Book Review: The Third Plate by Dan Barber

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Of all the things, one of my favorites to talk about, work with, and enjoy is food. It is the force that brings friends together. It is the comfort that makes us feel at home, wherever we are. It is the power that drives us, both figuratively and literally, through the day.

Food is the fulcrum around which society revolves. Can you imagine a day without food? Even hunger aside, what a bleak day it would be. All thought of the meals that you and I look forward to would be gone. All anticipation of the flavors that play on your tongue would no longer be. It would be a very sad day for the world.

With this pivotal role that food plays in society, in everyday life, it is astounding the lack of attention that we give it. We tend to think, myself included, that food is the stuff we buy from the store – from Whole Foods, even – that we mash together and throw on a plate and call dinner. Or lunch. Or whatever meal it is we find ourselves enjoying. Food is the substance that we put in our mouths, day in and day out.

The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food (via Amazon)

It is contrary to this opinion, however, around which Dan Barber builds his mind-altering book, The Third Plate.

What Dan Barber brings to the table, both in his book and at his restaurant, is food that has a story, food that is more than just what sits on your plate. His food brings with it the farm and its livestock and its weeds and its labor. Dan Barber’s food is so much more than farm-to-table and so much more than “green.”

Dan digs deep into the roots of food to find out what it really means to be a farmer or a fisherman or a rancher – and what impact their actions have on what ends up on your plate.

The first part of the book is called Soil. It is simply that – it builds the base that the rest of the book will rest on.

Barber talks about how, without good soil, you cannot have good plants. And without good plants, you cannot have good food. He strikes down the notion that healthy, nutritious plants can be made by adding amendments to the soil, and he builds a strong case for growing and buying organic food.

Prior to this book, I did not purchase organic food because I have a rather good understanding of how biochemistry works – something can be deadly to a bug, but 100% okay for us to eat.

But for some reason, it never occurred to me what damage was done to already fragile ecosystems wrought by the so-called “harmless” actions of society itself. Add chemicals and pesticides and herbicides to the mix, and your fragile ecosystem will collapse.

I could not believe that after all this time believing I was a true environmentalist, I never made this connection. I even took classes on ecosystem ecology while in college. This book just drove it home.

The next two parts of the book, Land and Sea, built upon the principles Barber established in Soil. Specifically, he talked a lot about how the best ham in the world is made simply by letting pigs forage for their food in an abundant landscape. This forces the pigs to exercise to find their nutrition – and good nutrition it was – which resulted in the delicacy known as jamon iberico throughout the world.

Being a vegetarian, the meat didn’t specifically interest me, but the concept did. He discussed the sad state of slaughterhouses in the US, where meat is just that from the day it is born – they are not chickens or pigs or cows to most ranchers, but are instead just meat.

This lack of attention to the animal is not only unnatural, but results in tasteless, tough food that is no pleasure to eat.

Finally, he discusses Seed, the place from which all agriculture originates. Most interesting to me was how Dan Barber took the notion that, to feed everyone on the planet, all crops must be extremely high yield and uniform, and turned it on its head.

He lacks scientific proof here, but presents an interesting and captivating proposition – that if we were to focus on quality seed and soil, the earth would give more, the plants would be more nutritious, the land would be more abundant, and the food would be tastier. All in all this sounds like a great plan to me.

This book is an entirely enlightening and educating experience, all while being entertaining to the end.

All the lessons, if you want to all them that, originate and are told through stories about people with whom Barber has had experiences during his quest for sustainable food.