Top chef Franz Keller, owner of Falkenhof Farm, lashes out against the vegan diet and gourmet cuisine. Here are his thoughts.
Cover photo: @Falstaff- Degen
The opinion
Covered with praises from critics in the '80s when he was a young, starred chef at the beginning of his career, Franz Keller is now among the most famous restaurateurs in Germany, managing the "Falkenhof" farm, a place with vast pastures where animals are raised in complete freedom. Therefore, Keller clearly expresses his stance against intensive farming: "Respect for all living beings is certainly the right path to take. Nature provides us with healthy products that have nothing to do with mass consumer goods: intense sensory perception, good food without decorative embellishments, and devoid of any sensationalism," he writes on his website. However, another statement reported by the online outlet Takeskarte has sparked debate, in which he is said to be completely opposed to the vegan lifestyle.
"Eating veg is terrible and stupid," he asserts candidly. For him, adopting a vegetarian approach is a compromise, but the vegan diet "simply is not suitable for our bodies," he continues. "We evolved because we started eating cooked and warm foods (with an obvious reference to meat). We became what we are today, mentally healthy individuals, only through nutritional progress. But if we continue like this, we must be careful not to end up in the tree next to the monkey."
For Keller, the crucial aspect is, instead, carefully selecting the meat we purchase. The prominent chef criticizes the current system of intensive farming, branding it as "completely sick," and emphasizes that in his agricultural company, everything is done differently. However, this comes at a cost. "A kilo of pork costs 4.10 euros at the supermarket; for me, a good fillet is worth 70 euros per kilo," he explains.
The chef is now distant from the large kitchens but continues to organize events for the public. However, even the guests at these events have changed. "Today, everyone has special requests or intolerances," he reports according to newsrnd.com. "In the past, people went to restaurants because they wanted to eat what the chef proposed, not what they thought was good for us."
Keller doesn't limit himself to criticizing vegans and customers but additionally describes modern cuisine as a circus. "Why should I blindly put a piece of jelly under my tongue and then guess that it's cauliflower? We live in a world where it's almost all about appearance and not about taste," he concludes.
