A recent article in the New York Times highlighted an emerging culinary movement in Brooklyn — one that mirrors the formation of bands and artist collectives. A community of picklers, cheese makers, chocolatiers, butchers, specialty knife makers share a common thread: talent, ambition and an appreciation for tradtional methods. The prevailing attitude of this new-old way of thinking is doing-it-yourself, getting your hands dirty. It's essentially the opposite of how most Americans view and consume food today.

Oftentimes, the processes are difficult, complicated and slow, which is to be expected with pre-industrial techniques. Rick and Michael Mast of Mast Brothers Chocolate taught themselves to make chocolate by hand. The butchers at Prime Meats are setting aside months to do their own curing. Cut Brooklyn, a specialty knife maker, takes 10 to 12 hours to fashion a single chef's knife.

What I find inspiring (and surprising) is the huge community and following that not only keeps business like these open, but actually busy (a local store can't keep Cut Brooklyn knives in stock). Like the producers who've banded together in this movement, more and more consumers seem to be tired of the low-quality, high-consumption lifestyle we've been accustomed to for so long.

There's a newfound appreciation for craftsmanship. For handmade, local, organic products that are created by talented, hard-working people. It's exciting to see bits and pieces of this in our own city (I recently posted an article highlighting local businesses such as Cakes & Ale and Octane Coffee that operate with similar vision, talent and pride).

And I've seen it extend beyond restaurants and food products. There's been a rise of designers who are embracing traditional methods such as hand-lettering, letterpressing and silkscreening. Companies are rediscovering the importance of art, aesthetics and design in their business models (The Designful Company).

The PC revolution of the late 90s and the dot-com bubble that followed it has lead to an oversaturation of "designers". These things made it easy for anyone's computer-saavy cousin to do "graphic design". In a sense, it's very simliar to automation of food and the emergence of fast food and chain restaurants — instant, low-quality satisfaction.

I have a feeling consumers are getting smarter. They're seeking authenticity and quality, and are willing to pay more and wait a little bit longer for it. Because in the end, it makes everyone happier. If anything, this recession will only strengthen the movement because we will come out of it realizing that our previous level of consumption was not sustainable. History has dictated that the world works in cycles, and this time, the human element is making a comeback.

Photo by G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times.

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