Okay I give in, I'm moving to Seattle.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/02/21/its-not-fairytale-seattle-build-nations-first-food-forest
A free food forest.
So much yes.
The funny thing is people are acting like this is so revolutionary, when really this is how the world was before humans got a bad case of the gimmie gimmies and we locked up all our food. Nonetheless it is awesome that someone out there is thinking rationally for a change!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Industrial Organic Yea or Nay?
So I finally made it to a Baja Fresh.
Let me just start off by saying: the food was bangin.
I was like:
Seriously it was great especially the guacamole.
But.
There's always a but.
Anyways, eating there had me questioning a few things. The first being, is this an example of the industrial organic phenomenon Michael Pollan described in "The Omnivore's Dilemma"? I guess I could concisely answer that with a solid "Maybe." You see the restaurant does indeed serve unfrozen meat, cheese, and veggies, doesn't use microwaves and helps the environment, etc. The food tasted fresh and was good. But there was a glaring issue staring me in the face. This was in fact a fast food joint like any other.
A fast food joint owned by the company that owns Denny's
And was once owned by Wendy's.
Ok, before I condemn it for being another soulless fast food place I have to ask myself another question. Is it SO bad that a fast food place is trying to be organic and fresh? I mean, they're trying right? How can that be bad? I've often fantasized about a drive up or take out restaurant that sold great mostly healthy foods. Places like Baja Fresh, Panera and Chipotle are making people aware of their food and seem to be attempting to make a difference while still keeping things going at lunch time speed. Its kind of a neat concept.
Here's where the but comes in again, and I ask my third and final question:
Is this just a soulless corporation capitalizing on people's desire to be part of the whole food movement without actually being part of the whole food movement?
Yes. Duh.
But, realistically, that's how business works right? Again, is that really a bad thing? When I start my restaurant that's going to be my business model as well. The clientele will probably be unshaven yuppstarts and old hippies. I have no problem saying that. If we look at it in a Machiavellian way, it's an end to justify the means. People want fresh food, so the corporate world is giving them fresh food. Its a good thing essentially. Of course things get more complicated the bigger the business gets and the place kind of loses its soul and we're eating "grass fed local" beef that was raised with a hundred other steers in a tiny pen with two blades of grass in it three states away.
So I guess what I'm saying is: I still maintain growing, catching, raising, cooking, and eating your own food is paramount. Keeping abreast of what you're eating and where it comes from is pretty swell too.
But I mean if you wanna eat out sometimes, this isn't a bad place to go.
And yes, I said abreast.
lol
Cheers,
-M
Let me just start off by saying: the food was bangin.
I was like:
Seriously it was great especially the guacamole.
But.
There's always a but.
Anyways, eating there had me questioning a few things. The first being, is this an example of the industrial organic phenomenon Michael Pollan described in "The Omnivore's Dilemma"? I guess I could concisely answer that with a solid "Maybe." You see the restaurant does indeed serve unfrozen meat, cheese, and veggies, doesn't use microwaves and helps the environment, etc. The food tasted fresh and was good. But there was a glaring issue staring me in the face. This was in fact a fast food joint like any other.
A fast food joint owned by the company that owns Denny's
And was once owned by Wendy's.
Ok, before I condemn it for being another soulless fast food place I have to ask myself another question. Is it SO bad that a fast food place is trying to be organic and fresh? I mean, they're trying right? How can that be bad? I've often fantasized about a drive up or take out restaurant that sold great mostly healthy foods. Places like Baja Fresh, Panera and Chipotle are making people aware of their food and seem to be attempting to make a difference while still keeping things going at lunch time speed. Its kind of a neat concept.
Here's where the but comes in again, and I ask my third and final question:
Is this just a soulless corporation capitalizing on people's desire to be part of the whole food movement without actually being part of the whole food movement?
Yes. Duh.
But, realistically, that's how business works right? Again, is that really a bad thing? When I start my restaurant that's going to be my business model as well. The clientele will probably be unshaven yuppstarts and old hippies. I have no problem saying that. If we look at it in a Machiavellian way, it's an end to justify the means. People want fresh food, so the corporate world is giving them fresh food. Its a good thing essentially. Of course things get more complicated the bigger the business gets and the place kind of loses its soul and we're eating "grass fed local" beef that was raised with a hundred other steers in a tiny pen with two blades of grass in it three states away.
So I guess what I'm saying is: I still maintain growing, catching, raising, cooking, and eating your own food is paramount. Keeping abreast of what you're eating and where it comes from is pretty swell too.
But I mean if you wanna eat out sometimes, this isn't a bad place to go.
And yes, I said abreast.
lol
Cheers,
-M
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