Food Hero Tuesday: Chef Gregoire Michaud

Note from the Editor: Every Tuesday, TFT HK will bring you a post or article from/about one of our local or global food heroes. These are people who inspire us, and whose visions align with the values that TFT espouses and promotes. This week, we bring you a post from Chef Gregoire Michaud, a serious locavore and sustainable food systems advocate who also happens to be the pastry chef at the Four Seasons, an active blogger, and an award-winning cookbook author. In today's post, our food hero recalls a recent dinner he and his fellow Four Seasons chefs created from Zen Organic's produce. Chef Michaud, we at TFT HK salute you!

Locavore feast

Zen Organic figs

"Celebrating Hong Kong's very own food"
By Gregoire Michaud

Could this become a tradition? Could this even become a festival where local food would be praised? I can actually picture the Hong Kong Harvest Festival happening every year during the fall!

No less than ALL the chefs from our kitchens walked the stunning garden alleys of Zen Organic Farm a few weeks ago. Our mission? To harvest figs AND every other fruits and vegetable we felt would fit our dinner on that day! And you know how it went when a star-studded crew of chefs walked around in the most amazing supermarket ever? INSANE!

Global Food News: 2012 US Farm Bill passes in the Senate

Last Thursday, the US Senate passed a farm and food bill, which is now up for debate in the House. This bill represents a fairly substantial change in the structure of farm subsidies. US subsidy programs, in their current state, tend to favor large producers of "program commodities": corn, soy, wheat, sugar, and rice. The bill entails a good deal of subsidy reform, but, as reported by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, it is still "far from perfect." NSAC Policy Director, Fred Hoefner stated that the "bill would benefit greatly from more agriculture reform, a greater local and regional food focus, and a much greater commitment to economic development and jobs. He went on to say, "We are also disappointed with the $3.7 billion cut to conservation programs on working farms and ranches.” Here are the five main components of this five-year bill: