Most people know Tom Colicchio as the chef and owner of Craft restaurants or as the tough but lovable judge on Top Chef. But in recent years the chef has become increasingly active in raising awareness about food policy. He was involved in the documentary A Place at the Table and also sits on the board of Food Policy Action, an organization dedicated to informing voters about where their representatives stand on food issues.
We sat down with Colicchio at last weekend's TedxManhattan conference to discuss why average Americans should be more interested in food policy. He thinks that Americans need to pay more attention, noting, "It's a matter of just educating yourself... and its more than what you're just eating in a restaurant or a backyard barbecue. Your food comes from somewhere. So if you're supporting companies that have bad practices then you're feeding into the sort of broken food system. So you have to educate yourself so you can make great choices."
He suggests starting by reading Marion Nestle's blog, Food Politics or Dave Murphy's blog Food Democracy Now. For all of his tips and his thoughts on the farm bill and SNAP, watch the video above.
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