Balance of Food

Food politics: Getting change despite a GOP-controlled House and Senate

For those trying to push through government legislation to improve the quality of the mainstream food supply in the United States, this is a dark time.

The GOP controls the House and the Senate. A lot of centrist Democratic politicians who often got in the way of reform yet also opened the door to reform are gone, especially from the Senate.

To not despair about this predicament and to open up the dialogue, here are a few thoughts on food and politics from the back of my head:

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We saw a bunch of news stories from about a year ago about how Brazil was coming up with a food guide. Though we haven't seen updates lately, dreaming about living in a country with food guidelines is miles ahead of the United States. Yes, the U.S. has the My Pyramid but as you'll see with the proposed guidelines, in Portuguese or English, these are some smart ideas.

1. Prepare meals from staple and fresh foods.
2. Use oils, fats, sugar and salt in moderation.
3. Limit consumption of ready-to-consume food and drink products
4. Eat regular meals, paying attention, and in appropriate environments.
5. Eat in company whenever possible.
6. Buy food at places that offer varieties of fresh foods. Avoid those that mainly sell products ready for consumption.
7. Develop, practice, share and enjoy your skills in food preparation and cooking.
8. Plan your time to give meals and eating proper time and space.
9. When you eat out, choose restaurants that serve freshly made dishes and meals. Avoid fast food chains.
10. Be critical of the commercial advertisement of food products.

Implementing these guidelines would involve education for people to learn to cook more and better as well as manage time.

The political right tries to paint food regulation as telling you what you can or can't eat. However, these are principles that even some conservatives can get behind doing.

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As for changes in food policy in Canada, the country is holding its proverbial breath for the October federal election. Progress depends on whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets to hang onto that title (perhaps in a minority government) or whether the new prime minister answers to Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau.

Food issues aren't as much on the radar in Canada. The country doesn't even have a federal school lunch program.

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"I mentioned like Change.org and some of these advocacy outlets out there, I think that's one way it has to begin to start getting another message out so that legislators, this is something I've dealt with four to five hundred candidates and not one of them have I had to prepare for a nutrition question. And so until they started getting asked, you're not going to see policy changes.

Democratic strategist John Rowley said this on the Melissa Harris Perry show on a Sunday morning on MSNBC some time ago. For all the disconnect with trying to improve food policy in the United States, food policy hasn't been a make-or-break voting issue for politicians.

When the Dems had control of the White House and both houses of Congress, considerable progress got done. Even under the best of circumstances, both houses won't switch back until 2022.

By then, food issues need to be part of the discussion over which candidates run and win office in Washington.

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Change can come on the state level. As of January 1, all eggs sold in California have to come from chickens in cages almost twice as spacious as the industry standard.

Some states have passed requirements for GMO labels that go into effect … when other states pass similar laws letting consumers know that GMOs are in their food.

Unfortunately, a lot of governors and control of state legislators are in Republican hands, so only a few states have a likelihood of passing significant food quality reform in the near future.

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"The Future of Food in New York City" was the title of a forum in 2013 leading up to the last citywide election in the largest city in the United States.

New York City did a few experiments under former mayor Michael Bloomberg. Getting rid of trans fats (great) and some large sodas (not-so-great) were major items on Bloomberg's legacy. Those moves got people talking about how to deal with food issues on a local level.

Food issues hit large cities in more obvious ways. School lunch and breakfast programs are more vital given the number of children in poverty in the large cities (sheer numbers, not necessarily higher percentages). Public transportation, food deserts, and finding good produce in bad neighborhoods should be on the docket for future forums.

Positive steps, such as urban gardening and produce buses, should also be part of the dialogue.

San Francisco/Bay Area, Portland, OR, Los Angeles, and possibly Chicago could host similar events in their cities.

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What if the GOP wins the presidency in 2016?

The major GOP contribution to the school lunch program has been to make pizza a vegetable and cut back on reforms, including portion control.

Political experts, including your humble narrator, can see the Dems winning back the Senate in 2016. Though having a Dem VP would be needed in a 50-50 split in the Senate.

