• NYC’s Schnitzel & Things, which serves three different kinds of schnitzel, along with some tasty-sounding sides (Austrian potato salad, cucumber salad, roasted beets & feta).
• LA’s insanely popular Kogi Korean BBQ truck, which gained fame, fortune and a HUGE following last year through a clever location-spotting campaign on Twitter

Kogi the Trend-Setting Korean BBQ Truck

Even smAlbany gets into the act every spring and summer, when dozens of food trucks, selling everything from falafel to fajitas, line the streets around the State Capital and attract state workers by the thousands every day at lunchtime. The day they arrive is almost as newsworthy as the day the swallows arrive in San Juan Capistrano.

LA's WorldFare "BusTaurant"

But the LATEST trend in mobile food is the “bustaurant”, a double-decker food bus which offers diners not only the chance to buy the food on the street, but to eat it there too – either in an enclosed upper space, or on an open air upper deck (like the WorldFare busTaurant). A very cool idea whose time has come.

It appears, however, that small-minded politicians in both LA and NY are trying to put the kibosh on these new-fangled roach coaches, before the trend really even gets a chance to flourish:

• Two NYC councilmembers have introduced legislation that would essentially shut down business for truck operators who get three parking meter violations (they apparently just feed the meters all day long wherever they park- yikes).  Not that they are somehow avoiding the fines now – vendors rack up thousands of dollars in fines every year, in addition to all those coins, which they consider the cost of doing business.  Why does NYC care?  They’re making a TON of money off these vendors.  I don’t get it.

• And meanwhile, over in LA, The LA County health department is set to hold a hearing later this month to determine whether the WorldFare truck’s dining facility violates local health ordinances.  I’m willing to bet that a new “bustaurant vending permit”, sung to the tune of a couple grand a year, will make things just right with the LA County government, though.

Nothing like a little bureaucratic red tape to whet the ol’ appetite.

If that’s the way things are going, our friend Bettie and her double-decker cupcake stand should watch out.  You know how New York State loves fees and surcharges (They’re not taxes!  We swear!)

I recently received an email from New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes, asking me to post information and a statement regarding Governor David Paterson’s recent proposal to impose a tax on sugared beverages – a beverage tax that would add about $1.44 per 12-pack* to the cost of  drinks that contain real sugar.

This tax would allegedly combat obesity by making the assumption that people are fat because they consume too many calories through soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages.  In my household, however, my husband is the one who consumes the full-sugar drinks, and he is very slim.  I, on the other hand, drink only water and diet soft drinks, yet am the one struggling with my weight.  So it seems that my household will be unfairly punished with that broad brush of obesity-control measures.  by paying a disproportional amount of what would be considered a “fair share”.

Let me do some quick math: I purchase one twelve-pack of Sprite per week for Bob.  At $1.44 extra per pack, I will be handing NYS an extra $74.88 per year.  That’s more than what we pay for an entire week’s worth of groceries.  What if we were one of those families who is living paycheck-to-paycheck?  They’re going to suffer the most. I know, they should switch to juice or water…but juice is almost three times the cost of soda (and contains the same amount of sugar), and don’t even get me started on the notion of making our own uncoerced choices.

I am quite certain there are holes in my argument, but I really am just opposed to more new taxes.  Where does it end??

I am in complete opposition to this regressive tax, as it is yet another maneuver by the dysfunctional New York State government to balance their hopelessly mismanaged budget on the backs of us New York taxpayers, so I’m happy to post this statement from New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes, which includes links to their website and information about how you can sign the petition to stop the insanity.

The economic downturn has hit many areas hard, including the Empire State. New York state officials continue to have political debates on how to fix the deficit. One proposed “solution” suggests that we implement a food and beverage tax that would charge one penny per ounce of sugar. This could potentially increase the total cost of some products, such as soda, by as much as 50 percent. We recognize the need to balance the budget, but taxing the hardworking citizens of the state is not a solution. In fact, it will cause more burden for New York families and businesses already struggling to make ends meet. Additionally, it will put thousands of New York jobs at risk. “Whatever revenue might be generated from this tax could potentially be offset by 6000 jobs being lost in this state. We can’t let that happen.” – Senator David J. Valesky.

