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Food and Politics
Last Thursday, City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown heartened herself to Philadelphia barflies, night owls and don't-wanna-go-homers by introducing The Extended Bar Hours for Education Bill, which proposes that last call at local drinkeries be pushed back one hour, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., for the budgetary benefit of our struggling School District. The 10 percent taxation of alcohol raised approximately $42 million for schools in the 2010 fiscal year; Brown, Council's newly elected Majority Whip, estimates this idea could generate $5 million more.
The bill is in its infancy — it would still have to earn approval within the State General Assembly for City Hall to gain the authority to tweak bar operating hours, which are lorded over by the PLCB. But like anything in Philly involving the word "liquor," it's already garnered strong reactions. (Mayor Nutter, for one, is not a fan of Brown's proposal, per The Inquirer.) We touched base with Councilwoman Brown late last week to get some background on her bill and her honest take on its chances in Harrisburg.
In late December, Dock Street (701 S. 50th St.) announced a new weekly promotion of sorts that jived with the anti-corporate ethos of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Every Wednesday, from open to close, the West Philly brewpub temporarily adopts a cash-only policy. This keeps them from having to pay the requisite 2 to 2.5 percent fee for every credit-card transaction, a discount they pass along to drinkers in the form of 3 percent off all food and drink. "Operating on a cash-only system allows us to keep the money in the pockets of the 99%," writes Dock Street on its website.
Great piece today by Jen Colletta of the Philadelphia Gay News profiling local same-sex couples who are taking advantage of New York state's recent legalization of same-sex marriage. One of those couples? MaryAnn Brancaccio and Maria Vanni, owners of South Philly's August (1247 S. 13th St.), who have been together for 40 years.
The couple exchanged rings on their 25th anniversary but never had an actual ceremony since Pennsylvania wouldn't recognize the union. When the opportunity in New York arose, however, they decided to take the plunge to coincide with their upcoming anniversary.
Earlier this month they put their names into the lottery that was opened for couples to get married in New York City on July 24, the first day marriage equality was legalized, and received a call Thursday night that they were one of the approximately 800 couples randomly selected.
The Manhattan slate was full, so Brancaccio and Vanni elected to get married in Queens. The couple brought along Vanni's goddaughter and another friend to serve as witnesses and used their bands from their 25th anniversary.
"We didn’t have much time to get ready, but we held it together," Vanni said.
August, in case you were wondering, is named in honor of the month Brancaccio and Vanni first got together. CONGRATULATIONS!
Photo: epgn.com; h/t @wtzgoodPHL
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| Photo | Isaiah Thompson |
If you can figure out a better way to sell wine in a supermarket I'd like to see it!
@deafmute Most states treat their citizens like adults and let them buy wine and beer in the stores along with the candy and soup.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Elizabeth Miller, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: Is the PLCB reopening its wine kiosks? http://ow.ly/3HqtR [...]
@deafmute - Are you serious? Go to just about any other state and you'll see better ways to sell it. In South Carolina, where I'm from, we sell wine and beer in grocery stores and it works fine. And if you think there must be a lack of control there, then let me set your mind at ease. I went to plenty of parties in high school and no one was getting drunk off of wine or beer they bought themselves. Over age people bought all of it for us and the same thing happens here in PA.
Here's something you can take in during Beer Week 2010 that won't get you buzzed: a quick history session on Philly's beer culture dating back to the Founding Fathers. Ben Franklin's brewing adventures and Benjamin Rush's Moral Thermometer Chart — which basically says control yourself or meet the gallows — are just a few notes in the lesson plan. Brew N History Tours around the Christ Church Burial Ground (Fifth and Arch) take off at 3:30 p.m. each day from June 7 to 11, and tickets run $2 for adults, $1 for students and $10 for groups up to 25 people. Tours are only 20 minutes, people. I'm sure you can tear yourselves away from drinking to replenish those brain cells you're killing off.
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| vegantreats.com |
It would be amazing if Dunkin' Donuts offered vegan options! Even just offering soy milk would be a huge first step. Seriously -- Why are they so behind the times? Aren't they based on Boston which has a very active vegan community? Oh, and I voted. Vegan Velvet Elvis, baby! Thanks for the tip City Paper
I'd like soy milk at DD, too. Where's the love for us lactards? We need coffee, too!
This is great! I've missed my Dunkin' Donuts since I went vegan. It would be so amazing if they offered stuff for us vegans! I voted for the Strawberry Lemonade Love!
