In this video, Lynette Zang introduces Jayson, a new member on her team who will be helping with her health journey by focusing on food. Jayson has a background in the food industry and has noticed the amount of waste and disrespect for food. He believes in a closed-loop system, where everything is used and nothing goes to waste. He will be working with us to ensure that we use everything in the kitchen, and any leftover scraps will go to compost or to feed our livestock. This closed-loop system increases productivity and is not commonly found in the real world!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Chef Jayson
1:28 Food Waste
4:04 Challenges
7:48 100% Sustainable
11:06 Experimenting
13:08 Soon You Start…
TRANSCRIPT FROM VIDEO:
Lynette Zang (00:00):
Look at how pretty this is, lunch!
Chef Jayson (00:07):
<Laugh>.
Lynette Zang (00:11):
You know, when you pick it and you eat it, it has so much more flavor.
Chef Jayson (00:15):
Yeah. Ooh.
Lynette Zang (00:16):
If you think that the world is headed in a direction that makes you a bit concerned for the future, and you’d like to be as self-sufficient and independent as possible, then you’ve come to the right place. My name is Lynette Zang. Now it’s time to go Beyond Gold and Silver.
Lynette Zang (00:38):
I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the family on the farm.
Chef Jayson (00:44):
How’s it going, everyone?
Lynette Zang (00:46):
<Laugh>, this is Jayson. You may have seen some of his work with Lindsey. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, but his job here, you guys probably should know. If you don’t, I’ll tell you anyway, that I’ve been on a health journey for a while, and part of it, obviously, we know that food is the single most important issue for people as we’re going through transitions. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, but it’s also the most important thing that you can do for your health. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> for your mind, so you can think clearly for your body so you can function clearly. And so I can’t even tell you how grateful I am to have found Jayson. So you’ll be seeing a lot more of him mm-hmm. <Affirmative> as we move forward. But Jayson, can you tell everybody, you know, what you want them to know about how you feel about food and how you’re approaching all of this?
Chef Jayson (01:36):
Yeah, absolutely. I started a food truck in restaurant with my brother about 10 years ago 11 years ago now. And I noticed as I was coming through the restaurant and the food industry that there is like insane amounts of waste. And not just waste, but just kind of general disrespect for food. Yeah. Where, you know, you’re, you’re throw it away 40% of what you could use, you know? And so you have to, one of the tricks with successful restaurants is figuring out how to use every scrap of food that comes in the building. There’s an old saying that says, you don’t make money off the lobster. You make money off the shells. And that’s, there’s a reason you take the shells, you put ’em in a stock pot with some water and onions, and all of a sudden you’ve got a lobster broth. Now you can charge 20 bucks for lobster bisque, you know, and it’s a byproduct of something else. And so the, the food system, as I saw it, is pretty broken. And so when I hooked up with Lynette here and started cooking for her, I realized that she has the same idea that I do about food is to try to be as closed loop as you possibly can. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, meaning if you’re not using it in the kitchen, it needs to go to compost or it needs to go to the chickens, feeding another animal that’s eventually gonna give us more food. And so there’s a productivity in this type of environment that you can’t get really out in the real world. And it’s.
Lynette Zang (03:05):
This is my real world!
Chef Jayson (03:07):
Yeah. I mean, it, it really is. And this is, this is a microcosm of what people used to do 80 years ago, a hundred years ago, everybody had their own mini farm to at least supplement what they would go and get from the grocery store or the general store they called it back then. So this is really fun for me to be able to walk out every day and go, okay, what’s good and what’s fresh, and take that into the kitchen and prepare it for Lynette. And then we know, and we have the confidence that our food, we know where it’s coming from. Exactly. We know who grew it, we know who tended it, we know who touched it, and everybody that’s involved in that process cares. And that’s a big, big deal. They care. And so if you get a chance, go plant a couple things. Even just get a basil plant to put in your kitchen window you’d be surprised at what kind of door that can open and what kind of path that can lead you down. It’s a lot of fun.
Lynette Zang (04:04):
So, it’s been challenging for you though, too.
Chef Jayson (04:07):
It has.
New Speaker (04:08):
Because my diet is pretty, I mean, it doesn’t feel when you’re cooking, for me, it doesn’t feel restrictive at all.
Chef Jayson (04:15):
Right
Lynette Zang (04:15):
But, but generally speaking, you know, it’s no dairy, it’s no, it’s no wheat products or
Chef Jayson (04:24):
No grains, no gluten, no sugar. You know, there’s a lot of restrictions. And when I came into it, you know, as a, as a cook and a chef, I used cream and butter and you know, you use it for everything in traditional cooking. And so it was neat to be able to learn a new style of cooking that’s very clean. Yes. that’s very vegetable oriented and challenge myself. Like, can you still make something good without all that stuff? And Yeah, you can <laugh>, we’ve been doing it. Yeah, you can. And, and I love that I have the freedom to experiment mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and I have the freedom to go look and procure the best stuff that we possibly can, the best fish and the best vegetables aside from what we don’t grow. Or maybe something that’s outta season. Like, you know, we really want corn or something <laugh>. You know, there’s, we try to stay in season as much as we possibly can. But luckily in Arizona never really feels like there’s more than two seasons.
