A Food Revolution

The global Covid pandemic was a black swan event with still-unknown lasting consequences. At the global level, millions have died, trillions of dollars have been added to the national debts, and China has been set back a generation and may be in the throes of a deflationary cycle. Meanwhile, in America, the nature of work has fundamentally changed such that there is roughly a thirty percent national office vacancy, creating a precarious financial condition for the banks that hold their mortgages.

Less clear is the extent of the alarming unfolding food disruptions in our midst, leaving us vulnerable to social unrest, indeed revolution. Just notice how inflation and “shrinkflation” have ravaged the average American family’s household budget, heavily weighted towards housing and food.

While these negative effects show up in America at the consumer financial and health levels, farmers in Europe, for the past few years, have been acting like anarchists by taking to the streets, alongside their cattle and tractors, as they march on their capitals in a rebellious mood that brings to mind a modern-day French Revolution.

Since WWII ended, largely thanks to America’s protective military umbrella, Western European nations have had the luxury of heavily subsidizing their farmers and, at the same time, mandating unreasonable social and environmental demands.

As Aristotle wisely observed, every system is corrupted by exaggerating its basic principles. Maybe it is time to stop subsidizing the true cost of sugar production, which has led to an obesity pandemic, and concurrently feeling obligated to substitute the cost of insulin.  Cheap seed cooking oil is another example of how costly they are once the hidden costs of their long-term health are factored in. As the French say, we dig our graves with our knives and forks. It is time to honestly assess the financial and emotional cost of the cancer and heart attack pandemics in America and, as a result, modernize our food production, distribution, and consumption policies.

Highland has been at the forefront of the unfolding American food revolution over its 45-year history.  We are continuing this tradition by embarking on expanded hours of service, tripling the size of our kitchen, and only using healthy oils, salts, and fresh organic ingredients to cook with. 

Please help us succeed by supporting our efforts on this front.

— Sina