[10] In May 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barber launched the resourcED program at both Blue Hill restaurants, which packaged ingredients from the Stone Barns farm and included directions for customers to cook themselves.

The new concept was a response to the Black Lives Matter protests bringing attention to structural inequities in the restaurant industry.

[13] A 2022 Eater article alleged that Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant has a history of abuse toward its employees, a toxic work environment, and other issues, with a focus on Barber being ignorant of an employee's report of sexual assault.

[17] Barber was mentored by notable California cuisine chefs, Mark Peel at Campanile in Los Angeles and Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley.

In 2008 he gave a TED talk on foie gras produced without force-feeding on a farm in Spain which he describes as a "Garden of Eden".

[20] In 2010, Barber gave a talk at the TED Conference, where he outlined his discovery of extensively farmed fish at Veta La Palma, Spain.