“What I aspire to is the grace with which he was able to meet people where they were and, at the same time, challenge preconceived notions.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>I never knew Anthony Bourdain or even saw him in person. Yet, that he existed in the world \u2013 that I could turn on the TV or pick up something he’d written and get a dose of inspiration, or laughter, or learn something about food, life, relationships, or what it means to be authentic \u2013 was such a gift.<\/p>\n His 1999 New Yorker<\/em> essay \u201cDon\u2019t Eat Before Reading This,\u201d and subsequent book, Kitchen Confidential,<\/em> were full of bombast, bad-ass adventure and raw truth-telling. That made him fun to read, and later to watch. But if that is all it was, I doubt I\u2019d find his death so devastatingly sad.<\/p>\n It was his passion for his craft, his love of people, and, ultimately, his talent for being able to suspend his own (strong) biases and beliefs in order to bring people together, that resonates deeply with me as I think about the work I lead for Environmental Defense Fund.<\/p>\n Bridging cultural divides<\/strong><\/p>\n Bourdain often said that Parts Unknown<\/em>, the \u201cfood show\u201d that made him a global celebrity, wasn\u2019t ever really about food. It was about people. It was about sitting down with them and learning who they were. It was about sharing ideas, asking questions, and opening up their world and their worldviews to the rest of us.<\/p>\n He embraced the dichotomy of the world being a really big place and a small planet all at the same time.<\/p>\n I learn so much by opening up to the stories and perspectives of ranchers, farmers and fishermen, of public officials, of folks in all manner of businesses whose work depends upon our rich natural resources.<\/p>\n [Tweet “The world needs more Anthony Bourdains \u2013 people who are respectful of others and are willing to build on-ramps to solutions instead of walls.”]<\/p>\n Bourdain never advocated abandoning independent thought in order to sing \u201cKumbaya\u201d and have a group hug. (Exhibit A: Bourdain\u2019s quip that vegans are a \u201cHezbollah-like\u201d faction of vegetarians.)<\/p>\n What I aspire to is the grace with which he was able to meet people where they were and, at the same time, challenge preconceived notions \u2013 whether that might be getting Anderson Cooper to try blood sausage or giving CNN viewers a more intimate view of what it’s like to live in West Virginia.<\/p>\n Accepting shades of gray<\/strong><\/p>\n The environment, like food, isn\u2019t a black and white issue. It is, at its core, something that naturally binds us together \u2013 something that, just like food, sustains life on Earth. Yet, it can be twisted to be something that divides us.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/06\/117114719_e3f24f7ae0_2.jpg\")