Power of Words

When you think of chefs you may not think about them as wordsmiths. Be sure that we are a group greatly entrenched in language.  We have a long history and our own lingo. This realm of terms, definitions, and understanding both describes and confines us. Chefs notoriously use language that some find offensive as a daily ritualistic release of tension.

The language of food is important and chefs rely upon it to convey clarity when speaking about a food request. Having said that, I am a chef who is rubbed the wrong way when people misuse a culinary term but expect to receive exactly what they have envisioned instead of what they have asked for to eat. If you asked for the Tomato Florentine soup, you can't be upset by the presence of spinach, for example, as Florentine means spinach in the kitchen.

Recently, I was on a mini-vacation and was looking for food fair. I called the near-by Cracker Barrel and asked if their were gluten-free options on the menu. They said yes, but when I arrived the menu did not have gluten-free pancakes or waffles nor biscuits, they brought an alternative menu that gave both nutritional information and pointed to some menu items as safe for my consumption. Offering me a bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit, or steak and eggs, is not offering me options. I found it insulting that this was all that was offered and I didn't need them to tell me the fruit was gluten-free. By the way, the oatmeal was amazing and I had an order for dinner later on that weekend, but that is not the point. When I think of Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Original Pancake House, or any other breakfast spot it should not be difficult to make adjustment for alternative eaters, and shame on those who have the boldness to offer me fresh fruit as if I don't understand what gluten-free means.

Re-branding food items under new labeling is a funny thing these days. Every trip to the grocer has me laughing as the things that should be relied upon to be gluten-free have redesigned packaging to inform us of this new revelation of food category. I don't need anyone to tell me that unpopped whole popcorn is gluten-free, what's next, gluten-free water?

Language can bind us together with a common ground of understanding and communication but also can divide us with a loss of clarity or misunderstanding. For many consumers who purchase gluten-free items, not all of us must buy these items for health reasons like I do, but rather buy these items because the term is trendy and new-ish. I'd even bet there are some who couldn't accurately define the term but swears that it is bad for your health. No, no, no... It isn't good for my digestion, not everyone's. 

Fake Foods and Fraud

If you were a teenager in one of my culinary arts classes, you may well already be tired hearing my rants, for a lack of better wording, about corporate food offerings. I say often, when you are relying upon a corporation to feed you, you are already in trouble. A corporation, ultimately, has only one goal, to make profit. When your family farmed, their one and only goal, was to nourish people. We have traditions of offering guest something to eat or drink for the same reason. A gift of food implies that you care if the receiver lives a healthy long life.
 
I am willing to come and bare the bad news about these edible non-foods on our health and longevity. My teens have been known to say "Chef, you make me want to stop eating everything". In fact, that is not my goal. I want them to do a couple of things, make intelligent choices about what they eat, I want them to question how and what they eat, and hopefully they will make nutrition decisions based on facts and not on marketing.

These kids have a steady diet of Kruncy Kurls, Hot Pockets, Hot n Flaming Everything, Pop Tarts, McDonald, Wendy's , and Burger King. There are more greasy spoon restaurants in their neighborhood than grocery stores. They never read a nutrition label or even question what they are eating. Is this butter or margarine? Is these long long named ingredients chemicals or food? Just because it can be eaten, should it be eaten? What is natural and what is not?

To this, I bring up a legal case currently in the headlines. A cheese company is under indictment for selling wood shavings as parmesan cheese.  This fraud was perpetrated over many years by a particular company. Naturally, this brings up many questions. Who knew about this? Why didn't anyone report it? How did the consumers not know what they were eating? And I wanted to know how the legal suit is progressing. The totality is that one individual is charged with a misdemeanor crime under one count of crime. This is not something I can understand fully. Why is this a misdemeanor and not a felony? What is there only one name on the indictment? And why hasn't the company been charged with each and every count of sales that were contaminated and sold to consumers?

The other article in recent news are the results of a study that found industrial chemicals in the bodies of fast food consumers. All the preservative and chemical additives are taking a toll on our health and, I believe, is costing us financially by causing disease and needing additional medical expense. Last year was the first time on record that American's spent more money in restaurants than at grocery stores. We are trading nutrition for convenience and suffering a high cost. If you can't read everything on the label, why are you eating it?



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/the-parmesan-cheese-you-sprinkle-on-your-penne-could-be-wood

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-13/fast-food-eaters-have-more-industrial-chemicals-in-their-bodies

Vegan Ben & Jerry's??

Yes, yes, yes.... You did read that correctly. Ben & Jerry's has announced a new product line to tempt even the most strict dietary eaters.  The new line will feature non-dairy frozen treats in similar flavors to mimic the very popular ice creams already offered by the company.

Personally, I am a bit excited about this announcement and can't wait to get my hands on a carton. For many years, I have struggled with the consumption of ice cream and other dairy products. I now know that my reaction to eating these products is connected to my fibromyalgia. I have been considering going vegan or vegetarian, at least for a short period of time, to help regulate my health and perhaps lose some weight. With that in mind this new product line would be a welcomed treat. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glamour/is-ben--jerrys-new-vegan_b_9190144.html

My illness' effects are huge in my digestion, slow bowl movement to not at all, urgent diarrhea, gas, bloating, and heart burn. My other symptoms are painful and irritating but this set of problems is the worst for me. As a chef, I work with food, especially pastry, and how I am forced to be a picky dinner to control my symptoms. I have become one of the customers I usually didn't like, asking a million questions about how the meal is prepped and being careful to explain that I can eat this or that. I am not eating out as much as I want to because avoiding dairy and gluten can be very hard when trying to eat out in Chicago.

This news about a non-dairy frozen treat is about as exciting as a the day I found Snyder's Gluten-Free pretzels!!!! Being gluten-free means a lack of a lot of the crunchy things I love to eat and has resulted in me having dreams of eating toast and jam. But lately, the medication has gotten me to a point where cereal and milk is okay so I have been diving into bowls of Cheerios and Chex with bananas. I have been able to enjoy that since about the 3rd grade without symptoms.

So it's "hats off" to Ben & Jerry's for putting in some work to be able to please the audience of consumers that have stood by and watched others enjoy items that we were not supposed to consume. I often ate ice cream anyway.... I just didn't in public. LOL.

Environmental Chef

Every body, and every chef, relies upon quality ingredients to make a meal go from hum drum to zing pop. Without honorable farming practices, from soup to nuts, the chef cannot do what we do best.

Organic, non GMO, pasteurized, and fortified, all influence what our plates contain. Should chefs have a voice in the movement away from Monsanto tainted food, processed and persevered, items with more chemicals than food? Yes. 2015 was the first year on record that Americans spent more money on restaurants then at the grocery store. One can extrapolate that chefs are having a greater and grater impact on the health of the American citizen. Will it be left up to the corporations or to the craftsmanship of skilled chefs?

How we grow and treat food, or manufacture it, should be very important to everyone, but especially to us chefs. Life happens, change is the only constant, but preservation of the food sources we rely upon, not only for our trade, but for our very lives, must be a concern.

There is a farm to table movement in the culinary scene. I am not directly apart of that movement per se, as pastry doesn't rely as heavily upon farmed items as does the savory chef. However, as a fibromyaliga patient, I am rewriting my common eating practice to be gluten-free because the ingestion of gluten reeks havoc on my system.

Gardening, farm to table, diets, vegetarian and vegan, no matter your eating style how your food is treated before you purchase it is a huge consideration to be mindful of when purchasing. Environmentalist point to climate changes that are signaling some drastic shifts to our planetary harvest of edible products. We need to listen and learn before it is too late. We must take some responsibility for feeding ourselves. We have hired corporations to provide our nutritional needs by way of prepacked and process foods. We are confusing good for you and good tasting, they are not mutually exclusive. Many things that are good for us nutrition-wise can be very good tasting as well, however, if you are accustom to eating process food almost exclusively then your have trained your tasting ability to like those types of things, and therefore, being unaccustomed to the flavors of this items.
macrobiotics

Lots of kids in this new generation are trained to eat so many processed food items, microwave entrees, microwave popcorn, chips, dips, salsa, and super sticky sweet pastries that are just spun sugars. Sugar is a very addictive item with levels of dependencies very similar to heroine addiction. Frequently this diet is tied to the income of the parents. The lower the annual income of the household has a direct connection to the types of foods consumed. Often the families chose food stuffs with the primary focus on getting the cheapest and the most abundant items. While this type of consideration can be understood, it is the worst reaction or action that the shopper can do. I once was listening to a radio show and the host hit the nail on the head. He stated many things about budgeting, the most import of them was 'It is most important to understand when to spend and where to save. You should save on items that depreciate over time, like a car or clothing, but you should never buy food totally based on saving money. You should spend on food with the mindset of health benefit. The quality food stuffs you buy today will help to prevent you from being sick tomorrow and spending a high percentage of your money on medical bills.' I totally agree.

The environmental impacts of toxic waste, oil spills, water contamination, polluted air, are easy to understand in terms of their effects upon food resources. The global warming issues of storm changes, floods, drought, shifts in tides, changes in streams and rivers, will devastate our farming lands and methods. These issues are looming on the horizon but the current threats to our food supply are in the methodology of how we currently grow our food. The debates are all over the place, and the two loudest sides of the discussion are the organic food movement against the Goliath chemical companies, like Monsanto, who produce pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics for livestock. Add to that the factory farming practices that have changed how our dairy, eggs, and meat production/slaughter. The corporations like Monsanto, have always contended that the use of their products has increased yields and improved quality, and they maybe right, however, anyone that has ever had a garden of their own can tell you, the taste, variety, quality, of their harvest far exceeds anything offered in the grocery store.

Many chefs have established relationships with local farmers and livestock growers. This way the chef has the opportunity to understand, share, and ask for items that they would love to buy. Farm to table is more than a catchphrase, it is becoming a movement. Factory farming kills any uniqueness in preference of the most shelf stable and consistent items. We have breed, cross pollinated, and forced ripened foods to the point that they have the highest profit margins and ability to transport these items long distances. I find it to be much like corporate cooking. The corporate chef is often forced to produce the highest amount of items as quickly and consistently as possible which erodes the creative artistic aspects of the chef. Cookie cutter concepts in grocery stores, kitchens, and manufacturing, stomp out the uniqueness that happens when a chef is able to use their imagination. Can a chef create and repeat highly crafted items? Of course, we can, but when the total issue is all about designing in the most cost effective methods, the major ways to achieve this is with lesser quality items, machines, and factory items instead of handmade items. Kill the chef?

Revolutions have been fought over food issues over and over again. "Let them eat cake!" When the body of citizens examine their nutrition substandard, it becomes a big part of how they view their poverty or wealth. Can you afford to eat or feed your family? Can you afford to have quality foods on your table? Are you needlessly suffering from malnutrition and diseases? And what are you able to about it?

Oh Honey... Oh No Buzz

There are many ways to add sweetness into your recipes, some are great in some recipes and horrible in others, depending upon the composition of all the ingredients combined. But are they equally bad to your health? All sweeteners add calories while giving small amounts of nutrition to almost none at all. Lately, lots of attention in the healthy food movements have been changing to 'better' sources of sweetness. Sometimes these adjustments can be made without much adjustment to the recipe formula, other times it isn't good at all.

Honey has always been a bit expensive, compared to say cane sugar, but many believe that the nutrition of honey, and its associated pollen, to be wonderful. However, the golden syrup we all know and love, may not in fact be honey. As the definition of honey isn't clearly defined, manufacturers can legally sell you what amounts to yellow corn syrup and still be able to have the label read "pure honey". And don't think that a 'organic' labeling is a guarantee as there aren't any laws that define what this should, and should not, be.

 For those of us who bake, knowing which sweetener to use when is vital. The artificial sweeteners often sell the idea of using them in your baking as a better alternative for the diabetic consumers. The naturalist speak on behalf of use of items such as agave nectar, whey low, natural maple syrup, molasses, stevia, lo han, brown rice syrup, coconut palm syrup, and date sugar. Each one has differing chemical components and therefore you must do your homework if you are going to use any of these as a substitute in your favorite recipe.

http://world-of-honey.com/honey-products/organic-honey/

It is a shame that it is estimated that a huge percentage of the honey on the American market has never been anywhere near a bee, ever. Deceptive practices, undefined idea of what honey actually is, and unenforceable rules about organic labeling, have all lead to this hoodwinking of the consumer. One would assume, by way of the pricing of most jars of honey, that the prices were a indication of it being the authentic item, but oh no it isn't. I am not much of a conspiracy theorist and I am sure someone has pointed this in that direction. In my opinion, this just reeks of bad business if not flat out fraud.

Food Deserts

In recent years, the term 'food desert' has come into our consciousness. For those of you who have not heard of this concept, it was brought to light after a academic study was conducted that looked into a possible connection between unhealthy eating habits and poverty. It was discovered that, in some of the poor inner-city neighborhoods in America, a consumer would have to travel 5-10 miles, or more, from home to find a fresh carrot, for example.  At the same time, middle-class residents and higher, has many more options and considerable shorter distances to travel for the same carrot.

Lower economic status brings with it a reduction in household amenities, such as limited refrigeration, and a greater chance that you will have to rely upon public transportation. Having to travel on to purchase groceries out side of your local area can be extra taxing on any consumer but needing to do that on a city bus can make someone give in and just buy what is nearby.

What does this mean? If you are a member of our society that have less economic strength and/or are receiving nutritional supplements, such as WIC or Link, you are far less able to purchase quality food products and whatever you purchase may have to drug home on the bus. This is a real problem health-wise and may have contributed to the high rates of obesity and other related health issues.

For some in this city, buying cheaper food products is the first reaction to a lower food budget but doing so can cause diseases down the line and essentially be extremely expensive and life shortening.

 

In Illinois, the maximum amount a household can be given through food subsidy is $3 per person per meal. Compare this to a trip through a drive-in, people are spending about $8 for a lunch or $5 for a specialty coffee drink. This can be helpful to a family but it isn't a whole lot and therefore I have never understood some who would begrudge a family who qualifies for assistance.

Living in a food desert can also mean you are living below the poverty line and in a higher crime area. It is a struggle but having a set mind to eat better can be accomplished. If you make efforts to not purchase pre-packaged and processed foods, your over all health will be much better. Even on a limited budget, I can't find a good reason to ever eat a hunny bun and a soda for breakfast. Buying fresh foods only can create a bit more work in the kitchen but it can be planned out properly and the extra effort pays off in greater health. Of all the things you can skim on, food should not be one. Buy less expensive clothes, for example, because its better to be healthy than sick and well dressed.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/24/1396100/-Think-Whole-Foods-is-a-ripoff-It-s-worse-than-you-thought?detail=emailclassic