The biggest argument that proponents of the tax have brought to the table is that a food and beverage tax will help curb childhood obesity. In reality, punitive taxes on food and beverages do not teach our children the importance of a good diet or how to live a healthy lifestyle – therefore doing little to improve public health. Comprehensive education, not taxation, is the key to improving public health. Putting thousands of food and beverage industry jobs at risk and raising taxes on the products that hard working families enjoy is the wrong approach to fix New York’s economic problems. Join over 7,000 other New Yorkers by signing our petition and telling Albany you oppose the New York food and beverage tax.

The website has lots of helpful information, as well as videos that help illustrate their position.  Check it out, and take a stand.

*sorry…I left this important qualifier out of the original post.

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Bronx) has introduced legislation that would ban the use of all forms of salt in the preparation and serving of food in restaurants.  I’m not going to go into a point-by-point dissection of the idiocy of this proposed legislation (Steve Barnes over at the TU did a pretty exhaustive explanation of the necessity of salt in both food and the human body), but I do want to say this:

We don’t need lawmakers telling us what we should and should not eat.

Most of us are perfectly reasonable, fairly intelligent, and fully capable of making our own decisions when it comes to what we put into our mouths.  I am tired of politicians trying to legislate common sense.  First the trans-fat ban, then mandating calorie count listings on food menus, then taxing soda and sugary drinks, and now salt.  Where does it end?  Banning sugar?  Excise tax on chocolate?  Prohibiting FOOD?

Leave me alone, please.  If I want to eat potato chips, I’m going to eat potato chips, and assume all risk for doing so.  I know what’s in them, I know how many calories and the amount of salt they contain, and I know they will make me gain a pound.  But, this America, and I am free to pursue happiness.  Potato chips make me happy.  Eating potato chips is MY CHOICE.  If you want to educate people about proper nutrition, that’s fine.  More than fine, in fact.  More people should know how to feed their bodies in a healthy way.  But, there’s no need to create laws that ban entire food categories.  NECESSARY food categories, I might add.  Without sodium, you WILL DIE.

According to Steve Barnes, Assemblyman Ortiz (who elects these morons?) “admits that prior to introducing the bill he did not research salt’s role in food chemistry, its effect on flavor or his bill’s ramifications for the restaurant industry. He tells me he was prompted to introduce the bill because his father used salt excessively for many years, developed high blood pressure and had a heart attack.admitted that he did no research into salt’s role in the chemistry of food.”

So, basically, this guy’s father didn’t know when to put down the salt shaker, so New Yorkers should suffer the consequences of his poor decisions?  I don’t think so.

I understand that the likelihood of this legislation going anywhere is practically zero (I hope), but it galls me that this type of lunatic law gets proposed at a time when our state is going through one of the worst fiscal (and ethical) crises that it’s ever seen.  How DARE he waste the taxpayer’s time, and insult our collective intelligence, by proposing something so ill-conceived, poorly researched (read: no research at all) and idiotic?

New York State has become a joke, both inside our state borders, and throughout the nation.  I am embarrassed to live here.

[T]he fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter…That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry. …Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There’s lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.

Well, it looks as if the Feds have finally wised up a bit to MP’s wisdom:

1. USDA has awarded $4.8 million for community food products, as part of the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. This collaboration hopes to “connect people more closely with the farmers who supply their food and increase the production, marketing and consumption of fresh, nutritious food that is grown locally in a sustainable manner.”
2. The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) granted $650 Million to the Recovery Act Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative, which will “[create] ways for healthful lifestyle habits to be the natural first choice for Americans…The funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to increase physical activity, improve nutrition (emphasis mine), decrease obesity, and decrease smoking in U.S. communities.”  From the release: “Funded projects will emphasize high-impact, broad-reaching policy, environmental, and systems changes in schools (K-12) and communities. For example, communities will work to make high-fat snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages less available in schools and other community sites and to use media to promote healthy choices.”

Well, it’s a good start.

In related news, last weekend saw the release of the new Matt Damon film “The Informant!”.  It’s the true story of a bumbling executive at Archer Daniels Midland (“Supermarket to the World”) who becomes a double-dealing FBI informant, providing recordings of secret meetings at which ADM and other global agrichemical producers colluded to fix worldwide prices of the animal feed additive lysine.  This American Life ran an encore of an episode they did in 2000 (called “The Fix Is In”), with the case’s major players.  The podcast is available right now on iTunes.

