Balance of Food

Eating local doesn't have to stop when you get on the plane

Thought I would pass on that tidbit I wrote for The Local Beet from my trip to San Francisco. I love the idea of eating local, especially in San Francisco. But hate the idea of getting back on the plane and leave it all behind.

You can take it with you, despite what the experts say, but you have to be reasonable. And enjoy what you got for as long as you can.

And if nothing else, you can have a nicer meal on the plane than anything you might get at the airport.

The final tally is a good-sized bag of mushrooms, garlic, an orange, a tomato, and two small sourdough loaves.

Food advertisers need schooling if they want to be part of 'Food Revolution'

The hope was that advertisers understood the irony of questionable food advertising during "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution." But they piled up on the last episode.

Boo and hiss to ABC, Ryan Seacrest Productions, and yes, Jamie Oliver himself for letting that Green Giant rubbish back into the program. As horrible as the first mention was, this one felt much worse. In the first few moments of the final episode, in the "previously on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," we see the past Green Giant mention.

As we see the package for Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers, the offscreen voice tells us all we need to know. "The revolution has been a success." For the producers sake, let's hope they got a lot of money from Green Giant for that extra plug.

If Jamie Oliver wanted to do right by this, he and his many producers would take every cent they got from Green Giant, and pour that directly back into Huntington or some other well-deserving community.

Of course, we hear back from Jamie on the benefits of frozen vegetables when once again we see the bag. And we get the same vague ad we saw the last time ABC et al. pulled off this cheap stunt.

"The great thing about the frozen veggies is they freeze them in a number of hours, and they lock in the nutrients. They're actually nutritionally speaking really, really good."

Jamie Oliver doesn't have to say "Green Giant" but the message is clear. Not to mention that after pouring a seven-veggie sauce, we have to add a starchy vegetable such as corn. Yes, beans and corn are vegetables, but being starchy vegetables, people need to be aware of that. But that goes against the bottom line.

Let's go through the rest of the winners and losers — advertising-wise — from the conclusion of "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" in chronological order:

:18 Sunsweet Prunes
"What super fruit is taking America by storm?" Apparently, it's prunes, and this is from people who aren't associated with prunes, as in under 40. One woman exclaims that "it's packaged by itself, that's fantastic."

She should visit the produce section of her local grocery store. Lots of fruit that are "packaged by itself."

Just to note that prunes are dried fruit, nothing wrong with that. But dried fruit has concentrated natural sugars. And too many has other side effects.

:19 Hellman's mayonnaise
"If we knew more about our food, would we eat better?" They assume the answer is "Yes" and "Hellman's."

We see that Hellman's has eggs; the visual is white eggs and brown eggs. Are there brown eggs in Hellman's? The assumption is no, only because they don't tell us that brown eggs are in there. Either they left out a huge reason to buy the product or the visual is a lie.

Hellman's is made with eggs, vinegar, and oil rich in Omega-3. "Rich" is defined as "Good source of Omega 3s. Contains 230mg of ALA per serving, which is 14% of the 1.6g daily value for ALA." Of course, you could use several portions and get more Omega 3s, but you'd have other problems.

The end slogan for Hellman's is "it's time for real." Wish that applied for the commercial.

: within the show
The show blurs out a McDonald's bag yet showed McDonald's (sort of) in an earlier episode. A little confusing, but maybe a good sign.

:28 Campbell's Kitchen
"cook delicious dinners and save money with Campbell's soups" Sodium levels are usually quite high, and regular spices can still give you flavor and still be cheaper. "Convenience" is relative.

:29 PediaSure
This wasn't the most audacious spot in the series, but certainly the most ill-timed. The show is trying to teach kids to try new things. But since the child in the commercial is a "picky eater," we have to pour liquid nutrition down her throat. Even though it's "#1 pediatrician recommended," I'm fairly certain that 5 of 5 pediatricians would recommend real food.