Lynette Zang (05:22):
Two season. Right. <Laugh>. But we’re also, the hot houses are just about done. Yep. Yep. So we’ll be able to grow our own off-season Yep. Stuff as well. And of course
Chef Jayson (05:33):
December is awesome, <laugh>
Lynette Zang (05:34):
True. And also, you know, I’ve seen you in the pond catching tilapia.
Chef Jayson (05:39):
Yep. We have some awesome filets that we, we have on deck for for next week. And this is, so this was one of the coolest parts. I mean, we harvested tilapia here a couple weeks ago and then last week we harvested the crayfish from the ponds on the other side. And that was new for me from start to finish. And I was a little scared and, but I still had that issue. And I explained this to Edgar, talked with Edgar about this, that traditional way of preparing those craw adss like you put ’em in water to get ’em cleaned out, to get ’em to regurgitate and get ’em cleaned out. Right. You put salt in there. And I was like, man, that can’t be comfortable for them. They’re not saltwater animals. And so I kept doing research and they were like, no, you don’t have to do that. It just takes a little longer. I’m like, you know what? Let’s do it a little longer. Cuz even that respect, that type of respect for your animals are the things that you’re going to eat. I don’t know. There’s, there’s something about it. There’s something about that connection with your food and knowing that you’re taking a live animal. And turning it into a meal from start to finish. It’s very different from just going and picking up a steak or lobster or whatever from the grocery store. And so I feel that that’s a, it’s a, it’s a great way to procure your food if you can. And you don’t have to have something huge like this and start in small steps. Right?
Lynette Zang (06:59):
Yeah. Right. I mean, you know, I’d been trying to get crawfish since 2013, and that was the first meal
Chef Jayson (07:07):
That was the first one
Lynette Zang (07:08):
2023
Chef Jayson (07:09):
And sometimes it takes that long and mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, you know, people might joke that, oh, well, you know, how much did those things actually cost? How much did that meal cost you? In the end? It’s like, it doesn’t matter when you figure out the proper way to do it or a way that is sustainable or that can produce, you know, we’re not.
Lynette Zang (07:26):
Now it’s ongoing.
Chef Jayson (07:28):
Yeah. It’s ongoing. And now we’ve got we’ve got something that we could probably harvest every couple of weeks, maybe every month and have at least one or two meals out of it. And then you kind of add that into everything else that we’re doing. We get two or three meals from tilapia every, every couple of weeks. And then we’re adding that in with all the vegetables we’re growing. So the, the hope is that we can be 100% sustainable.
Lynette Zang (07:51):
That is what we’re working towards.
Chef Jayson (07:53):
Yeah. Right. We could, we could working towards pretty much everything we need here. Sands, maybe, you know, I don’t know where we could put a cow at this property.
Lynette Zang (08:02):
<Laugh> Well we can at this property. Yeah.
Chef Jayson (08:04):
But we can but up the other way up north.
Lynette Zang (08:06):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So we will let the bug out location, we’ll have cows mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and we’ll have sheep and mm-hmm. <Affirmative> goats and, and all of that. So it’s a work in progress.
Chef Jayson (08:15):
Yeah. That takes care of your land animals. So you have your aquatic animals, you have your chicken, your little land animals, and then you have your other producers that for milk, goat milk, dairy, cows, milk. And then you have the meat from both those animals. It’s, that’s about as self-sustaining as you can get.
Lynette Zang (08:33):
Yep! So now the other thing is that, that really excites me, besides the fact that your cooking is so fabulous, thank God <laugh> is also what you are developing mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, like, I mean, you know, by drying out the orange rinds Oh yeah. Right. I can’t really have the oranges themselves because it’s too much sugar. Yeah. But he dries out the orange rines and turns them into a powder. Yep. And he sprinkles ’em in my chia seed pudding. Yep. And, and different things.
Chef Jayson (09:03):
I mean, orange is a flavor that you want in your life. And if you can’t do sugar, I mean, orange juice is probably the highest sugar fruit out there, but I mean, orange is such an amazing flavor. So we had to think, how can we get that orange flavor for Lynette? And that’s the way to do it. The peel has all the oils, which is really the essence of the orange mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, and you can add that into so many different things. So this is what we were talking about earlier is don’t throw the peel away. You can peel it, throw it in the oven for an hour at 175, and then you could put it away and it stays good. Right. So that’s a big part of it is what can we do to preserve all the work that we’re doing in the front end.
Lynette Zang (09:44):
And, and part of what your job is too mm-hmm. <Affirmative> is we’re recording all of this mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. And so you will have some of the recipes or you’ll get a chance to see what I’m eating and Yep. Now that I finally have somebody good to help me <laugh> do this, maybe there’ll be transformation. There already has been a transformation, even though it’s just been a little while. Yeah. There’s already been a transformation. Yeah. But hopefully it will get better and better and better. And I’m happy you’re here.
