Anything Can Happen
Posted by Lynsie Watkins Thu, 14 Sep 2006 03:40:00 GMT
Et Voila! Tout peut arriver (anything can happen) as the French so lovingly chant! One year, and many ice cream and pastry samples later, you find me now in present day Charlottesville. My goals as an ice-cream heroine are finally coming into form, and thus we begin on this journey, from now on: together. This is the story of Perfect Flavor, both past and present. As the company grows, so too will my experience, my ideas, and most hopefully, my state of mind regarding sustainability. Ah, Sustainability. If it weren't for ice cream, I fear I would never have found an outlet for this battle. But, thankfully, I have, and now it is my job to share with all of you why I am doing what I'm doing, and more importantly, what influenced me to run my business in a way that is economically, environmentally, and humanely sustainable.
As I often like to say, our ice cream is merely a byproduct (no pun intended) of what we actually do here at Perfect Flavor. Ice cream is fun. It brings joy and comfort to many people. It stirs up memories of childhood, of the good old days, of excitement, laughter, summer. That's why I chose to make it in the first place. But I wanted to be a responsible producer. As of a year ago, I thought that meant being responsible to my customers, to my integrity, and to human health in general. At that point, I was under the notion that the best way for me to help spread my ideas of good food habits learned in France was to simply preach about these good habits to those who purchased my ice cream. I still, just as many caterers and small restaurant owners, shopped at the grocery store and at one of those huge bulk food depots we've got floating, or rather squatting, around.
Everything changed upon my move to Charlottesville. Once in the full throws of chefdom, I began to learn that there was much more to one's health than what they consumed physically, or what they digested rather. Charlottesville, a food haven surrounded by vineyards, farms, and subsequently, impeccable restaurants, is a city which has an incredible amount of progressive food knowledge to offer. In its existence, a good part of it preaches sustainability through action. While we still have a Sam's Club, a Wal-Mart, and a Pizza Hut, unlike other cities, you won't find anyone serious about food inside, perhaps outside protesting, yes, but inside? Never. What we have in this city are farmers who care about the land. Citizens who care about their farmers. And Humans who care about the health of those around them. This is what I like to call the sustainability cycle, and I invite you to get on for the long haul.
Sustainability means making choices and actions that strive to be kind to our environment. By being healthy physically, Charlottesvillians practicing sustainable lifestyles choose fresh produce. Fresh produce not from the local gorcery store, but from a local producer at the weekly Farmer's Market. If you were to ask someone in Gulfport, MS what they would reach for if practicing a healthy lifestyle, they would march straight into the frozen foods section and pick a Lean Cuisine! You can't blame them. Asked again if they practiced a sustainable lifestyle, they would question the meaning of the word. We can't poke fingers at our own ignorance. Only, ironically, once an economy is in sturdy standing, can its residents begin to focus on sustainability, even though that's just the reason why the economy became unstable to begin with. Most of us can't afford organic foods. And believe it or not, there are parts of this country that don't carry any organic produce. Now that's not to say that they don't practice sustainability. They just may not be aware of it. In Gulfport, Jimmy may go once a week to the Piggly Wiggly to buy fresh tomatoes. He may buy them because they taste the best, however he doesn't know why. Perhaps a local tomato farmer's cousin manages the store, and therefore buys a portion of his tomato produce from this local farmer. Well-this ain't nothin' new-as Jimmy would say. It doesn't need a certification from the USDA Organic organization to be deemed higher quality. What Jimmy has done is discerned with his very own tastebuds and wallet what we expect organic producers and grocers to do for us. It's almost like: "Don't speak until spoken to." Only, "Don't eat unless told what to." Love that impeccable grammar=)
My point, while at times muddled, is simple. I began to think about the choices I was making everyday. I moved from frozen foods to fresh produce. I then moved from fresh produce to strictly organic produce. And finally, I am transitioning into local produce when possible, and then organic when necessary. My awareness has increasingly become keener and keener. As in Micheal Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," the question of what to eat for dinner has increasingly become more complex. My solution in surpassing this literal food crisis is simply to learn as much as I can about what I consume. By doing this, I begin to support local farmers more and more, and therefore act in a way that is conscious and positively effective sustainably speaking. Just by choosing to eat an apple from the Farmer's Market, I have helped strengthen myself, my environment, and my economy.
If I can do all of this just by small and simple actions, I thought to myself, why not try to find other ways to take larger steps forward. So, with this new agenda, the real reason behind Perfect Flavor comes to the surface: Use only local ingredients. When ingredients are needed that cannot be grown locally, then buy from other private distributors and local businesses. If an ingredient still cannot be attained using this method, find the nearest source. Second adendum: Use only biodegradable packaging made from corn, sugar cane, or soy. And thirdly: Keep my promise to the consumer to deliver fresh, handmade, small batch, and healthy ice cream from order #1 to order #100,000 and on.
This is my promise, for if I sacrifice my promise for the sake of profit, I lose not only my battle, but the battle of everyone around me.