to not eat organically, which is price. Organic foods can be expensive, but the more you use your purchasing power to increase the demand for organic products, the more level the playing field becomes for conventional and organics. (Of course, there is A LOT more that goes into this argument, but this seemed to be Gary’s main point.)
All in all, this afternoon’s lunch was a very enlightening and empowering experience. I’m definitely going to choose organic more often.
What’s your take on organics?