On sustainability - culinary and personal

This week was a perfect introduction into the production of food. I say that because the focus of the 1st quarter culinary students is preparation of ingredients which the 2nd quarter students use in the cooking of lunch for the all the culinary students. This week saw me in the 1st quarter kitchen Tuesday and Wednesday tearing up lettuce, chopping onions, lifting heavy pots of chicken parts for stock, and then making 10 gallons of chicken stock. Thursday and Friday was spent in the 2nd quarter kitchen as part of our rotation, first making salads and sushi on Thursday, and then making Wiener schnitzel on Friday. All in large quantities which I would expect for banquet catering and hotel food preparation. Not quite assembly line, but very much on a larger scale compared to how I operate at home. I was reflecting on how tired I have been at the end of each day, but exhilarated at being able to do something so physical and involving. Here I come to the little picture sustainability question; Considering this is the first week of in class prep and cooking, will I feel like hauling myself out of bed in the wee dark hours of the morning and trudge through the rain to catch a bus in the middle of winter then head home tired and spent at the end of the day? Those thoughts coupled with the knowledge that when I finish this program a career in the culinary industry may not be as lucrative as writing code. The answer is heck yeah, with this momentum building I am in this for the long haul baby!
As to big picture sustainability, Friday started out with a viewing of part of a documentary called "Our Daily Bread" a German production, which shows how food is "produced." It is an eye opener to think about where our food comes from and how much it is not really the idyllic farm we like to think about is a factory environment - Enter the Meatrix. We are facing questions of whether we can continue to produce food the way we have been for the last 50 years. Is there a better way? Sure. Is it sustainable? Yes, in many ways much more sustainable, but problematically, not yet affordable for all. I am referring to things like local farmers markets, more thoughtful purchasing decisions (wild salmon v. farm raised) and a shift from processed foods. This also means more time spent cooking and or, more dollars toward food purchases. Is this for everybody? I don't think so, but if momentum is built maybe something can change.