Still, Washington would be shut off to positive change, since the Tea Party dominated House doesn't like the idea of government trying to improve food quality.

The Farm Bill fights will make the previous 4 years seem calm by comparison.

Using all the federal power just to fight back against the crumbs of improvement will be exhausting and frustrating. All the more reason for local change wherever that can be found.

What's Tempting: Recreating spirit of Chez Panisse

White tablecloths. Beautiful light fixtures. A view of Marin County. Amazing well-sourced food grown in an ideal environment.

Recreating the Chez Panisse meal is seemingly impossible, but you can take elements from the meal and incorporate them into your eating experience.

• Well-grown food You aren't going to score the level of food that Alice Waters does, especially if you live in a world where winter happens. You likely can score some well-grown food, enough for a full meal once a week. Small steps. Have one meal a week completely comprised of well-grown food.
• Eat slowly When you are on vacation, you tend to eat slower since you aren't in a hurry. At Chez Panisse, you tend to eat even slower. You really want to eat slow at Chez Panisse to truly savor what you are eating. Eat better quality food at a slower pace is the ideal.
• Use real silverware Plastic forks and spoons will not cut it. Plastic knives really can't cut it. You don't need the fancy silverware. Something with metal will do just fine. Well, chopsticks count as silverware. You are even allowed to use 2 forks and 2 spoons. Just remember to work from the outside into the plate.
• Pre-printed menu This is an elaborate and very nuanced detail, but putting ink to paper for what you are eating with very spelled out specifics would enhance the experience. Be sure to put today's date to truly personalize the moment.
• Turn off all electronic devices No phones, no TV, no computer, not even a radio. Yes, that silence thing will freak you out at first. Birds may chirp, not like the bad alarm that came with your cellphone. The lack of electronic distractions will allow you to better concentrate on the meal.

You deserve to treat yourself. You don't have to go to a fancy restaurant to pull that off. Just a few classy steps and you are on your way.

• What's Tempting: Chez Panisse for lunch

photos credit: me

Fructose on nutrition labels is secretly HFCS 90

You likely have seen the word "fructose" by itself on food labels lately. No "high-fructose corn syrup." Just plain fructose.

We know the corn people were trying to change the name of high-fructose corn syrup to "corn sugar" and we pointed out that potential deception. Turns out that it was light years ahead in integrity for what they really did.

Fructose and fructose syrup is secretly HFCS 90, the most potent version of high-fructose corn syrup. HFCS 90 has 90% fructose and 10% glucose.

"Syrups with 90% fructose will not state high fructose corn syrup on the label, they will state 'fructose' or 'fructose syrup.'" — Corn Refiners Association

The FDA has condoned this change by not challenging the obvious deception. Just because corn refiners and manufacturers want to give a false impression about their product doesn't give them the power to do so.

Fructose, by itself, applies to fruit sugar as it comes from fruit. Fructose is natural. What corn people do to high-fructose corn syrup is not natural, despite their pleas.

Fructose implies 100% fructose, natural or otherwise. HFCS 90 has, by definition, 10% glucose. So "fructose" isn't all fructose.

• High-fructose corn syrup coverage on BalanceofFood.com

Companies are invited to deceive consumers on the front of the labels. In at least one instance, a company is outright false in its front label.

Other sources first reported that Vanilla Chex had a sign on the front of its label that said "No high-fructose corn syrup" yet the product contains HFCS 90.

Even the corn people admit that the cereal has high-fructose corn syrup if "fructose" is listed in the ingredients.

Plenty of other products out there now have "fructose" in their ingredient list, even if they aren't drawing any attention via the front label.

No product has ever positively advertised that it contains high-fructose corn syrup. There's a reason why this is true.

The corn people are running away from high-fructose corn syrup because the general public is learning what is involved and the effects on individuals and the society, at large. They never defend high-fructose corn syrup as being better for consumers, just that high-fructose corn syrup is "like sugar." Except it's not.

Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Sam Kass' theoretical replacement — some or all of them have the power to remove this deception from nutrition labels. The corn people are very powerful, so powerful that they were able to sneak this change into our system. Congress won't help, not that we were expecting help from a GOP-dominated House and GOP-controlled Senate.

