Hannah Wallace

20 New Heroes Worldwide

I've been a fan of Monocle since it launched over a year ago, so I was thrilled to contribute to the magazine's feature, in the Dec./Jan. issue, on People Who Deserve a Bigger Stage in 2009.  (Page 33 for those of you who don't subscribe.) 

I write about Stumptown Coffee's Duane Sorenson, one of the leaders of the U.S.'s resurgent specialty coffee movement. Sorenson sources and roasts some of the finest coffee beans in the world—but what I find most inspiring about him is how he works with the farmers, teaching them how to improve their growing practices and hence the quality (and taste) of their beans. (Crucially, paying them more than what they'd get paid under Fair Trade regs.) Bikes to Rwanda is just one example of how Sorenson and his team at Stumptown think outside the box.

Sorenson's current favorite coffee? Ethiopia Wondo (a washed coffee) and Guatemala Finca Injerto's Pacamara varietal. "It’s like Chanel No. 5," he says.

Minimizing Jet Lag

In my humble opinion, there's nothing new to say about how to minimize the effects of Jet Lag—sleep on the plane (if you're one of the lucky few who can), take melatonin at your new bedtime, and start eating & sleeping on the new time zone ASAP.  (And frankly, the only thing that works for me is a First Class lie-flat seat and time—one day for each hour I'm crossing.) But while reporting this month's column for Endless Vacation, I did learn that melatonin is not available over-the-counter in countries such as Germany. Also, my doubts about the controlled-release version of Ambien (Ambien CR) were confirmed by Dr. Teitelbaum, who says many of his patients have found it to be mildly addictive. (It's a much higher dose than regular ambien—12.5 mg. versus 5 or 10 mg.) 

Local, Inc.

Now that we've elected a new president, I can take a deep breath and update this site with my latest antics.

In the food politics issue of the New York Times Magazine (Oct. 12), nestled into the second page of Michael Pollan's eloquent letter to the next president ("Farmer In Chief") was this blurb I wrote on Sysco [click forward until you get to Local, Inc, or see below], the $37 billion food distribution company that's earning accolades from chefs (such as Dan Barber of Blue Hill) and local food activists for its initiatives with regional farmers.

The Sysco story, in 200 words or less:

LOCAL INC.:

Now that “local” has replaced “organic” as the conscientious eater's buzzword, even the gargantuan food distributor Sysco — a $37 billion company that supplies food to restaurants, hospitals and colleges across North America — has begun shifting its stance under the leadership of the chief executive, Rick Schnieders.

Responding to customers' demands for fresher, more specialized products, Schnieders has partnered with small farms, appointed a vice president of agricultural sustainability and started programs to help farmers market their products regionally. “A lot of people fear the big company, but that shouldn't be the case here,” said David Yandow, the executive vice president of sales at Fowler FreshPoint, a Connecticut produce subsidiary of Sysco. Yandow works with 140 New England farmers to supply regional businesses with the seasonal (and often specialty) produce they're requesting.

“The climate has changed for us,” he says. “There's the opportunity for everybody to do the right thing.” — HANNAH WALLACE

I also have a story (Download Momofuku.pdf) about the trio of NYC restaurants that comprise David Chang's Momofuku empire in the latest issue of Italian food magazine F+B Business.   If you haven't yet tried Chang's steamed chicken buns, you haven't lived. (I know this is sacrilegious but I do think they're better than the pork ones.)

Stay tuned for upcoming articles about coffee, holistic vets, and mercury (& why you should limit your consumption of tuna, halibut, sea bass, and other predatory fish).