Family Meal
Jake Kuerbis
When a chef is tasked with making a family meal, it usually means scraping together leftover produce and goods in the fridge from past service in order to create a meal for the whole restaurant staff before service. How can this idea of being resourceful tie into food destruction? The term "impossible bouquet" was introduced through the impossible-like paintings of the 18th century Dutch still life paintings. The combinations of each flower in a bouquet were seen as mythical, in that they never could co-exist naturally at the same time.
By looking at fresh imported produce in the US, a simple product like an apple becomes an unforeseen monetary number, constantly in supply regardless of the season. How can the simple notion of the family meal be a beacon of hope for the future of food sustainability, and what does the future of food mean for the world we live in? Family Meal features the top 25 highest imported fresh produce into the United States in 2023. Each item is further analyzed based on its season locally in New York compared to the exporting nations season to show the causality of importing.