The corn people have found pure deception to sneak the worst of high-fructose corn syrup into society. Be on the lookout for "fructose" and "fructose syrup" on nutrition ingredient labels. If you see those terms by themselves, consider them dangerous. This bears repeating: HFCS 90 is the worst of the 3 strains of high-fructose corn syrup. 

At least you now know to steer clear of the new deceptive ways to force high-fructose corn syrup into the food supply.

What's Tempting: Chez Panisse for lunch

Making a reservation for lunch is not my style, especially when the source of that reservation is about 2,000 miles away.

But I made a reservation for the upstairs cafe at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. I wanted to see the Alice Waters institution behind the hype.

I was already going to be in San Francisco. Even though I had been in the Bay Area a few times, I had walked past Chez Panisse and thought "I'll never eat here."

To be fair, the dinner is intimidating. $100 and you don't get to pick anything. The prix-fixe menu is determined on the day you eat. All of that was very outside my comfort zone.

Since my last trip in 2010, I learned that lunch in the cafe was an option. Lunch at the Chez Panisse cafe isn't nearly as intimidating. You have a choice of salads and starters, entrees, and desserts. Sure you might pay more than usual for lunch, but the prices were reasonable.

Now I only had to get over my stigma of making lunch reservations.

You have to call to make the reservation. Amazingly, I called on a Monday and got a table for one on that Friday for the time I wanted (1:15).

• Click here for an expanded look at the menu I had that day.

They are very thorough at Chez Panisse. Even for a lunch reservation, I got a phone reminder 2 days before and an e-mail reminder leading up to lunch on Friday. While I thought the attention was too much, I confess I enjoyed it. All this for lunch.

You can't prepare for the menu of the day until that day. In an era where you can check most every restaurant menu imaginable, you can't at Chez Panisse. Though on Friday, you could find the day's menu but decided to be surprised.

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You can certainly eat whatever breakfast you desire before your Chez Panisse lunch, but you are smart to explore the Cheese Board Collective across the street. Get one of the baked goods to start your day, taste amazing cheeses starting at 10 am, and even grab a slice of the pizza if you are having a late lunch.

The Wolverine is a crusty sourdough roll with dried fruit and nuts in the mix. Almost sure I had this in 2010. If you want a hearty breakfast that isn't too sweet, the Wolverine is a great way to start the day.

The establishments are part of Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto (more on this later). Yes, you could dash in to Berkeley just for lunch, but you'll find that stretching out your time is a lot more relaxing.

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I accidentally went to the side of Chez Panisse. This proved fruitful since someone found me and took me through the downstairs kitchen. That was a nice treat. The downstairs crowd gets to see the kitchen in motion. I got a free, though very quick, observation.

Both floors are very sophisticated, but the cafe portion upstairs was fancy but not intimidating. I was a few minutes early and promptly seated. I was in for an elegant experience.

The light fixtures is not something I notice in a restaurant, but this one was worth a photo. Had a Frank Lloyd Wright spirit not just in the light fixture but in the restaurant.

I had not been inside before the 2013 fire but you wouldn't be able to tell there was a fire. The open kitchen downstairs ended up that way after a more severe 1982 fire in the restaurant.

I didn't pick my seat at Chez Panisse, but I ended up with a great view of Marin County. This definitely added to the experience.

Since I looked blind at the menu, I was definitely in for a bit of reading. Cardoon, persimmon, and chicories were some of the food words I knew little to zero about on the menu.

I couldn't even focus on the desserts since that felt too far into the future. I found a few potential starters in mind, but decided on an entree that included a salad. My selection — seafood (a piece of sole, 2 scallops, and 2 shrimp) in a fritto miso with roasted potatoes with chevril mayonnaise and a cardoon and chicories salad — edged out homemade rigatoni puttanesca, a duck leg, and other fine entree choices.

I mulled getting 2 entrees but smartly ordered one and then waited to see how hungry I would be later.

I had bread and butter, which was fine, but didn't want to fill up too much on bread for such a fine lunch.

