Fernando González at Food Tank: Soil, Value, and a More Resilient Food System.

On Thursday, September 24, Fernando González, co-founder and pitmaster of 2fifty Texas BBQ, spoke at Chefs Save the World, a morning program from Food Tank presented in partnership with the James Beard Foundation and CARE. He joined the panel A Food System That Works for Everyone alongside Emily Janoch of CARE, Liz Murray of The Marlow Collective, and Nishant Roy of Chobani.

An Engineer's View of Food

Before he worked in food, González was a civil engineer specializing in soil mechanics. When moderator Deena Shanker, a writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, asked the panelists where they find challenges in doing the work they want to do, González went back to his training: it makes it very hard for him to leave the origin of a product behind.

That perspective shapes how he defines a healthy food ecosystem. For González, it is one where everyone involved can thrive and has a fair chance to succeed, and where the conversation focuses less on price and more on value.

Shocks to the System

For González, the question is how the food system can become more resilient, and he approaches it in two ways. The first is 2fifty's wholesale program: restaurants ask how they can serve 2fifty's turkey, brisket, and ribs, and the team cooks, chills, and vacuum seals the meat before sending it to each location. The second is advocacy. For González, 2fifty's menus are an intentional way to talk about the people behind the food, and its restaurants and communication open the door to conversations that advocate for them.

The full conversation is available below.