To: Dr. Dennis Beir (Smart Choices Board Member), Lawrence Bacow (Tufts University President) and Dr. Eileen Kennedy (Smart Choices Board President), see more…Laurence Hausner (CEO, American Diabetes Association), Dr. Richard Kahn (Smart Choices Board Member), Patricia M. Babjak (American Dietetic Association, Office of the CEO), Dr. Mary Hager (Smart Choices Board Member), Dr. William T. Butler (Baylor College of Medicine President), Dr. Dennis Beir (Smart Choices Board Member), Lawrence Bacow (Tufts University President) and Dr. Eileen Kennedy (Smart Choices Board President)

Started by: Robin Beck

The nation’s largest food manufacturers, including Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods, ConAgra and PepsiCo, want you to believe that Froot Loops and other unhealthy foods are “Smart Choices.” And they have somehow convinced representatives from Tufts University, Baylor College of Medicine, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association to back them up.

The new “Smart Choices” program–an industry-backed marketing ploy–puts a green check mark on products that are determined to be “smarter food and beverage choices.”  But the choices selected are anything but healthy.

Dr. Eileen T. Kennedy, president of the Smart Choices board and the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, said in a New York Times article that she supported giving Froot Loops the green check mark because compared to feeding your children doughnuts for breakfast “Froot Loops is a better choice.”

Kellogg’s Froot Loops Cereal is 41% sugar. There is nothing “smart” about Froot Loops or other foods packed with sugar.

The reality is that the food industry is using the Smart Choices program to deceive parents and other shoppers into buying the very food that has led to a costly epidemic of diabetes and obesity — and researchers like Dr. Kennedy are abetting this deception by associating themselves and their respective institutions with the program.

This is outrageous.

Send a letter today and tell all four doctors supporting the Smart Choices program to stop shilling for Kellogg’s. They, and the leaders of their respective institutions, need to hear that you think it is wrong for them to support any program that gives sugary cereals and other unhealthy foods a stamp of approval as healthy choices.

 

or, Create a Petition

Not as Green as You Think???

I just found a very interesting interview about sustainable food on NPR’s Science Friday.  Author James McWilliams has just written a book called Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly.  In the book, McWilliams claims that eating locally is not the “best” way to be a responsible conservator of the Earth.

What’s McMillan’s problem, you ask?  He feels that locavores have become too fundamental, and perhaps have become uber-local (to the exclusion of all non-local food), thus losing a necessary global perspective on the food supply.  He proposes reducing the consumption of meat as a primary means of reducing environmental impact.  One of his claims is that if a meat-eater gives up meat at one meal per week, the impact is identical to eating exclusively locally-grown food for one week (plants take less energy to produce than meat, ostensibly).

McWilliams squares off against two noted experts in the field, including my hero Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.

Pollan doesn’t quite agree with everything McWilliams posits (especially about the importance of “organics”), though he does concede McWilliams’ point about locavore fundamentalism: eating exclusively locally precludes you from enjoying a vast array of foods (think coffee, bananas, cinnamon) and he doesn’t believe that anyone would do the 100-Mile Diet as anything more than “a stunt”.  Even the creators of the 100-Mile Diet (whom I met last fall) admit that it’s a dreadfully difficult, almost Sisyphean task.

One wonderful comment from Pollan during this interview: he hails the Farmers Market as more than a food source – it serves a civic function as the new “town square” where people gather to meet friends and a generally get more “connected” to the world around them.  I get that!  I love going to the market, even if I don’t buy anything, because I always run into friends, and get to be part of my community.

I am definitely adding McWilliams’ book to my “Plan to Read” list.

Well, I think that’s enough of an intro: Listen to the segment HERE.

Heinz Vinegar Ad

The ad claims that some vinegars could possibly be derived from petroleum products, and that theirs are made from all-natural corn or apples (depending upon the type of vinegar).  The ad featured an interesting call to action: searching the internet for “vinegar and petroleum”.

