Mouli Cohen on the Economy
Chef-Scholar Talks About A New Way To Feed The World
Owner of several restaurants including Blue Hill in Manhattan, and named as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2009, Dan Barber has recently become an advocate of a new approach to feeding the world.According to the unique chef-scholar, "conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it’s never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look toward alternatives."
His talk, "How I fell in Love with a Fish" presented at the world famous idea sharing conference, TED Talks, garnered a standing ovation.
In his talk, he chronicles his pursuit of sustainable ways to farm fish. This came out of his struggle as a chef to keep fish on the menu. He mentions that 90% of large fish including tuna, halibut, and salmon have collapsed in terms of sustainability. Although fish farming or aquaculture is one solution that the world has been forced in to because of the depletion of wild fish sources, fish farming only has a feed conversion rate of 15:1. This means that it takes 15 pounds of wild fish to get you one pound of farmed fish. Most fish farms also contribute to environmental pollution.
He found the answer in a sustainable method used to farm fish in southern Spain. Despite being "overcooked twice over," Dan says, the fish was still delicious.
Ironically, the fish farm began with an ecological disaster that came about when farmers drained the water from a vast area of wetlands into the ocean, planning to use the land to grow cattle. In an effort to reverse the effects of the dirty water in the ocean, a new company bought the land and re-flooded it, creating a vast sustainable fish farm in the process. The difference is that in this fish farm, there is no need to feed the fish. The environment is so rich that it has become totally self renewing.
This is a story of ecological karma. A company that originally sought to reverse the effects of disaster ended up creating an innovative and ecologically sustainable way to farm delicious fish.
View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation.
About Mouli Cohen
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Mr. Cohen is a successful entrepreneur who has founded and developed successful ventures in the biotechnology, high technology, digital media and entertainment sectors. He has balanced his success in business with extensive philanthropic activities. Over the years he has supported children's charities, food programs, medical research, and the arts as well as education projects both in the US and abroad. |