:41 Country Crock
Apparently, Country Crock can be part of a balanced breakfast because its spread has 70% less saturated fat than butter and 30% fewer calories. To its credit, the company realizes that its product isn't the star of a balanced breakfast, more like an extra that doesn't get to speak. "Add multi-grain toast, fresh fruit and lowfat milk and they're off to a good start."

And credit to them for actually saying the actual nutritious elements to the breakfast by name. Let's make this clear: Country Crock is a bystander reading a newspaper in a nutritious breakfast.

:42 Kashi ad that we saw earlier in the series
: within show
At his boot camp, Jamie Oliver is making his chili beef nachos. if you thought this was an innocent exercise, you haven't been watching the show.

We see a quick glance at Sterno, maker of the cooking device. Why? Another distracting product mention, but this was nothing compared to what we got next.

After adding the 7-veggie sauce, Oliver mentions the sweet corn, a starchy vegetable. We then realize this is yet another in-show ad for Green Giant.

"The great thing about the frozen veggies is they freeze them in a number of hours, and they lock in the nutrients. They're actually nutritionally speaking really, really good."

When you watch "The Price Is Right," you expect commercials within the show. The Founding Fathers weren't sponsored; revolutions don't need sponsorship, especially meaningless frozen food.

And Jamie Oliver deserves some flak for this ongoing Green Giant policy. Oliver could have stood up and said this is ridiculous. Frozen food is frozen food. Oliver is flat out reading commercial copy during his revolution.

A few mentions and visuals here and there (e.g., Sterno) are annoying, but we can put up with that. Out and out commercials — no.

Of course, we get a Green Giant ad in the break after the in-show ad. It was the same ad we've seen before.

:50 iPhone incorporates a Jamie Oliver app in its commercial. Jumping on the Jamie Oliver bandwagon is fine if you are selling an unique product and confining your commercials to the designated area.

:52 Subway "get exactly what you want" A cuter look at a product we know. No tie-ins, no extreme lame claims.

In shows these days, the credits go by really fast but for the promotional consideration, the pace slowed down.

If Jamie Oliver wants to take the Food Revolution to another city, Green Giant — and any other company that wants to be a rude part of the "revolution" — aren't invited.

Lunch lessons and much more from 'Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution'

"If you look on the back of the pack and it sounds like a NASA science lesson, don't buy it. If it sounds like your nan's pantry, flour, butter, eggs, stuff like that, rock and roll."

There was a lot in the 6 broadcast hours, the approximately 250 minutes of actual programming (not counting Green Giant ads in the show) to absorb. But you could easily walk away with just the above statement from Jamie Oliver and do okay.

We can also take away the idea of the sugar content in flavored milk, though Oliver went away from the — more sugar than fizzy pop mantra — to "nearly as much sugar as a can of fizzy pop." But Oliver's point is poignant. Parents might give it as an occasional treat, but the idea of kids drinking it 5 days a week through the school year seems excessive.

Despite the airings of "Food Inc." and a lot of other documentaries, too many people don't know the basics of what our kids get in the lunchroom that doesn't help them in the classroom. Red tape from multiple levels affect what your kids get, and not for the better.

The "Processed Food Fridays" mentioned in the final episode personify the issues involved.

But the "government" isn't the only problem. Jamie goes through kids' brown bag lunches and pulls out various quick solutions — the specific contents are blurred and bleeped — that parents use. They rhyme with Crunchables and McHonald's. If you want your corporate sponsorship on the show, you got to pay them direct, such as Green Giant.

Sadly, we also learned that doing a reality show, where you charge advertising to watch, has to have ads within the show. I've dealt with this before and will deal with it again. Having corporations want to jump on the revolution bandwagon is understandable. Having Jamie Oliver flat out push product — as he did again this week — can't be part of the true revolution.

As Jamie pointed out in the last episode, this can't be about him, but all of us. We can blame a screwed-up government policy (Republicans and Democratic politicians alike). We can blame misguided corporations. We can blame obnoxious fast food marketing.

Ultimately, the revolution -- if there is one -- is about us. Individual responsibility. Voting with the pocketbook is a phrase that gets used, Companies will listen if people vote with the pocketbook. Eventually, government will listen as well. If we accept things as they are, we will get more of the same.

