Localvores, family farms and the Top Chef Master

By now, all of us Top Chef addicts (the Bravo TV series) know that Rick Bayless of Topolobamp 158633995_6308f084a5_t[1] o and Frontera Grill fame is the new Top Chef Master. By beating out the worthy competition, Bayless won $100,000 for the Frontera Farmer Foundation, which supports small, sustainable farms in the Midwest. Started by Bayless and his partner and wife Deann, the Foundation provides modest capital grants which can leapfrog a small farm to profitability. Doing so adds to the vitality and viabilty of the local food scene, but there’s a greater good. As he so aptly put on the Foundation’s website: “Great food, like all art, enhances and reflects a community’s vitality, growth and solidarity. Yet history bears witness that great cuisines spring only from healthy local agriculture.” Everyone who champions sustainability owes Rick Bayless a “Bravo” – not just for winning what looked like a pretty intense competition–but for bringing network attention to this worthy cause.