An Interview with Greg Christian

The first thing Greg Christian tells me before beginning our interview is that he is not responsible for the veracity of his statements after saying them, but that what he is about to tell me is true at the time of its telling. He waits for me to agree to this condition before we continue.

Greg describes chefs as "natural aggressors of food". They take these raw and natural materials and bend them to their will to create the dishes we enjoy. How the materials come to them and what becomes of the materials when they're through is of less concern to the chefs as long as the food they serve is good.

This is the chef Greg Christian used to be.

He's still an aggressor of food, his catering business makes about $4 million dollars in annual profit, but now he takes responsibility for his part in the global food system. Greg runs the only Zero Waste kitchen in Chicago and by the way he operates Greg Christian Catering and Organic School Project he is getting out the message about supporting local, organic and sustainable agriculture. But he will be quick to tell you that he doesn't know what sustainable agriculture is, that what he is doing is simply "respecting Mother Earth".

It was in April of this year that Greg's kitchen, in partnership with the Chicago Resource Center, became Zero Waste.

What does that mean, Zero Waste?

It means his kitchen doesn't create any un-recycled refuge. Every scrap, every container, every by product is recycled. The food is composted, the grease is handled by a bio-diesel company, the plastic is taken by a plastics recyclers. This is just one of the ways Greg is taking responsibility for his part in the global system. Greg doesn't consider himself an agent of change, in fact he is quite adamant that he is not a "Change Agent", but just someone trying to honor and bless the system.

But whether he means to or not he is changing things. In the case of Chicago Public Schools, one school cafeteria at a time.

The Organic School Project or OPS, came out of the experience Greg had in his own home with organic food. His daughter had been diagnosed with severe allergies and asthma and after failed attempts treating her with mainstream medicine; the family tried using more nature inspired methods and introduced organic foods into the house. According to Greg, this dietary switch did the trick; she's continued eating organic and hasn't suffered an attack in years.

This situation coupled with the cafeteria horror stories his kids brought home from school inspired him to help feed other school age kids as healthily as he was feeding his own kids. And so the idea for OPS was born. The program works to not just feed students, but also to teach them about nutrition and the part they play in the environment.

Currently OSP has a contract with the Chartwells-Thompson/Compass Group to provide all the meals and snacks for the over 400 students at Louisa May Alcott School in Lincoln Park. OSP is operating their “More Positive Food” program at 3 other public schools, the hope is that if these pilot programs can continue to prove successful that more schools will join.

Though Greg is adamant that he isn’t trying to change anything, his work getting people to eat local and organic is slowing changing several things.

It’s changing how a bride is choosing to feed her wedding guests. It’s changing how schools are feeding their students and how students are seeing their food. And finally, it’s changing how industrial kitchens can be run “green” and still earn a profit.

Greg works daily to find the balance in himself between the chef food aggressor with a business to run and the man studying to humble himself and come to peace with his part in the global food system.

This is what I know is true…at the time of my telling it.

***This is Part One in a series of interviews with Greg Christian. Stay tuned for the next installment.