This is hard. Really hard. As you'll learn from Balance of Food in the next few days, even when you are somewhere that is more in tune with what to do, temptations still exist.

Waiting for Tuesday's column to come on Wednesday

If it's Tuesday, and it is, you are expecting the weekly column. Good for you.

But this week, the Tuesday column is coming on Wednesday. It will relate to the season finale of Jamie Oliver's program. To make it up to you, there will be special columns from my trip to San Francisco, and yes, wait for it — North Berkeley.

Patience is more than a virtue, especially when you will get more as a result for waiting. In the meantime, enjoy some of the recent material or go back in the archives. I've been doing this for the last 5 years online and longer than that in my head.

Eating better does require an adjustment in approaching food

"Boy this bread is fresh."

The good news is that the bread is fresh. The bad news is that it may not last as long as you are used to seeing.

When people first start eating better, one element that they don't often consider is the role of preservatives.

"This spoiled so much faster than I thought it would."

There is an adjustment factor: bread goes bad quicker, grass-fed meat tastes different than corn-fed beef, local fruit and vegetables taste better than ones flown in from Chile. Whether you are willing to make the adjustments needed is up to you. But it's good to know that adjustments will need to be made.

If we know something is coming, we can prepare for it. Seeing mold in the bread is a sign, but you would rather learn the art of no preservatives before the green shows up.

Reflecting on 6 weeks of 'Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution'

Normally, we have been spending our Saturday mornings frantically trying to sum up the latest episode of "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution." I scurry through the videotape, tracking down bits and pieces, and bring the salacious details.

But this is the last episode of the series; the phrasing is more that Season 1 came to a close. Unless Jamie convinces another city to take on the role that Huntington, West Virginia has provided, this might have been the last look.

Even if Jamie Oliver convinces another city — maybe one without Southern accents — to do another show, people will get more self-conscious before the camera. The truth is you won't have the same charm of Alice, the lunch lady, or Britney and Marisa's sad stories. You won't see a family such as the Edwards who opened up their home to show long-term damages of obesity. This is the family who admitted that the deep fryer was the most used kitchen appliance.

We should appreciate what we had for these past 6 weeks, a chance on network television to see the real problems of people who struggle with obesity and overeating, and an opportunity to show real solutions, even if they were dramatized for the TV cameras.

Don't worry. I will still go through the last episode and dissect it in a few days. Right now, I want to contemplate what we saw and ask ourselves whether this was the end or just the beginning.

(As a recap, you can watch old episodes at abc.com and also on Hulu.com.)

Finding a political solution to having too much salt in our foods

There is an expansion of yesterday's topic about the FDA looking into salt on my political blog, Democracy Soup.

There used to be a political axiom that everyone wants a solution but disagrees on how to get there. But there is this disconnect that one side says there is a problem and offers up a solution, even if it may not be that great a suggestion. But the other side keeps sticking its head in the sand.

We consume too much salt. We know where it comes from. We do need some salt, but not as much as we get.

So can we find a political solution to satisfy all political stripes yet one that will help us?

FDA wants to reduce salt, but we should start with our own intake

You would think locusts were raining down based on the news that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) might consider trying to get food manufacturers to reduce the salt intake of their products.

Sounds pretty passive, but you wouldn't think that based on the stories you've read.

If we relied purely on the salt we have in our house for our sodium content, we would be in a lot better shape. But the salt that is worrying a number of Americans, their doctors and other medical personnel, and food activists comes from processed foods and restaurant fare.

And why do processed foods have lots of salt (and sugar/high-fructose corn syrup)? Cost.

Yes, cost. Salt and high-fructose corn syrup are prevalent in dishes because they are cheap fillers. Adding flavor without adding too much to the bottom line. But there is an even more sinister factor at work.

Extra salt and extra sugar makes us do two different things. One is drink more, usually soft drinks involving sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and other artificial sweeteners. The other is eat more of the product. Putting extra salt especially makes you want to eat more of the product.