Chef Jayson (10:13):
As long as we keep moving in the right direction, that’s the goal. We don’t want to backtrack. Right. And if we do, then we can figure out, okay, how do we adjust what we’re cooking and, and what we’re using. Right. you know, I I think I’m lucky. I remember hearing a story that you could only eat about 12 different things at one point, 11 or 12 different things.
Lynette Zang (10:33):
Yes. That was in 2018, yes.
Chef Jayson (10:36):
And that, that has to be tough. So I, I do thank, thank whoever that that I came in at the time that I did that I can use a little bit more. Even being as restricted as it is, I think we found a lot of fun ways around those rules, you know?
Lynette Zang (10:52):
Right! So we’re gonna help you learn those fun ways around the rules mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and here is the best teacher that you could possibly have. Yeah. I’m really excited. I really
Chef Jayson (11:04):
Am. Well, thank you. I am too
Lynette Zang (11:05):
Totally excited that you’re part of the team.
Chef Jayson (11:06):
It’s, it’s so much fun just creating and trying and I think one of the biggest things in the kitchen, one of the biggest things that holds people back is the fear of failure, dude. Right. You’re gonna burn it. I don’t Right. You’re gonna screw it up. It’s gonna happen, but the whole point of cooking is Okay, don’t do that again. Just don’t, don’t get discouraged. I’ve made plenty of terrible dishes in my life <laugh> even recently. So you don’t.
Lynette Zang (11:33):
Only one.
Chef Jayson (11:33):
Yeah. But don’t be afraid to try. Yeah. Don’t be afraid to try and adjust. Okay, how, what do I not like about this? And ask yourself a very real question. You can’t just go, oh, that’s gross. Why is it gross? What did you do throughout the process that you think made it gross? And then adjust that? It could be something as simple as maybe the ingredient wasn’t fresh enough.
Chef Jayson (11:55):
You know, I remember making a cauliflower soup for you. Right. And it sat in there for maybe five or six days and then you told me, yeah, the cauliflower soup wasn’t good. I said, well, what was it again? You said it was bitter. And I was like, I think I tried it when it, when I made it, it definitely wasn’t bitter. So now we know five, six day old cauliflower soup turns bitter. That’s not too tasty. So we try to eat it as quickly as possible now, <laugh>. So it’s those you don’t know until it happens. So please don’t be afraid to try. And and it’s fun developing these food programs and storage programs and preservation program.
Lynette Zang (12:29):
Yeah that is definitely something that you’re doing quite a bit. Yeah. Is finally preserving the food that we’re creating on the property. Yeah. Which is, you know, which is great.
Chef Jayson (12:39):
Great. And there that’s kind of a lost art. I think people have kind of forgotten how because it’s so easy to just go to the grocery store and get fresh whatever
Lynette Zang (12:48):
Until you can’t
Chef Jayson (12:49):
Yeah. And I mean, I’ve started making chilaquiles for you.
Lynette Zang (12:53):
Yes!
Chef Jayson (12:53):
With homemade enchilada sauce that we just take our green salsa and blend it down a little bit more. I mean, it’s that easy.
Lynette Zang (13:00):
It’s delicious.
Chef Jayson (13:01):
You could have a base product that can do so many different things for you. Yeah. And aside from just being delicious on its own, so.
Lynette Zang (13:08):
Right! So if you have any questions too Yeah. You can send them into questions@itmtrading.com and just make sure that you put Jayson also in that subject line. And he’s happy to answer those questions or you can put it in the body of any piece that he’s doing and he’ll check and respond to it truthfully. Yeah. With what we have going on economically. And this is also the part that you are learning mm-hmm. <Affirmative> we really do need to be as independent and self-sufficient inside of community. As we can possibly be. So everybody brings a different skillset and then together we are so much more powerful. We can be so much more independent. And that’s what we’re here to do, is to be of service for you to help you get to this place too. Because I’ve been working on it a long time and I’m telling ya, <laugh> It’s not easy, but the sooner you start mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, the sooner you get to production.
Chef Jayson (14:15):
It’s a lot easier once the ball is rolling. Once you have an idea of where you can plant things and what you can plant and what you like, you know, plant what you like. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, don’t plant a bunch of stuff that you’re not into. If you’re into tomatoes, plant a bunch of tomatoes, those are one of the best things you could preserve. And such a great base product. You could can just straight up tomatoes and use them for just about everything
Lynette Zang (14:37):
And have ’em all year round
Chef Jayson (14:39):
Yeah. Have ’em all year round. Exactly.
Lynette Zang (14:42):
So I’m glad to introduce you to Jayson and I definitely encourage you to take advantage of his knowledge base. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, he’s brilliant, he’s creative. I feel so lucky and happy that you’re with us. Thank you. And until next we meet, please be safe out there. Bye-Bye.
Chef Jayson (15:01):
Take care.
