The Musk Who Wants to Change The Way We Eat

https://medium.com/backchannel/the-musk-who-wants-to-change-the-way-we-eat-b34da6422d6c

by jgayduk • 11 years ago

31 13 11 years ago

tldr: the thin savior from Boulder, CO embarks to Memphis on a stated mission of evangelizing the ignorant fatties of Memphis, TN, but all he really does is open a GMO-free organic restaurant called "The Kitchen" to make money off the rich, niche, hipster market.

edit: ; to :

dkroy• 11 years ago

Thanks! I skimmed the article, but wasn't sure if I was missing something.

anthony_d• 11 years ago

I wish I had read the comments before reading the article. You summarized the article quite well.

zem• 11 years ago

s/all he does/all he has done so far. this bit towards the end sounds a lot more positive; he's not only opening up in a rundown area, but he's engaging with the local community via "social impact investing" and his being transparent about the process is a valuable source of information for other people who are thinking along the same lines. quoting:

As of late April, Musk was finishing off the contracts for the community bond arrangement. Musk, believing that transparency is critical in social investing, shares some details: For a ten million dollar low-interest loan (with $4 million approved initially, and the rest coming as the project develops), he will open as many as five community restaurants — including the Shelby Farms operation — and possibly even take over the farm on the property. In exchange, he vows to deliver a specified list of social benefits to Memphis (when the entire operation gets rolling): an annual boost to the local farming economy of over a million dollar; an additional $1–2 million to the “real food economy (fishmongers, bakers, etc.); 600,000 guests per year served with “food that is better for you”; $140,000 of the yearly proceeds donated to the Learning Gardens (which had already received its initial stake, largely from Mason Hawkins’ Pyramid Peak foundation); and “up to 270 quality, mission-driven jobs.”

paul• 11 years ago

Toxic cynicism.

Change happens one step at a time. Tell us about the amazing things you are doing.

PopeOfNope• 11 years ago

Toxic cynicism or reasonable skepticism? In anything involving health or food, it pays to keep an elevated level of skepticism. Too many people make too much money off of scams that have no scientific basis, but lots of marketing.

Btw, I visited boulder last week and ate at The Kitchen Next Door. The food was delicious, but nothing struck me as especially healthy. Most of it was fried.

jhartmann• 11 years ago

I love the following comment 'Musk won’t rule out GMOs permanently, but he feels that currently they are used in a way that encourages the use of pesticides and other chemicals'. I wish more people had this common sense view of GMO's. Genetically modifying things is not itself bad, but modifying things so we can spray crap tons of chemicals on them is probably not a very swift idea.

beat3• 11 years ago

It's a good perspective. My concern is mostly about biodiversity. GMOs as designed today are about monocropping and chemical dependency... they're a vendor lock-in scheme wrapped in productivity enhancement.

Globally, productivity isn't our big food problem. Sustainability is. But the best solution for sustainability is probably the opposite of GMO - protecting heirloom varieties and local crops, using crop rotation and low-till techniques to minimize soil damage, and thinking about farms in terms of centuries rather than years.

thatcat• 11 years ago

I'm not sure that heirlooms are inherently more sustainable. Genetically modified strawberries for example don't freeze at lower temperatures, it is also possible add heat resistant traits, or make other modifications. Immunity to certain pesticides is just one business model for GMO's.

steele• 11 years ago

ouch, the title immediately throws this guy in Elon Musk's shadow.

clarebear• 11 years ago

I would guess that if Elon Musk is your brother, you probably get used to that shadow.

beat3• 11 years ago

From reading the article, it doesn't seem like either of them feel a shadow.

The Musk Who Wants to Change The Way We Eat

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