Eat My Florida

“The average mother of a child under 15 spends more on fast food every year than on books, music, movies and video games combined.” (NYT)

(Stolen from Serious Eats.)

This weekend, the NYT posted a story about the vast amount of food that American’s waste every year, as much as 27% off all food available for consumption. That happens at every step of the distribution pipeline, from factories to your refrigerator, resulting in almost 100 billion pounds of edible food hitting the trash can.

What’s worse is much of that — as much as 98%, according to the article — ends up in landfills, slowly moldering away and manufacturing methane gas. People go hungry, we waste money and the environment suffers. Triple whammy.

Here are some ideas to help cut your wasteful ways:

1. Eat what you buy. When planning tonight’s dinner, try to cook with the oldest food in the house, especially veggies that are past their prime.
2. Compost. For both wasted food and inedible scraps, composting stops overloading landfills and starts putting the valuable energy and nutrients back into the soil. Even better if you’re using the compost to fertilize a backyard vegetable garden.
3. Shop frequently. It might use up a tad more gas, but at least you’ll only be buying what you need for a few days, leaving you a better chance to consume as much as you buy. Goodbye, weekly trip to the grocery.
4. Support reclaimed food charities. Groups like Tampa Bay Harvest work with grocery stores, restaurants and others to pick up unwanted but edible food and get it into the hands of people who need it most. Encourage places you shop to participate, or you can sign up to volunteer. The organization has a great system that pairs volunteers with pick up and delivery routes close to their work and home.
5. Buy less food. The less you have, the less you’ll waste. Maybe it’s time to see the bottom of that vegetable drawer again.

Although it’s tied up in the courts thanks to a last minute injunction, this week was supposed to be the start of the New York City Department of Health initiative mandating posted calorie counts on the menus of any restaurant chain with more than 15 outlets nationwide. Here are some of the early reactions, thanks to a few chains that kicked it off despite the delay — NY Times, NY Post, Village Voice, Midtown Lunch.

If only Florida could be so enlightened. Sadly, here in the Sunshine State you have to dig deep in the murk to find out the impact of your morning Frap and scone, or the taco salad at the Bell. Here at Eat My Florida, we want to make it easier for you to wallow in the angst of your dining decisions, so here’s a list of links to the nutrition section of every chain in the area. Here’s a teaser — bloomin’ onion = 2275 calories.

Eat it and weep:

• Burgers: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Evos, Krystal, Five Guys, Whataburger, Hardee’s, Fatburger, Sonic, Steak N Shake,
• Chicken: Chick-Fil-A, Popeye’s, KFC, Pollo Tropical, Church’s,
• Other Fast Food Sandwich Joints: Arby’s, Subway, Miami Subs, Quiznos, Blimpie, Jersey Mike’s, Jimmy John’s,
• Other Fast Food: Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, Chipotle, Moe’s, Panera, Boston Market, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Panda Express,
• Pizza: Hungry Howie’s, Sbarro, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Godfather’s, Dominos, CiCi’s,
• Breakfast, Smoothies, Coffee and Sweets: Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Smoothie King, TCBY, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Starbucks, Denny’s, IHOP, Bob Evans,
• Casual Dining Chains: Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, PF Chang’s, Chilis, TGIFiday’s, Outback, Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday’s, Carrabas, Sonny’s, Red Lobster

Who’d we miss?

Need to cut the budget? Tampa’s own Victor Crist (no relation to the guv) wants to cut Department of Corrections expenditures by reducing the food available to inmates. Does anyone get the idea that Charlie Crist is a tad upset over this douche bag’s similar name?

Right now, the state mandates 3200 calories per day per inmate. Crist (no relation) wants that cut to 2700. That’s despite the fact that a 5′9″ male who weighs 160 pounds and exercises an hour a day requires over 2900 calories.Ya’ think most inmates are 5′9″ and weigh 160?

