Chefs for the Marcellus

Louisa Shafia

The contestants in our April 29 Pesto Competition not only wowed us with their delicious, inventive dishes,  they also signed on to the Chefs for the Marcellus campaign.  We welcome the following food professionals to our cause, and thank them for supporting Chefs for the Marcellus: Tamar Adler, An Everlasting Meal; Deepak Ballaney, Dine 365 Group; Maneet Chauhan, Cathy Erway, Not Eating Out NY; Atul Jain, The Ethnic Grocer; Surbhi Sahni, Bittersweet NYC; Louisa Shafia, Lucid Food.  Please join them by adding your name to our growing roster of food professionals who opposed fracking in our food shed.

Chefs founder Jimmy Carbone (Jimmy’s No. 43) and fellow chefs and restaurateurs will be talking about sustainable restaurants at the Brooklyn Food Conference on Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 p.m. The panel, moderated by Leonard Lopate, includes other Chefs supporters: Bill Telepan (Telepan), Francine Stephens (Franny’s), and Catherine Saillard (iCi).

Spectacular is the only word for last Sunday’s event, generously hosted by Nissa Pierson & Ger-Nis. Thank you Nissa and all the participating chefs.

View album. 

Elizabeth Schula by Gentl and Hyers

We are pleased to welcome Elizabeth Schula of Saltie to our campaign.  Elizabeth is not just a passionate chef and restaurateur: she is also an aspiring farmer who has a personal interest in keeping New York State farmland frack free. She writes: “I want to thank you for what you are doing. I bought a farm near Cooperstown last year  … in the town of Middlefield, and after finding that one of our neighbors has a gas lease, became instantly active in our community. Middlefield was the first township in New York to enact local zoning to ban heavy industry (hydrofracking!), but the ruling is being challenged by a cattle farmer.  At Saltie, we are committed to using local ingredients, and much of our produce comes from the Marcellus region. I hope to be farming full time in the near future and bringing some of my own produce to New York City.” Fellow chefs and other food professionals, please join Elizabeth by lending your name to our campaign. 

Tune in on Thursday, April19, at 1:00 p.m., to hear Chefs for the Marcellus founder Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez discuss fracking and its impact on local agriculture. Joining her  on  The Farm Report —  a show  devoted to farming issues on internet-based Heritage  Radio, hosted by Erin Fairbanks — will be Greg Swartz from Willow Wisp Organic Farm and Luce Guanzini, a goat farmer from Tioga County. Luce recently wrote: “Our farm  is just 25 miles from the shale gas fields in Bradford County, Pa.  As such I feel that when New York State lifts its moratorium our township will be rapidly consumed by shale gas development.  The truck traffic alone will make it dangerous and difficult to continue raising goats.  Of course, if we are one of the unfortunate people whose potable water is lost to drilling we will be forced out of business.

One of our founders, Hilary Baum, was among the speakers at a major anti-fracking rally held at NYC’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Saturday February 25, 2012.  To those who claim that upstate needs fracking to revitalize a dying farming economy, Hilary responded: “New York agriculture is not dead, but fracking can drive a stake in its heart, destroy livelihoods and permanently damage the landscape that we love… our physical and spiritual sustenance.” Read her full testimony. 

Restaurateur Peter Hoffman, who has signed on to our campaign, and recently participated in our N’awlins Gumbo Cookoff, is an outspoken critic of hydrofracking for natural gas: “Fracking is not a good thing for any of us, not just New Yorkers. We continue to not really want to pursue conservation and alternate energy sources. We’re still looking for that cheap fix and now want to get at it by digging into rock.” READ MORE

Jimmy Carbone, who hosted, with Holley Atkinson, a Chefs for the Marcellus organizer

Thanks to all who cooked, judged, and chowed down at our N’awlins Style Gumbo Cook-off: a benefit for Chefs for the Marcellus.  About 175 gumbo lovers crowded into the subterranean confines of Jimmy’s No. 43, on February 19, to dip into 12 steamy pots of gumbo goodness prepared with local and sustainable ingredients, including produce from the Marcellus Shale region of upstate New York, and wild white Florida shrimp generously donated by Sea to Table. And the winners were: Brendan Corr (formerly of Co.), who won for Best Overall and the People’s Choice Award; Brent Sims of The Green Table for Most Local Ingredients/Awareness; Nissa Pierson of Ger-Nis Culinary and Herb Center for Most Creative; and Shameless Carnivore blogger Scott Gold for Best Gumbo with Smoked Duck in Backyard in Greenpoint.  Special thanks to the hardworking judges who had the tough job of sampling the wares… Well, someone had to do it.  The “someones” were Heather Carlucci, Pastry Chef at PRINT and Chefs for the Marcellus Co-Founder; Will Blunt, Starchefs.com Managing Editor; Curt Ellis, FoodCorps founder, filmmaker and activist;  and Chef Emma Feigenbaum.