MAKING A DREAM OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A REALITY

Don Koo Lee breathed deeply and looked out into the audience of delegates to the United Nations. He leaned into the microphone and began to speak:

“The core idea is that sustainable development is feasible when both developing and developed countries assume full responsibility, share each other’s burden and collaborate,” Lee said as part of his address. “I believe these are

the values we must continue to uphold and pursue.”

As minister of the Korea Forest Service, Lee (’75 MS forest biometry, ’78 PhD silviculture) sought to inspire the delegates to work together in “ecosystemic development,” which he and other world leaders see as a possible solution for desertification, land degradation and drought.

Lee was invited to address the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in October 2011 as president of the Conference of the Parties, the decision-making body of that convention. He proposed the Changwon Initiative, which provides practical measures to battling desertification and land degradation.

Lee is a renowned expert in forest sciences, especially forest regeneration and silviculture (the growth and management of trees for wood production). He served as president of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations from 2006 to 2010 and became minister of the Korea Forest Service in February 2011.

“I make and develop better policies and determine how to put them into practice. I enjoy knowing that the Korea Forest Service is well-recognized among other government organizations in our country. We recently obtained the top ranking in one-year work accomplishments among 38 government organizations.”

Most of Lee’s career has been spent as a professor of forest sciences at his alma mater–the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Seoul National University—where he also served a two-year term as dean.

His academic career culminated in the publication of “Ecological Management of Forests,” a book he authored with 29 of his students.

For Lee, the completion of his master’s and doctorate at Iowa State not only allowed him to build a meaningful career, it was the achievement of a childhood dream to become a professor.

Lee says he is glad government consultants recommended he attend Iowa State. He remembers the kindness and friendliness of Iowans, the hot July day he married his wife in a church near Ames, the volatile summer weather and the football rivalries.

“The Cyclones beat Nebraska in 1976 and the goal post was destroyed in the joy of victory,” he recalls.

Lee’s advice to current students: “Please have your own dream! Be ambitious in spirit and honest in all your works! Then you will be well-recognized and obtain great success.”

In his work with the United Nations Don Lee, minister of the Korea Forest Service, is working to address desertification and land degradation worldwide. He says to succeed all nations must "assume responsibility, share each other's burden."

His dream for the Republic of Korea is to continue to lead and collaborate with the international community in sustainable development and forestry cooperation.

SERVING UP LOCAL FOODS USING OLD WORLD METHODS

“It’s just a café.”

Kevin Rettig still dons a chef’s coat from time to time at The Café, but since launching the restaurant he’s moved from executive chef to general manager.

“This type of restaurant was the fist of its kind in the Ames area,” he says. “They say the coasts are ve years ahead of us, but our ideas were right in line with what  I was seeing on the West coast at the time.”

The restaurant was designed to have  a neighborhood bistro feel with a menu grounded in local foods says Rettig (’94 food science and technology), who was executive chef at the time and has since become general manager.

The Café consists of a bakery and coffee-house, restaurant, bar and catering com-pany. Cooking methods are Old World like making sausage in-house, smoking and curing meats, grilling over a wood fie and roasting in a stone oven. They bake artisanal breads and every pastry and dessert is made from scratch.

Rettig considers it a “chameleon.”

“We want people to see us differently. We’ve always wanted to be a neighborhood place for ice cream with the kids, a four-course meal in the evenings, or just a quick breakfast,” he says. “Some people see us as a fancy place, but our intention has simply been to serve good food and take good care of people.”

Developing a taste for  the restaurant business

Rettig got his start in the restaurant business as a dishwasher at the Ames favorite, Aunt Maude’s. There he met the two men who would become his profes-sional mentors and business partners at The Café: Bob Cummings and Pat Breen.

As he attended Iowa State, Rettig quickly worked his way to tending bar, then to the kitchen where he cooked alongside the head chef at Aunt Maude’s for three years.

“My ability to cook and the knowledge to do so was gained by trial and error, lots of interest and great teachers and critics,” Rettig says. “I was afforded the luxury of being able to bring in an idea and to work with it until success, or sometimes failure.”

He spent time as head chef and general manager at O’Malley and McGees restaurant in Ames, and as a sous-chef in two restaurants in Portland, Oregon, for several years before he reconnected with Cummings and Breen to create The Café.

Flavor is always in season

The Café’s seasonal menu runs on a six-week cycle.

“Menu ideas come from everyone involved. We have great arguments about why something should or should not be on the menu,” Rettig says with a smile. “We find ideas from websites, trade magazines, newspapers, all over.”

One thing they all agree on is the use of local produce.

“Using local foods has a cause-and-effect relationship on the menu. It forces us to change with availability so that can be challenging. Plans can be ruined based on crop performance. But, the quality is better. An heirloom tomato needs to be picked and served when ripe, as with any vegetable,” says Rettig.

The Café orders food from farmers daily during the growing season and often produce is delivered the same day  it is picked. They work with about 25  different area growers. During the winter months, Rettig and his colleagues meet with farmers to plan for the next season.