Ladies, thanks for reading the post and voting. The vegan doughnuts are not in the running for DD's menu but for a limited-time production by Vegan Treats Bakery based out of Bethlehem. Your participation in the contest shows support for Compassion Over Killing's quest to get DD to offer healthier, cruelty-free items. Check out their website (dunkincruelty.com) and write DD a letter about more vegan options!
Though she holds a masters' degree in holistic nutrition, ran the country's only organic cooking school for seven years and is a regular speaker at The Clinton Foundation in Harlem, New York, Patty James is still learning a thing or two about what kids need to be healthy from her Shine The Light on America's Kids interview project. Traveling the country since January, James is touring one state a week, interviewing children with 25 questions to discover their true health habits. The videotaped interviews will then be analyzed by a university, with the results used to develop a program and a health center (or many health centers) where families will find the resources they need for life-long health -- cooking classes, nutritional and disease-prevention information. Meal Ticket spoke with James as she drove toward Drums, PA for school interviews. She gave us a look at the current state of Shine The Light five months in. Read the Q&A after the jump. Meal Ticket: What kinds of questions are you asking children on your tour? Patty James: We ask them, 'Are you healthy? Is your family healthy?' Some of the questions are very revealing -- When we ask 'What vegetables did you eat yesterday?' They often answer, 'Um, lettuce on my sandwich?" What I've been surprised to learn is what they're NOT eating -- vegetables and dietary fiber. MT: How much dietary fiber does a person need? PJ: You're supposed to be eating 30-35 grams of dietary fiber a day, and the average American is only eating 10-14 grams. These kids, they are just not eating vegetables. It's actually worse than I thought. Vegetables provide not just fiber but phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. MT: What other answers have really surprised you? PJ: There's one question that every kid has answered 'yes' to, except one single child, and that is 'Do you think P.E. [physical education] should be mandatory? And every child except one said yes. They know they have to exercise to be healthy, and all of them, except this one kid, know they won't do it unless they are forced! Another shocking one is a question the kids answer 'no' to -- 'Do you think there is a connection between the earth's health and your health?' More than half of them say no, no connection. They don't know where their food comes from. It's a real disconnect, and lies at the heart of the obesity problem. You cannot solve it until you get to the source -- where the food comes from, what are you eating. MT: Do you think public policy, like corn subsidies, play a role in the obesity epidemic? PJ: Yes. A definite yes. When you look at childhood obesity, you see it really began in the 1980s and goes right back to sugar. Fructose, which is much cheaper than sugar, is metabolized like fat, and it wasn't common in foods until the 1980s. But the cheap filler stuff is just easier for people to hand to their kids. There is a distinct lack of vegetables, dietary fiber, whole fruits in these kids' diets... they are eating food that is just junk. MT: Many people say, 'My kids won't eat that,' about healthy foods, and vegetables particularly. How do you get kids to eat and enjoy what is good for them? PJ: In my cooking school, I'd be teaching kids to make quinoa pilaf or something like that, and the parents would say, 'Oh they will never eat that.' But if you make them part of the process, and give them ownership of it, they will want to eat it. Kids don't want to be unhealthy or overweight! But we have to get back to home cooking, to eating around the table. Kids who eat at a table get higher grades, are less likely to use drugs and alcohol and are more likely to go to college. We have too much cheap filler food and not enough good information.
thank you zama
[...] Zama commits to the world's only sustainable bluefin tuna :: Meal … [...]
serious knife skills.
[...] - Zama commits to the world’s only sustainable tuna [30apr10] [...]
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| Baked good |
Columnist Rick Nichols catalogs the fallout from recent unregistered beer raids - but holds out hope for a happy Beer Week - in today's Inquirer, while restaurant critic Craig LaBan talks beer in his weekly online chat. Via Jack Curtin's Liquid Diet.
Excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat, posted March 18
Reader: What do you make of this whole beer raid situation? Maybe this will begin the overthrow of our Prohibition-era liquor laws.
CL: I think the situation is complicated: There are good reasons to have basic liquor laws - but the Keystone Kops execution (to quote Don Russell) really irked people, smacking of overreaction and control-state bureaucracy and even a little personal vendetta on the part of one anonymous complainant who apparently launched the whole thing. These confiscated beers were at other unraided bars, too. Overall, it's a black eye for our liquor control apparatus to have so clumsily taken a swipe at our growing beer scene - one of the most vital engines for restaurant growth, not to mention urban renewal, such as what Resurrection Ale House has brought to the neighborhood south of South. In the end, the bad publicity may end up having a positive effect in terms of reform (there's a hearing in April, says colleague Rick Nichols, who has followed this story in today's column). But don't count on the demise of the PLCB any time soon.
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