Wolfgang and the happy life

Wolfgang Puck, the superstar chef who runs the Spago restaurants and food company, has written a really impressive article in the May 7 Newsweek titled Changing Tastes: That veal calf may end up as wiener schnitzel, but one of our greatest chefs wants it to have a happy life first.

He mentions the obesity and diabetes problems that now need to be associated with the saturated fat in a meat rich diet, but his main concern is the animal cruelty issue. Regarding the fish and other animals used at his restaurants, he says "Yes, they'll be killed for food - but until then, they should have a nice stay on earth."
He goes on to promise "By the end of the year, all the chicken I buy, even for my Wolfgang Puck frozen pizzas, will have been raised cage-free. The veal on my Spago menu is now free-range. To make certain things stay above-board, I've hired someone who will police my purveyors. I want to ensure that everything labeled organic really is, and that no veal calf that finds its way into my kitchen lived its life chained inside a box."


I think that this is an awesome development. A superstar member of the food industry saying "this is wrong and I won't do it anymore". I hope that he sets a trend which other chefs / restauranteurs follow. And that a world where this crap stops happening is eventually achieved.



Annalise and I were at the Riverdale Farm in Cabbagetown today. We saw some cows and pigs with access to fresh air and sunlight.



And we saw some lambs napping and caring for their babies and "baaaaing" and it was really nice. I have mixed feelings about zoos, but with factory farming so much on my mind these days, it is really encouraging to see these animals living something close to a natural life.