“They come armed with seed catalogs and we have fun picking out new and unusual possibilities that they or we may like to try,” he says.

Rettig enjoys the focus on fresh, local produce but values food produc-ers at every scale. “Commodity beef and other products have  a place here. Our hamburger is local, but our steaks aren’t from  a single producer,” he says. “Plus, we’re in a state you can’t grow certain ingredients year-round. We can’t get local olive oil and I need to supplement using canned tomatoes in the off season for example.”

The Café’s approach to food has proven successful, says Rettig, “we couldn’t have drawn a more perfect growth ladder.”

Today staff includes an executive chef, two sous chefs and others totaling 95 employees—of which half are university students. The Café serves an average of 800 customers per day and it is common to find a wait for a table any day of theweek during peak hours.

Click here for Rettig’s Lamb Ragu and Pasta recipe

LUNCHROOM HEROES

Students in the San Diego Unified School District are trading cards of a different variety these days. One “Farmer Bill Brammer” card could equal a “Robin and Lucila from Suzie’s Farm.”

Complete with crops grown, farm size and brand of tractor driven, farmer trading cards are one of the many ways Vanessa Zajfen, the school’s farm to school specialist, connects kids to those who grow their food.

Zajfen, (’05 MS sustainable agriculture) coordinates local food purchasing and programming for the second largest school district in California.

“Vanessa is knowledgeable, engaging and willing to do whatever it takes to get the freshest produce to our children. She has inspired farmers to prepare and deliverfresh organic produce to our over 200 schools,” says Gary Petill, director of food services. “Vanessa also has made agreements with many farmers to plant and harvest products just for our school district.”

Prior to this position Zajfen worked at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College where she contributed to the nation’s first locally supplied Women Infant and Children (WIC) food program. She has also owned and operated her own produce company sourcing and selling locally grown foods.

After completing her bachelor’s at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Zajfen, an Orange County native, was drawn to Iowa State for the interdisciplinary masters program in sustainable agriculture. She also jumped at the chance
to live “in the middle of America.”

“My favorite course was an immersion course in Iowa agricultural systems,” she says. “One day after I arrived in Iowa I piled into a van with other sustainable ag students and for 24 hours a day for twoweeks we traveled the state visiting big and small farms, conventional and organic, processing plants, dairy farms, beef cattle farms, pig farms. We could compare and contrast those systems easily.”

She draws upon her education andpractical experience when she visits with farmers about how they can meet the district’s needs. Zajfen helps place local foods on menus according to seasonal availability and coordinates how both farmers and the district can meet U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.

“Our biggest challenges are finding enough supply to meet our needs and training staff. Not only do we need to find enough raw broccoli to feed all our students, but we need to train our staff  how to prepare it rather than using processed
frozen,” Zajfen says.

She says price is always on her mind nas well. “We have $1.03 to create a school meal. When a local apple makes up 25 cents, things add up really quickly.”

For Zajfen it is rewarding to see the program grow into a framework through which the district’s entire food system ismoving to healthier meals. “Farm to school is a radical shift and a lot of people have been inspired,” she says.

TACKLING MEATY ISSUES

By Darcy Maulsby

In the meat processing business, food safety remains a priority issue for companies of all sizes, including small, independent processors who have been supplying local foods long before the concept captured the attention of culinary professionals and consumers.

As executive director of the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP), Jay Wenther provides tools to help these processors succeed.

“We need a science-based food safety system,” says Wenther. “At AAMP, my job is not only to help processors stay current on regulations, but explain how they can implement strategies to be in compliancewith these regulations.”

Wenther (’03 PhD meat science) has developed a variety of online resources to help members supply safe, quality meats to consumers. Since starting his career at AAMP in 2003, he has created tools including model Hazard Analysis and CriticalControl Points (HACCP) food safety plans and nutrition labeling information.

Wenther says his studies at Iowa State emphasized the importance of providing these practical, real-world solutions, which are invaluable to the association’s 1,315 members, including meat business operators, wholesalers, processors and home food service operators.

One of Wenther’s most useful experiences at Iowa State was attending the popular Sausage and Processed Meat Short Course, which is taught by leading professionals from around the globe. Wenther credits Joe Cordray, professor of animal science, for helping him learn about a variety of sectors within the meat business and connect with leaders in the industry.

“Every day at AAMP is different, and I need to have a network of professionals throughout the country that I can call to provide assistance to small meat processors who may not have Ph.D.s on staff,” says Wenther.

The Iowa Meat Processors Association (IMPA) honored Wenther during thegroup’s 2011 convention for outstanding service to the meat industry.

“There is no person in the country more dedicated to small meat processors than Jay Wenther,” says Cordray, who also is an IMPA member. “Not only does he have a working knowledge of the industry, but he goes out of his way to help small meat processors develop sustainable businesses.”

Wenther says he enjoys helping others discover the many opportunities that exist in the meat processing industry today and appreciates the solid base his Iowa State University training provided.