Wanted to share my thoughts after reading The Third Plate by Dan Barber.
First a quick summary to frame the book.
The first plate: what chefs are currently serving
The second plate: the sustainable version of the first plate (think grass fed beef, organic vegetables.
The second corrects a lot of the problems that the first plate has created. Move away from feedlots to free grazing cattle. Move away from vegetables doused in herbicide to organic farms.
But with all those solutions, new problems were created. And these problems prevent the real change, mass adaption of a more sustainable way of farming.
The third plate is a solution to that. Instead of looking at it form an ingredient perspective, it takes a step back and looks at the whole ecosystem.
Instead of trying to produce what we want on the land. It flips the questions and asks which things can the land produce?
We can’t simply replace the salmon or tuna we eat with something like a sea bass.
Because pretty quickly, the same problems, overfishing and extinction, will plague this new species.
But if we look at the whole ecosystem that produces the sea bass, there are a lot more options to feed us. Options that are lower on the food chain and take less energy and resources to produces.
Things like phytoplankton and mullet.
Today, many of these ingredients are unpopular and unattractive. But it’s the power of chefs that can help overcome this, and make the whole equation work.
Bread Lab
Another great example comes from the Bread Lab, part of Washington State University, USA.
This institution is focused on supporting farmers when it comes to wheat. Breeding and researching new varieties for different traits (flavour, yield, shelflife, etc.).
But even if there was an amazing new variety, it was hard to convince farmers to adopt it.
Why? Because millers, and bakers (the eventual users of the flour) didn’t know what to do with it.
So instead of just focusing on the wheat research, they realized that they needed took a step back and look at the whole ecosystem in order to make a difference.
They started with the end.
Why aren’t bakers buying those amazing flours? What’s stopping them from baking with healthier, tastier, organic wheat?
Consistency is key in the world of bread. And each batch of flour is slightly different. That means bakers have to account for the differences and adapt their recipes to each individual batch of flour. Which is impossible to justify in a big production environment.
Right now most wheat doesn’t go from farmer to bakery. It passes by the miller. They are able to create consistency in the flour by mixing wheat from up to 50(!) different farms to produce that consistency.
So to make a real change, they can’t just focus on the part of the farmer. Because even if they would be on board of the “new paradigm”, they are unable to take action because of reasons outside their control.
That’s why the Bread Lab brings together farmers, millers and bakers. Together, they do the research that’s needed to really help spread sustainable wheat production.
Applying The Third Plate
In my own thinking, I’m probably also approaching things too much from an “ingredient” perspective.
I wanted to take a product, break it down into its ingredients, and swap the “bad” ones for their regenerative counter parts.
This still is possible. But I think there is an opportunity to do something with the supporting ecosystem as well.
If I’m buying oats that are regeneratively produced, they are part of a bigger ecosystem.
In order to farm those oats, what other crop rotations happen? Does the farmer have markets for them? Is there a way for me to incorporate those crops?
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