I think fall is really here now. There’s that snap in the air that tells me it’s October, as the leaves begin to slip into their autumn colors and the sky takes on that kind of clear blue sparkle that heralds the winter season ahead. It’s the kind of weather that literally makes me bounce down the street to the farmers market, which is really at its peak right now, full of butternut squash and Bosc pears, the sweetest spinach of the season, and every kind of apple under the s

I was honored to be asked to be part of the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the Italian Republic to attend the Milan Expo 2015, which is themed “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”, an exploration of how technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity are connected to food, diet, agriculture, and hunger. Led by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let’s Move! initiative, we toured the USA Pavilion, which is themed “American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet”

Back in 2011, I went fishing as part of a challenge on “Top Chef All Stars” where we literally had to catch our own ingredients; I ended up catching and making bluefish, an oily but very flavorful fish that tastes great smoked — and is also a sustainable seafood. Making just a little extra effort to buy sustainable seafood can have a positive impact on the planet, but most of the time, we don’t really know where that fish on our plates came from originally. Today we’re used t