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Chef Andrew Zimmern, 62, is serving up some sustainable ideas. The four-time James Beard Award winner and TV personality collaborated with writer-producer David E. Kelley to create a

three-part docuseries, _Hope in the Water_, debuting June 19 on PBS. The series spotlights new food technologies that can help feed the planet while also saving threatened oceans and

waterways, and it features innovators, aqua farmers and fishers who are working toward a sustainable future. AARP spoke to Zimmern about the show, and he also shares one of his favorite

meals to make, his go-to indulgences and the surprising foods he loves to buy at gas stations. _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ What did you learn while making _Hope

in the Water_? What surprised me is how many brilliant, solutions-minded people there are around the world who are trying to preserve their way of life by working on and in the water. The

premise of the series — and what I think is most important — is that you don’t solve the problem by shutting down sustainable economies on the water. You solve the problems by creating

solutions so that we can harvest out of our oceans while at the same time protecting them. WHAT SOLUTIONS STOOD OUT TO YOU? I’ll give you a great example. You probably learned the same thing

in eighth grade that I did — which is when we studied medieval history: [that] the farmers started rotating crops. That was a medieval farming idea that took root in Europe a thousand years

ago, and it proved that the soil was healthier if you kept rotating your fields. In the water space, we call those no-take zones. We need more no-take zones. We need to rotate around the

world what fish we’re taking and when and where. There are people pushing for this in various countries. [embedded content] HAS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD FOOD CHANGED AS YOU’VE AGED? Very much

so. I’m a product — as are all human beings — of our time. And my parents maybe were a little more activist than others, and I was just sensitized maybe to issues at a young age. But 100

years ago, who [cared] about sustainability? Sustain a what? Everything is sustainable. Aren’t we going to have all of this good stuff in our world forever? What’s changed me is I’ve

realized that everything good disappears because we overuse it. DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY RECIPE THAT’S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO PASS ON? My grandmother’s classic roast chicken with an onion pan

gravy [see recipe, below]. There’s nothing better, and the whole family loves it. I make it 12 months a year, at least once a week. WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO GUILTY FOOD PLEASURE? Culver’s and Shake

Shack. I think Culver’s and Shake Shack have the best burgers. I get my cheeseburger, my fries and my malt. Gas station food, as I’m driving around the country, is my guilty pleasure.