Besides the money saved, think of the unexpected results of such a change:

• Inmates will be slimmer, healthier and live longer, costing the state more in the long run.
• Prison economies will move from sexual slavery, toilet gin and cigarettes to pudding and fish sticks.
• Instead of being sent out on work gangs and road crews, inmates can be sourced to fashion shoots and couture runway shows — which equals more revenue for the state.
• Keeping inmates hungry is a tried and true way of controlling prison populations.

Although the Department of Corrections used to have prison farms and bought local foods from Florida growers, now the state contracts prison food service to large corporations like Aramark. And, to no one’s surprise, Aramark would like to cut caloric outlay to 2100 calories per inmate, claiming they could save $15 million per year. Why are you aiming so low, Aramark?

While researching prison food for a story I’m working on, a friendly, anonymous source in the department of corrections encouraged me to “ask about the loaf.” The “Management Loaf” is a diabolical tool that prison officials dole out to those lucky inmates who — often in solitary confinement — refuse to cooperate fully with the guards. The prison kitchen takes leftovers and untouched food of all varieties and mashes them together, slaps the resulting concoction (which one prison worker described as “chunky vomit”) in a loaf pan and bakes it into a solid, over-cooked mess of calories. The loaf is usually served cold and prisoners have reported that it causes “gastric distress, cramps, diarrhea, and bloating.”

Slice and serve. Yum.

Perhaps we could call it the Crist Surprise (no relation) and serve it to everyone in the system, regardless of behavior. Maybe next he’ll turn his attention to school lunches!

This week, Men’s Health released their annual list of the worst foods in America. For them, “worst” is more a calculation of fat and calories than overall taste, but several items could qualify in both respects. Their targets are big national chains, with McDonalds, Chilis, Chipotle and Macaroni Grill making the list for egregious concoctions designed more for small villages or Dom Deluise look-a-like conventions than the single servings they purport to be.

Topping the list is the Bay area’s own Outback Steakhouse, with their “Aussie cheese fries with ranch dressing.” 2900 calories. 182 grams of fat. It’s nice to know that, yet again, Tampa is leading the way when it comes to dining.

A Purdue University study funded by the National Institutes of Health recently found that consuming artificial sweeteners instead of sugar may result in weight gain. Rats were fed snacks of yogurt (some sweetened with saccharine, some with sugar) before their regular meals. At the end of five weeks, the rats fed yogurt with artificial sweetener gained 20% more weight on average than rats fed the sugary snack.

This comes on the heels of another recent study that tracked 9500 adults for nine years to find underlying conditions that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other conditions commonly referred to as “metabolic syndrome.” No surprise that Michael Pollan’s dreaded “Western diet” accounts for much of the increased problems, but diet soda is the biggest villain in the story. People who drink one diet soda a day have a 34% higher risk of developing the syndrome than people who drink no diet soda.

Looks like I’ll be getting a packet from the Calorie Control Council soon, just like the info from the fine people at Big Corn.

Looks like all the local school districts have complied with a USDA halt on the use of beef from the Westland Meat Products packing company. If you missed the scandal that broke last week, here’s the sum up:

The Humane Society videotaped workers at the Westland packing plant resorting to extraordinary means to get some obviously damaged and sick cows to get to their feet and walk into the plant. You see, cows that can’t move of their own volition are not allowed for human consumption. How do you convince a sick cow to walk to it’s own slaughter? Shoot water up it’s nose, roll it around on the ground with a forklift, jam it with cattle prods; you know, a typical Saturday night.

You should watch the video. It’s enlightening.

Westland is the second largest supplier of meat to the USDA’s National School Lunch Program. Sorry, was the second largest. Tough luck, Westland.

If that video wasn’t enough to put you off your lunch for the next couple of weeks, here are a few of the best cruelty videos of the past few years:

Foie Gras

Meat Your Meat

Tyson Slaughterhouse

Butterball

After writing about Michael Pollan’s new book last week, I received an email from your friends at the Corn Refiners Association. Nice to know that they’re examining local media for stories that might cast aspersions on nutritious and wholesome high fructose corn syrup.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Editor:
The January 16 article “Chew on this,” may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup.
New research continues to confirm that high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like sugar and honey.
High fructose corn syrup is a natural sweetener and has the same number of calories as sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high fructose corn syrup “Generally Recognized as Safe” status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.
High fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits, too. It keeps foods fresh. It enhances fruit and spice flavors. It retains moisture in bran cereals and helps keep breakfast bars moist.
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at www.HFCSfacts.com.

