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Food and Web
Any alternate plans if (and when) it rains?
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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.
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| thethirteenthdiet.com |
| Daniel McLaughlin culminates each month's diet with a multi-course feast open to the public. |
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by mealticket: Daniel McLaughlin wants to free you from your food phobias. That's why he's eating a different diet each month of 2010: http://bit.ly/cFxfPA...
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Allie Harcharek, Peter Passoli, Travis Marcal, tammy oslo, danica boxer and others. danica boxer said: In search of the âsuper dietâ, feasting all the while: Daniel McLaughlin wants to free you from your food phobias,... http://bit.ly/c5Cees [...]
[...] a different diet during each month of 2010 to produce his fascinating blog The Thirteenth Diet (check out our April post), is drawing summer to close with an Ayurvedic feast scheduled for Friday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. [...]
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| Kraftwork on Flickr |
Kraftwork, the set-for-April Fishtown bar from Sidecar's Adam Ritter, got its webby game going this week, formally launching a Twitter, a Tumblr and a Flickr. Hit up that latter link for a few sneak peeks at the signage and branding, including their growlers (above). Check our previous post for more info.
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| playboy.com |
The crew over at Playboy.com recently searched the nation for its 10 best pizza joints overall and couldn't resist the brick oven-baked, thin, crispy crust and simplistic approach to toppings at Tacconelli's (2604 E. Somerset St.). Check out the full writeup, featuring a photo from Helen of phillyfoodie.com. Congrats to them for joining the ranks of front-runners New York and Chicago in the pizza genre and simultaneously contributing to Philly shaking that stupid cheesesteak-only persona.
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If you thought getting a reservation at Bibou (1009 S. Eighth St.) was a difficult task, try snagging a seat at one of the bistro's ultra-elite wine dinners. Once every few weeks, Pierre and Charlotte Calmels host an evening showcasing wines from different vendors paired with heaven-sent food. Haven't heard about these dinners? You aren't alone, as they aren't widely advertised events.
FOH extraordinaire Charlotte says invitations are sent to those on her mailing list, or offered directly to dinner clientele. "We have so many repeat guests who know Pierre's great food that our wine dinners fill up within two hours," she explains, "and they don't even know what's on the menu." Wanna get in on it? Visit Open Table to book a reservation (your registered e-mail is sent to Bibou), e-mail biboubyob@comcast.net or inquire about it next time you are in for dinner. One more table-landing tip: follow @biboubyob on Twitter for updates on available seating and cancellations.
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| VeggieTrader.com |
| A natural idea |
Though it is unlikely Philadelphia residents have anything blossoming in the garden right now, the spring planting season is just around the corner. File this one away for that summer day when you have more tomatoes than you can eat, and are really wishing for a few ripe peaches.
VeggieTrader.com is a free Web site where gardeners can barter or sell the overflow from their patch; those just looking for local produce can buy posted items available in their neighborhood. Their How It Works page has the nitty-gritty on the possible taxes, licenses and quarantine zones that traders should be aware of.
With only three weeks until the vernal equinox, tiny peat pots and seed packets are calling. Non-gardeners in search of exceptional local produce should mark March 15 on their calendars, when Greensgrow Farm opens their summer CSA to the public.
There is a similar service called Neighborhood Fruit (http://neighborhoodfruit.com) that enables people to find and share produce within their communities - they even have an iPhone app, called Find Fruit!
In the latest food section, we told you a bit about Pho King, the UPenn foursome that's been gaining a bit of notoreity for its underground beef noodle soup operation.
"The Four Amigos," as they like to be called, wish to remain anonymous, but I was able to get a bit of information out of them regarding the origins of their underground soup-slanging business. At least two of the Amigos are Vietnamese by heritage. They got together to perfect a pho recipe â always a painstakingly crafted clear beef broth, gently flavored with stuff like the aforementioned aromatics, then hit with rice noodles and meat â after deciding that a solid bowl of the universally loved Viet specialty was hard to find close to campus.
Well, Monday is the night that the team distributes its $5 soups from a dorm somewhere on Penn's campus â the catch is you gotta ask around to discover where. We don't even know! If you find them, though, pick us up and quart and we'll pack you back, promise.
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by mealticket: Tonight, find the mysterious Pho King somewhere on UPenn's campus: http://bit.ly/chY20C...
Does anyone else think the term "Pho King University City" is hilarious?
I am definitely going to go looking for this one Monday very soon. Can't tonight though because I'm going back to Amis!
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