The manufacturers of said food cry that they will suffer if salt is reduced, and technically, this is completely true. Their adjustments will require our adjustments. When you go from complete junk food to healthier food, your taste buds do freak out.

There is an impression, especially as Americans, that we can't handle slight adjustments in our food, and they are probably right. Look how long McDonald's dragged its feet trying to get rid of trans fat in its French fries. And those French fries taste different.

Yet the extra salt isn't doing us any good. We do need some salt to live, but the extra salt we intake does nothing positive, both directly and indirectly.

There is so understandable confusion over how much sodium we should get. The traditional standard is 2,300 milligrams, which sounds like a lot. The standard for those who need to watch their salt is 1,500 milligrams. The average American — a scary concept to consider — gets 3,400 milligrams. If you eat reasonably well, you might not get 3,400 milligrams, which means someone else is getting even more the 3,400.

A teaspoon of salt is about 2,300 milligrams. Even when we shake the salt shaker, we don't have a sense of how much we are getting.

Water retention and drinking too many soft drinks are the usual outward signs of eating too much salt. But it's difficult to pay attention to it because salt intake feels invisible. The good news is maybe we can tone it down without too much trouble.

Getting companies to voluntarily reduce salt isn't easy for the obvious reasons. But these companies also feel entitled because they know salt will make you eat more. We aren't trying to tell companies that they can't make money; just find a healthier way for us where you still make enough profit.

POV on PBS puts Food Inc. in spotlight

There were a lot of free movies in my area being shown to tie in with Earth Day over the weekend. If you found a good film, you would want to see it again to remind yourself of what you can do to improve your eating habits and your life.

One of the most inspirational movies along this thread is Food, Inc. Thanks to the PBS series POV, you can see Food, Inc. right in your own home. No cable required.

Food, Inc. is being featured this week on your local PBS station (check times and stations in your area) starting tonight. You should also make sure to see if the film is airing on a secondary digital channel. For example, in Boston, where WGBH is on Channel 2, the film might air on 2-2 instead of 2-1.

If you are using the opportunity to record it for posterity (ideally you would buy a copy to support the producers), make up for it in the karma department and show it to a friend or loved one who has seen it and might not be able to afford a DVD copy (or even have a DVD player).

Even with good information, the masses may not revolt for a better way to grow food in the United States. Without that knowledge, there can't be a revolution.

'River Cottage' teaches and entertains about better sourced food

Jamie Oliver has been getting media attention lately for his fight for better food. But Oliver isn't the only person on my TV who has been fighting that good fight.

Thanks to the Sundance Channel, I've been watching the adventures of River Cottage Treatment and its host Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Hugh runs a good sized company, growing local organic food and selling it. He also has time to take us on different adventures, touting how great it would be to eat better food.

In one incarnation, Hugh takes a group of people (those who can't cook, those who love take-aways) and brings them to River Cottage. He makes them sleep outside, go to the loo in outhouses (where the end product becomes part of the compost). There are various activities Hugh makes them go through, such as building a pizza oven or shooting pigeons for dinner.

By the end of the hour, they mostly learn their ways. In a twist, Hugh will show them at the end of the episode after a few months to see if they are still doing better or gone back to their old ways. They actually show cases where people didn't do well. Based on American standards, we didn't know we could show failures on reality TV.

Hugh also did a brief series on finding better species of fish and seafood to use, and another brief series on trying to get a small town to focus on eating free-range chicken.

The British take on reality TV is slightly less annoying than the American counterparts, and Hugh does enough silly stunts to make it seem like a reality TV show. Amusingly, in one episode in the chicken series, Hugh's special guest is none other Jamie Oliver.

In the chicken series, Hugh tries to run simultaneous side-by-side a regular chicken farm and a free range farm.

Unlike Kardashian-related programming, there are great lessons to learn. Watching people who were naive gain wisdom and knowledge is positive programming on a medium that doesn't always try to teach.

At this point, the Sundance Channel looks like it has run through all of the River Cottage programming. But the channel may start over. Jamie Oliver's run ends on Friday. But there are more programs to help you and others see the light toward better grown food.