The fritto miso was the most expensive entree on Friday's menu ($26), though as noted, the entree came with a small salad, so perhaps I got the best deal. I wasn't too worried about money even if this was the most expensive lunch I would have done in some time.

Fritto miso was explained as soaking in buttermilk and lightly and quickly deep-fried. My server mentioned that the scallops only lasted 30 seconds in the very hot oil.

The meal was light yet filling in a way that I can't explain in words. I ate the salad first though everything was on the same plate. The cardoon and chicories were barely dressed yet revealed a lot; think Elizabeth Taylor in a slip in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." The dressing and greens neutralized each other so there wasn't much taste. That sounds like a bad thing but it wasn't. You wanted to keep eating the salad and that was a good thing.

The chevril mayonnaise was there seemingly for the seafood, but I enjoyed the seafood sans sauce. The mayonnaise was well-suited for the roasted potatoes. The potatoes were quite good by themselves but the mayonnaise complemented the potatoes exceptionally well. This looked more like an aioli, but the menu said "mayonnaise."

I still had the rigatoni in mind as a second entree, but I was too busy savoring the "first" meal. I ate much slower than I usually do for even the best dinners. My view was out the window, where I could see Marin County in the distance. I didn't pick where I sat, but was very happy with the view.

Besides being tempted by a second entree, I also thought about dessert: that chocolate and hazelnut tartine was $12 but quite tempting.

The couple next to me, from Cambidge, MA, were on their initial voyage at Chez Panisse. He got the rigatoni puttanesca. While that looked good, I was glad that a) I didn't order the rigatoni and b) I didn't order 2 entrees.

While I had considered a second entree or dessert, I decided at the end of the meal to stop. I wanted to go out on a good note. I felt full and satisfied: didn't want to mess with that combination.

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Mentioned the Gourmet Ghetto: another fine destination is Andronico's grocery store just south of Chez Panisse on Shattuck. While shopping at Andronico's, I came upon Petitpot chocolate pot de creme. The company was based in Oakland, so this was a local product. I checked with the store to make sure they had spoons available. The store had a microwave oven and plastic utensils.

So the pot de creme was my dessert after Chez Panisse. I hadn't planned on this kind of a treat. The grocery store even had outdoor tables with umbrellas so customers can enjoy their purchases.

Next week, I'll share how you can carry the spirit of a Chez Panisse meal in your home.

The Washington Post adds Ellie Krieger to provide much-needed nutrition advice

As someone who writes a lot about nutrition, I try and find resources on the Internet where people are talking about nutrition.

Years ago, long before it was as cool to think about nutrition, The Washington Post had a weekly chat called the Lean Plate Club.

The Lean Plate Club was the all-encompassing name for articles, chats, and other resources from Sally Squires where consumers could learn about nutrition and ask questions. As the world turned more in the direction of nutrition, The Washington Post got rid of the Lean Plate Club.

Recently, that same newspaper hired Ellie Krieger to join its staff. She writes a weekly Nourish column and hosts a biweekly chat at WashingtonPost.com.

Krieger is better known for her Food Network show, "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger." Her program provided sensible, realistic ways to think about nutrition in everyday recipes. Smart, reasonable help on a topic not really covered by the Food Network or the Cooking Channel.

Krieger's chats (click here for a sample) are only every 2 weeks. They haven't been going on for all that long, so the usual rapport of the WaPo chats hasn't been established. Still, this is one of the few interactive ways for consumers to learn more about nutrition.

She is also contributing stories for the newspaper (click here for a sample story).

Unlike the days of the Lean Plate Club, the newspaper now has a paywall. But you do get a limited amount of articles for free before you have to pay. You can also keep up with what Krieger is writing about through her Twitter feed.

The Ellie Krieger material is very welcome in a world where consumers still are confused about nutrition. The material is light years behind the Lean Plate Club but there is room for growth and potential.

