Chef Robby Goco's talk in DINE Philippines - Zamboanga, last October 22, 2015, Vista del Mar Resort and Recreation Center, Zamboanga City. s

1. C H E F R O B B Y G O C O
SUSTAINABLE DINING

2. WHAT IS FARM TO TABLE?
 Farm to table emphasizes a direct relationship
between a farm (the source), and a restaurant or
store.
 Traditionally, the definition meant that the food
being served came from a specific farm or the table is
at the actual farm or the field.
 Anyone using the phrase should be able to name the
specific farm(s) from where they are sourcing from.

3. IN THE BEGINNING…
 Pre-historic Era: people were hunter-gatherers
 10,000 BC - 19th Century: domestication of crops and
livestock, and numerous developments in farming
 For centuries, ALL food was farm to table.
 People grew their own food or bought it from nearby
farmers.
 In the early part of the 20th Century,
commercialization lead people away from that.
 Improved transportation and refrigeration made it possible for
food to be transported hundreds or even thousands of
kilometers and still ensured their freshness.

4. BUT TODAY…
 Virtually any one can have any food any time and
any where
 People have become so busy that the fast-food
industry emerged
“It’s a fallen world. We eat and we sacrifice in the
process.”
-Dan Barbers

5. TRAITS OF FARM TO TABLE
 Fresh, seasonal and local
 If you were to tour a farm to table kitchen, you would see that most
of the produce is in its original state
 The chef will be able to say where the source was for the ingredients
 Heirloom and heritage
 Heirloom vegetables and heritage meats
 When a farmer produces heirloom foods he is investing in the future
by keeping the item from becoming extinct
 Served simply
 Since fresh food has so much flavor, chefs often choose to serve them
as simply as possible, no heavy sauces to mask the flavors of the
ingredients

6. FARM TO TABLE: THE FUTURE
 Increasing Availability
 More and more farm to table restaurants, farmer’s markets and food
coops are cropping up to meet the demand among consumers for
healthy, local foods, as more chefs and consumers recognize the
poorer taste and nutritional integrity of ingredients shipped in from
far, far away.
 The Strengths of Local Food
 Because local food doesn’t have to travel long distances, it is grown in
order to taste better and be healthier rather than to be resilient to
long travel.
 Integrity of the Ingredients
 Even if there is no monitoring body here in the Philippines to check
on what we stand by, the chef must be able to confidently and
consistently serve according to the Farm to Table principles

7. BUT IS FARM TO TABLE SUSTAINABLE?

8. WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DINING?
1. Sustainable agriculture
2. Sustainable sourcing
3. Sustainable cooking
Sustainable dining is good for the environment, for the
farming community, for you, and for future
generations.

9. CONVENTIONAL CROPS
 Very high yield
 Disregard for soil and water quality
 Reliance on genetic modification, antibiotics,
chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
 Conditions of the land or the actual seeds can be
modified to accommodate the growth of crops that
normally would not grow there
 Monocropping – a single crop over a vast expanse of
land

10. CONVENTIONAL CROPS

11. CONVENTIONAL LIVESTOCK
 Very crowded
 Excessive fecal waste
 Feeds are mostly corn-based (a GMO) with
agricultural waste
 Use of hormones for faster and higher yield
 Use of antibiotics and preventive medicines

12. CONVENTIONAL LIVESTOCK

13. CONVENTIONAL LIVESTOCK

14. CONVENTIONAL FISH FARMING
 Removes unsustainable quantities of water from the
ecosystem
 Returns contaminated water to local water bodies
 Uses hormones, antibiotics and aquatic biocides
 Feeds are mostly soybeans (a GMO) and agricultural
waste, like ground animal byproducts
 Farmed fish can escape to the local ecosystem

15. CONVENTIONAL FISH FARMING

16. SUSTAINABLE CROPS
 Multicropping
 Biodiversity
 Crop rotation
 Better soil health
 No use of pesticides
 Use of organic fertilizers like compost
 Minimal use of heavy machinery
 Choosing sustainable seed and plant varieties
 Community development

17. MAURO ZIGIOTTO – WILDFARM ARUGOLA

18. MAURO ZIGIOTTO – WILDFARM ARUGOLA

19. SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK
 Pasture-fed
 Free-range and less crowded
 No use of hormones, antibiotics and preventive
medicines
Free-range chickens have 21% less total fat, 30% less
saturated fat and 28% fewer calories than their
factory-farmed counterparts. v Eggs from poultry
raised on pasture have 10% less fat, 40% more
vitamin A and 400% more omega-3’s

20. JAI FERRER – PRONIC FOODS

21. JAI FERRER – PRONIC FOODS

22. SUSTAINABLE FISH FARMING
 Microbes and plants like are used to clean the water
 Less crowded
 Raising herbivorous vs. carnivorous fish, using less
protein-rich feeds
 Natural algae is used as feeds
 Using cultural practices to control disease rather
than antibiotics

23. ILOCOS OCEANA – VANNAMEI SHIRMP

24. ILOCOS OCEANA – VANNAMEI SHIRMP

25. “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.”
- Dan Barber

26. CONVENTIONAL SOURCING
 Buying from supermarkets and middle men
 Farmers tend to get less in the process
 Buying imported
 Demand for year-round product availability
 Disregard for seasonality

27. SUSTAINABLE SOURCING
 Knowing where your food came from and the farmer
behind it
 Buying directly from the farmer
 Buying local
 Buying heirloom
 Buying what’s in season
Terroir – French, the complete natural environment
in which a particular product is produced, including
factors such as the soil, topography and climate

28. SOURCING IN GREEN PASTURES
 Multiple farms are rotated to source a single product
 The menu changes monthly based on what’s in
season
 Only olive oil is imported, but we personally know
the farmer in Greece!
 Knowing the story behind every ingredient

29. “The biggest thing you can do is understand that every
time you’re going to the grocery store, you’re voting
with your dollars. Support your farmers’ market.
Support local food. Really learn to cook”
-Alice Waters

30. CONVENTIONAL COOKING
 Because of rent, the food service industry maximizes
the dining area vs. the kitchen area
 Use of commissaries by the food service industry
 Restaurant kitchens become reheating kitchens
 Convenience and profit at the expense of cooking
technique and quality

31. SUSTAINABLE COOKING
 Slow Food movement
 Focus on product quality
 Importance of culinary skills
 Reducing food waste
 Healthy and nutritious food

32. FROM SCRATCH – 3 CHEESES

33. NOSE TO TAIL - CHARCUTERIE

34. SEASONALITY – AVOCADO GREENS

35. HEIRLOOM – MUSHROOM & KALE PAELLA

36. CULINARY TECHNIQUE – ROAST CHICKEN

37. CELEBRATING LOCAL – MILK, EGGS & HONEY

38. HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVE – SUGARCANE LEMONADE

39. “We eat every day, and if we do it in a way that doesn’t
recognize value, it’s contributing to the destruction
of our culture and of agriculture. But if it’ done with
focus and care, it can be a wonderful thing. It
changes the quality of your life.”
- Alice Waters