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Inmates Eating Better than Schoolkids? That's Criminal. {Slashfood}
Jul 29th 2010 8:55PM Sandy:
You don't strike me as the type of person who is interested in civil discussion, as you immediately resort to name calling. Therefore, I won't bother debating your points one by one. However, I will clarify my position.
Children must be provided with a proper meal and a safe, comfortable environment. This is the cost of entry, whatever the cost. Everything else is extra. English, math, history, and yes even sports get whatever funds remain after we provide these basic needs.
I assert that it is not feasible to prepare a proper meal for $2 per student. I base this assumption on my catering experience and the apparent inability of the overwhelming majority of schools to achieve this goal. If it is in fact possible to prepare fresh, nutritious, healthy meals for less than $2, I would love to see evidence of this. For now, let's assume that a proper meal costs $4.
My local school district has anual budget of $800 million for 60,000 students. Assuming 180 school days, this works out to 5% of the budget. Unfortunately, the 2010 budget allocates less than 3% for food services. In the budget statement, this is the second to last item, just above "Vehicle Maintenance." Are you honestly going to tell me that it's idiotic to spend more than 3%?
The bottom line is that people just don't care that kids eat garbage, and more to the point, they don't know the difference. People with bad eating habits are deciding for everyone that it's not worth the cost.
Inmates Eating Better than Schoolkids? That's Criminal. {Slashfood}
Jul 29th 2010 10:53AM Given my experience (school, not prison), this sounds about right. We were served tasteless grey garbage each day for more than a decade. I don't believe I ever encountered an actual cut of meat; always breaded (grain group) meat "patties," which were clearly made from the cheapest cuts of meat available to the manufactured food industry. All vegetables were canned, the mashed potatoes were instant, and cheese was powdered. Sauces were made from corn syrup, vinegar, and red dye.
It was awful. The worst part was that the school staff was very preachy about proper nutrition. All criticism from students was ignored on the grounds that we don't know anything about healthy eating. Essentially, it was a generation of bad eaters polluting the next generation. I knew better then and I certainly know better now.
In my senior year, they outsourced the lunch program. Pizza, fries, and "purple drink" every day... and at 3 times the cost.
Lunch is more than an inconvenient interruption of the school day. It's literally vital to the health and well-being of students. The typical school lunch costs less than $2. This isn't enough... double the cost and expand assistance programs. If parents are too short-sighted to invest a few hundred bucks a year in their children's health, drop sports.
The difference with prison is that they have total responsibility for the well-being of prisoners, and they are held accountable. Schools and parents, on the other hand, each expect one another to pick-up the slack. It's not surprising to me that prison would have better food.
5 Questions for: Anthony Bourdain {Slashfood}
Mar 15th 2010 3:50PM You are correct... only in Western countries is meat a vital component of each meal. Elsewhere, meat tends to be reserved more for special occasions. Of course, when you visit someone's home in another country, it's always a special occasion. I'm normally a meat eater, but while traveling abroad, I eat twice as much as usual.
It sounds like you have a healthy approach to this situation and perhaps your diet is more flexible than most. But, I think some vegetarians don't know how to handle this and may not realize that there's a potential for insult, and that this misunderstanding is the source of the stigma.
Bourdain may be onto something... one could always feign Hinduism. :)
Coke 'Sorry' for F-Bomb Blunder on Web Site {Slashfood}
Dec 11th 2009 2:17PM Perhaps Mr. Beswick could submit an algorithm to filter out any sequence of random characters that could be interpreted as profane in any language. Don't forget anagrams and unlucky numbers.
Roger Moore Takes Aim at Foie Gras {Slashfood}
Sep 22nd 2009 3:21PM "...the birds are force-fed the human equivalent of 45 pounds of pasta a day..." -Roger Moore
Statements like this really bug me. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is a fact. But, 45 pounds, compared to what? Some animals are able to consume their body weight in food. How much do ducks and geese normally eat?
According to the foie gras article on Wikipedia...
"A wild duck may double its weight in the autumn, storing fat throughout much of its body and especially on the liver, in preparation for winter migration."
So... I guess this would be like a human gaining 200 pounds in a few months.
Rules for Visiting a Cigar Lounge {Luxist}
Apr 2nd 2009 1:19AM Honestly, why is the cigar crowd so stiff and, well, prickish? I've been smoking cigars for most of my life and I still dread visiting the cigar shop. For the record, I do none of the things mentioned. I try to get in and out with as little interaction as possible.
Both the staff and patrons are, in fact, pricks. The typical customer is as you describe... ignorant, obnoxious, and boastful. It's like a used car salesmen convention. The employees are, apparently, those who stuck around long enough without taking a hint.
When I want to buy cigars, I have two choices nearby... I can go to the shop where the staff treats me like a shoplifter (seriously, who steals cigars?) yet acts like it's a huge inconvenience to accept my money in exchange for their goods. Or, I can go to the store where I'm greeted with a look that seems to say "Can't you see we're having a conversation about the underage girl from the Dippin' Dots stand? Go away!" In my experience, this is typical of every shop in the Washington D.C. area.
I don't need cigars, and I smoke less because I find the cigar shop experience unpleasant. For most people, I think, cigars are a superfluous luxury, not to mention, a waning fad. It's simply bad business to cultivate an environment where customers are ostracized.
No other business operates in this manner. When I visit a wine shop, I'm treated like royalty. What's different about tobacco?
However, I must say, the cigar shops I've visited on the West coast have been entirely pleasant. The proprietors are cool and friendly. They act like someone who's passionate about cigars rather than a security guard at a nicotine dispensary.
Is It Wrong to Market Sugar as 'Healthy'? {Slashfood}
Mar 23rd 2009 5:20PM I definitely agree on flavor. Over the years it has become more and more objectionable for me.
I believe that the use of sugar over HFCS has a positive net result, simply because sugar is more expensive. It seems that most prepared foods include HFCS by default. By switching to sugar, they may use less or avoid it altogether.
I'm not normally one to avoid unhealthy foods, but frankly, I do avoid HFCS... it tastes like it's bad for you. Yea, I know it's "all natural," but so is formaldehyde.
Also, the latest pro-HFCS campaign reeks of dishonestly and misdirection. It sort of reminds me of the old cigarette advertisements... "7 out of 10 doctors who smoke choose Marlboro."
Miller Lite Now Touting "Triple Hops" {Slashfood}
Feb 27th 2009 10:16AM jharp:
Sorry if that sounded like an attack. It wasn't my intention to mock your post... you just reminded me of the slogan.
"Champagne of Beers" is their slogan, and Bud is the "King of Beers"... made from the finest barley, hops, and pure mountain water. Along the lines of the original post, it's always bothered me that they try to position themselves as a premium beer when, in fact, it's the cheapest beer available.
Miller Lite Now Touting "Triple Hops" {Slashfood}
Feb 26th 2009 8:52PM In what way is Miller "The Champagne of Beers?" The beer is produced as cheaply as possible with utter disregard for quality. Hops are the most expensive ingredient in beer, so they use only trace amounts. Clearly, Miller is the Coca-Cola of beers.
Miller and Bud are losing market share to the US microbreweries, who are not only brewing world-class beer, but are changing the way people drink it; pioneering new techniques and crafting beers which target a particular food pairing. The macros have been trying to reinvent themselves in their image, but they're producing the same old swill.
Eventually, I suspect, that Miller and Bud will acquire a good chunk of micros, which they will aggressively and effectively market (and water down!), while the house brands fall to the side like Schlitz or Pabst. And we will have come full circle... once again.
Incidentally, this would be the champagne of beers:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/202/7661/