At BalanceofFood.com, we cover nutrition issues but we also like to read other sources for our information. I learned a lot from the Lean Plate Club and feel like my readers have benefited from information I have learned. I am learning from Ellie Krieger even more than from the TV show. I just wish, in this time where people really want nutrition information, to get even more from Krieger and The Washington Post.

screen capture: WashingtonPost.com

What's Tempting: Cats in your cafe

At Cat Town Cafe in Oakland, the first permanent cat cafe in the United States, you aren't likely to have that much drama.

Food and drink can intermix with the cats that are in a separate room. In this environment, the food and drink become secondary to being with the cats. Since the cafe is open during the day, the cats are more likely to be asleep or if awake, are tending to cat needs such as stretching, eating, and wondering about the next place they will fall asleep for the rest of the afternoon.

We were told there were 7 cats. I counted 8 cats. Only 2 of them were awake or somewhat awake in the hour we had from 2-3 pm on a Sunday afternoon.

Petting a sleeping cat is fun, but separate from the actions most people would naturally do in a regular cafe. The people, including your humble narrator, will trying really hard to get the semi-awake cats to pay attention to them.

We only had 1 hour since the weekends virtually required a $10 reservation fee that only covered an hour. A few people showed up only to be turned away without a reservation. To be fair, a Wednesday trip at 11 am might not need a reservation, but you only get 1 hour.

The cat cafe felt more like a petting zoo for cats instead of a cat cafe. The zoo theme extended to those watching from the other room in the cafe as well as on the street at the corner of 29th Street and Broadway north of the downtown Oakland core. So the people inside the room were also animals on display with every human waiting for the animals to come out and play.

None of this is meant to be a criticism of Cat Town Cafe, the people who work or volunteer there, or the cats themselves. What we have is a reasonable attempt to give cat lovers this extra boost, though it falls short of what most people would want from a cat cafe.

The primary focus of Cat Town Cafe is to get cats to be adopted by warm, loving people. As of my visit, the cafe had placed 43 cats.

If I were running a cat cafe …

• Run the cat cafe at night, allowing the cats to use the space to sleep during the day. Give plenty of window space for daytime cafe customers to observe the sleeping cats, knowing that the fun will happen at night. Cats are nocturnal animals and want to walk around at night and observe and interact with humans.
• Allow more than 1 hour with the cats, but charge by the hour. If you buy drink or food, the charge would get waived.
• On the back of the menu, you would learn more about the cats in front of you. We did get some information about the cats, but since most of them were asleep, the information had little relevance.
• Build in a cat door so the cats can go to a private room if things get too hairy (for them). The cats have to rule in order for a cat cafe to work.

Other countries have cat cafes more along the type described above. Issues about food and cats mixing together will likely mean U.S. versions will play it safe. Says something for cats in a country where animal safety isn't a concern for the animals we eat.

In Chicago, you see a lot of bars where dogs are free to roam inside the bar. Then again, those bars don't have a food license. Yes, you do see dogs drinking sometimes, even if they are under 3 years old (21 in human years). If a cat sniffs around your baked good in an environment where you have voluntarily placed yourself, then you don't really have a complaint. No one will force you to go into a room with cats, no matter how cute the cats are.

KitTea, a similar type cat cafe, has plans for a location on Gough near Haight and Market in San Francisco. As you can see in the picture above, the location won't be ready soon but maybe sometime in 2015. Given the nuances of laws in San Francisco, don't count on KitTea to be any more non-adventurous as Cat Town Cafe in Oakland.

Cat Town Cafe is located at 2869 Broadway in Oakland. If traveling by BART, take the train to the 19th Street Oakland station and proceed north to 29th Street. Cafe is open W-Su 8 am-7 pm; the cat portion is open 10 am-7 pm on those days.

photos credit: me

President Obama needs to replace Sam Kass with a nutrition czar

The legacy of a president is made not just what is done while in office, but the precedents set during the administration.

Sam Kass served as the first White House senior policy adviser on nutrition. So as Kass has now left the White House to move to New York City to be with his new bride, MSNBC's Alex Wagner, will President Obama find a replacement to be the White House senior policy adviser on nutrition?

As we enter the 7th year of the 8 years the Obamas will be in the White House, the time is now to think about the legacy set by Barack and Michelle Obama, each in their own way, to set an example for better-grown food and improved nutrition knowledge.

