In Search of the Food Movement, meeting Christian Rassinoux

Looking to find the pulse and epicenter of the organic food movement, I went straight to the top. I asked epicurean and sustainability expert Dean Decrease of www.thefourthelement.org for any food leaders he knew in Shanghai. No surprise he sent me over to Christian Rassinoux who is the executive chef at the Portman Ritz-Cartlon and overseas all of Ritz' restaurants in China.

Christian is a princely, handsome gray haired master chef. His charm made it no surprise when I later found out he was knighted by the president of France. Over our two hour discussion I learned of his adventures being shot at in Africa and growing most of his vegetables at the Laguna Niguel Ritz Carlton. Dean suggested I talk to Christian because he can be credited for introducing organic foods into the Ritz Carlton brand and having a reverberation that has gone beyond impacting merely all of its chefs and clientele but helping associate food sourcing with high end dining. In China, his commitment to organic has an additional priority, and that is safety. He doesn't believe in the certifications or other safety measures. He goes and visits every farm that he buys from and helps farmers grow his produce the way he wants, inspecting the water sources, making sure the land the farmers purchase is free from toxins and no chemicals are getting into his food. This is no small task for someone already running multiple restaurants and maintaining a dynamic changing menu, but important. My questions were about everyday consumers, eating around Shanghai and buy produce at stores and looking for trusted sources. Sadly, Christian had no answers. He said he doesn't trust anything and visits all the farms himself. He kind of enjoys that experience...and who wouldn't but who has time to do such things. The search goes on for trusted sources in China. In the meantime, Rassinoux gets his strawberries from small scale artisan farms barely producing enough for the Portman so if you want to enjoy those you'll have to go down to the Ritz for the high life.

When asked about chef collobartives or other food movements, Christian couldn't put his finger on anyone regularly reporting or promoting an organic movement. Rather, he had stories of his HK controller concerd about his own family' health in China and talking with Christian on how to tell if something is safe, which is the same "go to the source" answer as before.

I had recently been in Guilin and we discussed how some ancient farming methods are inoverently Organic. The rice growing at high hill tops with clean mountain water and natural vertilizers is far safer than many labeled organic productions. Sadly, much of this traditional green produce isn't labeled organic, doesn't make it to regular market channels, and is consumed safely by the locals who grow it--good for them. Meanwhile the rest of us in Shanghai probably eat the most dangerous produce on the planet. Christian had stories of a lady making cheese from Manchuria milk that for all intents and purposes is natural but hasn't gone through the Chinese process of being labeled organic. Since the Organic label is provided by a number of outsourced certifiers, many don't trust this label anyway. The challenge is how to find the food in China that is safe and delicious.

Thanks to Christian for making a splash with his delicious foods. Hopefully his high profile and the government officials eating at the Ritz will continue to take notice. The rest of us will enjoy our cavier dreams and spinach wishes.