Audrae Erickson
President
Corn Refiners Association
1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202)-331-1634

(Thanks to nataliedee.com for the image.)

Amidst an in-depth profile of Republican contender Mike Huckabee in the New York Times is a tiny tidbit that makes me question his presidential fitness. When offered a free meal by Times’ reporter Zev Chafets, his first choices were T.G.I. Friday’s and the Olive Garden. Regardless of his politics, that poor decision-making has cost him my vote.

In spite of his penchant for low-end chain dining, Huckabee managed to drop over 100 pounds over the last few years thanks to diet, exercise and God. His big loss spawned a book, a conspiracy theory and a push to reduce the obesity rate in his home state of Arkansas, which is one of the top ten fattest places in the country. Perhaps the most well-received plan proposed by this “small government” Republican are 15 minute exercise breaks for government employees. Sadly, since Arkansas’ smoking rate – 26 percent of adults — exceeds the obesity rate, I suspect that a lot of people will be using that extra time to spark another cancer stick.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice had a website that lists the final meal requests of every prisoner executed between 1982 and 2003. The TDCJ pulled the site in 2003, but archives like the one I link to above are available.

I hesitated before posting this. After all, this meal is the last piece of personal control a prisoner has before their death. Airing it out all over the blogosphere seemed a little, well, crass. Then I started looking over the site.

It turns out that a mass of fried chicken, double-meat hamburgers, RC Cola and over easy eggs can be depressing, poignant and revealing. Although there are a few oddball requests, most of the selections are wholeheartedly comfort food, the kinds of things that might remind someone of family and youth and, maybe, of good times. Milk and sweet tea are common, salads and fruit appear more often than you’d think and steak runs a close third to burgers and chicken.

The whole final meal tradition has always struck me as a bit odd. It’s more a ritual to assuage the executioners than the prisoner, one final bit of good cheer and kindness before the needle goes in. Not really a holiday pick-me-up, but check it out if you want a different view of the death penalty, or maybe just some perspective on your own food choices.

I haven’t seen a map this scary since hurricane season two years ago.

Make sure to watch the animation, that tells the real story of the growth of obesity in the US. Thanks to CNN.
(via our friends in Atlanta)

Click on healthydiningfinder.com and plug in your zip code.

Nice to know that a healthy meal is so close to home.

I got a call from Dave Hackett today about his website gototell.com. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it, it’s new. Along with a lot of empty content he’s working on filling, gototell has a fantastic search page that lists restaurants that have been fined by the inspectors of the Florida Department of Hotels and Restaurants. Start here and you’ll be able to plot the worst offenders on Google Maps, see a list off all the places fined over the past 2 years, or navigate the State page to look up inspection reports.

Think it’s cruel? Don’t. The State is pretty lenient and usually gives restaurants time to correct problems before it escalates to slapping a fine. According to Hackett, “the fact that you’ve been fined says to me that you were at the very best, forgetful, or at the very worst it was something seriously bad.” Check it out before you eat out.

According to this report, Florida restaurants are Number One! Yeah! More food poisoning than any other state!

Screw you California (#2), with your paltry 62 cases of food-borne illness. What up Ohio (#3)? 38 is the best you can do?

These numbers are for 2005, so let’s hope that we can continue to keep the crown through the end of the decade.

(Thanks to Dave Hackett.)

I am speechless. Wha, huh, hoo, ach, bler!

(It’s Sex and the City, animated, starring bottles of spray salad dressing, guest-starring Mark McGrath, Tim Gunn, and Fabio, just in case you’re afraid to click. Be afraid.)