The curious chemist in me was a bit intrigued, and I decided to do a bit of research.   Turns out, the internet has surprisingly little relevant information about this search term.  More than a few results, in fact, were blogs such as mine claiming that they couldn’t find anything, either.  After much exhaustive Googling, I uncovered a few notable tidbits, some of which seemed to relegate Heinz’s ad campaign to a load of fear-mongering nonsense:

• The Washington Post ran a piece about the ad in its “Is That Right?” column.  Their research led them to the FDA rule that *allows* vinegar to use “petroleum starts” in making vinegar.  Basically, ethyl alcohol is the basic component for vinegar production, and it can be derived from either petroleum sources, or natural sources.  Chemically, it’s the same, once it’s distilled and stripped down to its elemental form.  Ethyl alcohol is ethyl alcohol, no matter where it came from.
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an article that boiled the Heinz ad down to pure corporate protectionism: apparently private-label (store brand) products are gaining significant market share amongst savvy consumers, due to the sagging economy.  Private labels are less expensive versions of the name brands.  Heinz (and other food manufacturers) are trying to convince consumers that name brands are the only way to ensure quality, by using cheap and manipulative advertising.  Personally, I try to buy private label products whenever possible – they definitely are a better value and, with a few exceptions, the quality is equal to (if not better than) name brands.
• The Vinegar Institute was quoted in the Washington Post article, saying that they are not aware of any vinegar manufacturer deriving ethyl alcohol from petroleum (even though the FDA says they can).

The Vinegar Institute?  Really?  There’s a special interest group for everything I suppose.  Some other weird interest groups I discovered: The American Egg Board, American Mushroom Institute, National Chicken Council, American Cheese Society, American Malting Barley Association, The Association for Dressings and Sauces, Fats and Protein Research Foundation, Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils, The Juice and Smoothie Association (very flashy website), National Country Ham Association, National turkey Federation,  Pickle Packers International (I’m not kidding), and my favorite – the American Pie Council (“Committed to preserving America’s pie heritage”).

Back to the vinegar ad – you know, if you’re going to urge people to do a web search for “vinegar and petroleum”, the least you could do is make sure the information you want peope to see is ready available.  Or at least CREATE a site to promote your propaganda.  Whoever designed that ad campaign should be fired.   My point is – Heinz is trying to get us to buy their product, even if they have to scare us by doing it, because they want to control the market.  C’mon.  We’re not stupid.

• You are lazy
• You are stupid
• You are ugly
• You have no self-control
• You smell
• You are worthless
• You deserve no consideration or respect
• You are not a human being

I’ve been the recipient of all of those misconceptions (well, maybe not the “smell” one), and it disgusts me when people make a snap judgment on someone just because they are not “skinny”.  So, when something like PETA’s latest “campaign” comes along, it just makes me want to SCREAM:

PETA's latest billboard campaign for vegetarianism

So, “whales”, huh?  Very nice.   A campaign against meat-eaters AND overweight people.  On behalf of myself and everyone else larger than the socially acceptable size 2:  PETA – you can go f*** yourselves.  You just continually reinforce the fact that you’re a bunch of media-whore morons.

ps – if the “whales” are so disgusting, why would you want to save them?

]]> http://wendalicious.com/2009/08/18/859/feed/ 4 wendalicious PETA http://wendalicious.com/2009/07/24/dennys-lawsuit-consumer-group-sues-chain-for-high-sodium-levels-in-meals-abc-news/ http://wendalicious.com/2009/07/24/dennys-lawsuit-consumer-group-sues-chain-for-high-sodium-levels-in-meals-abc-news/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:30:49 +0000 Wendy Voelker http://wendalicious.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/dennys-lawsuit-consumer-group-sues-chain-for-high-sodium-levels-in-meals-abc-news/ ]]> Update: My hero Marion Nestle offered her opinion on this lawsuit on her blog, Food Politics.  (she’s in favor of it).

Does this really surprise anyone? And does anyone ever go to Denny’s looking for healthy food? Most every time I’ve been to Denny’s, I’ve been drunk, and nutrition was the last thing on my mind.

Denny’s Lawsuit: Consumer Group Sues Chain For High Sodium Levels in Meals – ABC News

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But it's the trans fats that make them taste so good and stay fresh so long!

As of July 1, Phase II of Albany County’s Trans-Fat ban has gone into effect.  Meaning restaurants now cannot serve ANY product that contains artificial trans-fat, and must be able to provide documentation to prove same.   Their website has all the details, in case you were wondering what foods may be affected by this ban.  Essentially, anything that once tasted good will no longer.  Make sure to check out their helpful brochure! It’s full of smiling chefs, happy to comply with Big Brother!

Seems that everything tasty is affected by this ridiculous legislation- even your favorite Albany County ice cream stand is not immune.

What a crock.  My advice: don’t buy baked goods in Albany County.