Whoemver the next president will be, that person hopefully will continue having such a role in the White House. The best way to establish that legacy is for Obama to get a replacement for Kass.

Kass will still be involved with Let's Move. Kass said he will take a position in the private sector to promote healthy eating. But we also need someone in the government to play that role.

The White House organic garden, advocacy for better nutrition for school lunch and breakfast programs: these are some of the legacies Kass left behind in that role. But as Kass and many others have discovered, there is so much more work to be done.

One area a new senior policy adviser on nutrition (nutrition czar?) would be of great help is the changes to the Nutrition Facts labeling, including to make sure that added sugars becomes a permanent fixture in nutrition labeling.

If nothing else, health care costs, especially with a for-profit system, are a vital reason to have someone watching out for nutrition in the White House.

At some point, a Republican will win the White House. The hope is by then that a nutrition czar will be so firmly in the fixtures of the White House that even a GOP president will appoint a nutrition czar.

We saw during the extensive length of time in between surgeon generals that the political process can't drag down those fighting to improve the health of the citizens of the United States. The NRA freaked out over non-controversial comments made by Vivek Murthy, and got GOP Congressional members (not that they had to work hard to twist their arms) to delay Murthy's confirmation.

Unlike a surgeon general, a nutrition czar (or senior policy adviser on nutrition) would not have to be confirmed by the Senate. Still, putting these people in a position to help shouldn't be bogged down by political nonsense.

Unofficially, the focus on nutrition will be a significant part of the Obama presidential legacy. It's time to make that legacy a lot more official.

What's Tempting: Caramelized onions

You don't have to believe in Buddha to truly caramelize onions, but you will learn in caramelizing onions that patience is worthwhile in the cooking process.

The chopping of the onions, letting them sweat down, and then kicking in the slow cooking process — at least 45 minutes of cooking time — may not co-exist well in this microwave world. If you enjoy the byproduct, the time will be well-spent.

Since the process is a bit arduous, use plenty of onions. They shrink a lot, as you can see in the pictures. At the same time, you should use up the finished product in about a week. Planning is part of your patience.

Based on what you read on the Internet, you should keep the flame low the whole time or crank up the heat. You should salt them or it isn't mentioned. Deglazing is valuable and helps you regain the product flavor lost at the bottom of the pan. Water can be your friend; you don't want something that can mask the onion flavor.

Even as the onions turn brown, maybe after 25 minutes, don't be tempted to stop. Find other things to do in the kitchen during the other 20 minutes.

The good news is that you can use your time in the kitchen well during the process. You don't have to hover over the onions, but you can't ignore them either.

In the winter months, you can enjoy the heat from having the stovetop on for close to an hour. In the summer months, the wonderful smell helps counter the added heat to the kitchen. Even when you are done, your place will smell like cooked onions. Okay, that might not be the best asset to sell you on caramelizing onions.

Too often, ordering caramelized onions means getting barely cooked onions. The point of caramelizing onions is to get the great taste of onions without the texture of raw onions. Barely cooked caramelized onions might as well be raw.

As a child, I was introduced to onions in its raw form and decided that I didn't like onions. In my "hooked on McDonald's" days, I would order the hamburger minus the onion. Special orders would often upset McD's but getting them special meant getting a fresher product, especially one without onions.

Caramelizing onions allows for onion flavor at an acceptable texture. Getting to onion nirvana is not easy.

BLT sandwiches are a lot of work for not much gain, but worthwhile if you get the ideal tomato. Making a pizza is a lot of work but a good pizza with ingredients that you want. Caramelized onions aren't much work but they do require patience and a lot of time. You could even make a pizza or a BLT in the time needed to caramelize onions.

If you really want the finished product, but don't want to do the work, find a friend who cooks who will spend the time. You could barter for something you have that the other person wants.

Eating the finished product of caramelized onions means eating the love that it took to make the onions as wonderful as they are. Love, patience, and time: all required for truly wonderful caramelized onions. They're even worth a tear of two in the cutting process.

photos credit: me