August 26, 2014 – After 13 exciting, educational years, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is bringing an end to its annual Cooking for Solutions extravaganza—the seminal national event aimed at raising consciousness among chefs as well as home cooks about how the way we cook affects the health of the planet.
But for the thousands of people who will surely miss it, the good news is that the Aquarium is aiming to convert its annual blowout into more of a year-round experience that will preserve many of its components and include new ones. What’s more, the hope is to offer some of what were CFS’s sub-events more than once each year, and repeat some in other parts of the U.S.
In some ways, the huge event, which had grown to accommodate more than 20,000 people in one weekend since it was launched with the participation of farm-to-table and sustainable food icons like Alice Waters in 2002, was a victim of its own remarkable success.
“We’re trying to reach folks for whom cooking with the environment in mind is news,” says Ken Peterson, the Aquarium’s communications director. “We think we can have more impact inspiring people with smaller food and wine adventures, salons on weekends” and other more intimate events.
Most notably, the huge Friday night gala—which by last year was served by dozens of sustainability-minded wineries, breweries and chefs and attended by more than 2,400 foodies, will be dropped entirely, as the scale of it was obscuring and arguably weakening the Aquarium’s message of sustainability and environmental conservation.
But at the same time, the Aquarium also plans to offer other components of past CFS weekends not just once a year, but multiple times per year. An example of this is the type of sustainability-bent drinks, dancing and food party it held in 2014 with celebrity chef Alton Brown, which the Aquarium hopes to hold two of next year. The Aquarium is also planning to organize not just one, but two Sustainable Foods Celebrations next year, beginning with World Oceans Day in June and following up with another event in the fall.
There are also plans to preserve the Street Food Celebration at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, but perhaps with fewer celebrities, and involve the Aquarium’s restaurant partners in its Evening by the Bay series in Monterey and other events both here and in different regions.
The Aquarium will also continue to convene its annual Sustainable Foods Institute, which is aimed at educating chefs and the press about food and sustainability issues, as well as its Blue Ribbon Culinary Task Force of top chefs, which are tapped each year to help shape the Seafood Watch program and promote its adoption around the nation.
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
