Now that the nation seems to be moving toward an outright ban on trans fat oils, which really means trans fatty acids produced by the manufacture of nearly every oil a chef, may use, what is the catch up position of chefs throughout the country?  I say catch up because we did not start this ban, most of us know very little about the chemistry of commercial oil production, and hardly any of have been talking about how we can serve our customers better food--read, healthy food--without trans fats.

I have questions for all of you, all of us.

Does the rapid emergence of this issue mean we have no conscience that we are like wind up toys moving at the whims of some so-called executive in management whose only goal in life is cheap, cheap?  Do we really know so little about what we are doing, in fact, that we use ingredients without understanding?  Can we really be said to be concerned about the welfare of our customers or is being cute with a presentation the real, superficial, goal?

And, most of all, why have we not spoken out about this travesty done, under our collective noses, to one of the most basic ingredients we use?

We need to know more about what we are doing and let it be reflected in every food we cook and serve and we need to let the public know we care that much and more about our profession--anything less is unworthy of the conscience of any chef.