Locavorism Goes Corporate May 14, 2009

Yesterday the New York Times published an article about how Lays Chips (re PepsiCo) is a local food. The reasoning is that there is a chip manufacturing facility in Florida, and they buy their potatoes from farmers in Florida.

It’s a clever marketing concept. Too bad it doesn’t change the fact that 1 oz. of Lays chips still contain 10 grams of fat with 90% of its 150 calories from fat, 180 mg of sodium, and have no significant nutritional value.

I would also be curious about how much money the farmers share in the profits from each bag of chips sold. Do you think it’s a 50/50? You know, because there would be no Lays Chips if there were no potato farmers. And what is the true cost of a bag of chips when you factor in the production of them?

When the marketing campaign kicks off in a few weeks, as citizens we might be curious to know if Frito-Lay PepsiCo will be able to answer the following questions for us:

1. What sustainability practices are employed to mass produce such vast quantities of potatoes?

2. If the farms are not organic, what measures are taken to prevent chemical run-off into ground water or water-ways that lead to the ocean?

3. How many gallons of water are used to produce a bag of chips?

4. Where are the chip bags manufactured and what are they made of?

5. How many gallons of oil are used per year to distribute the chips to retailers?

6. Where does the corn oil the potatoes are fried in come from, and what are the production costs/impacts of that?

7. What is the carbon footprint of the chip manufacturing plants?

8. Are the chip makers and farmers well paid with generous retirement and health care policies?

I also found the timing of the NYT article to be interesting because yesterday Terry Gross of Fresh Air happened to interview David Kessler about the neurological response to highly salty, fatty processed foods. It turns out that the brain actually compels a person to overeat when exposed to these foods, and satiation mechanisms are actually over ridden. It gives weighty meaning to a past marketing slogan used by Lays, “Betcha You Can’t Eat Just One.”

How True! Because if we could eat just one Lay’s Potato Chip they would not be millionaires and we would not have an obesity crisis.

Stuffed Squash for Multi-Taskers May 7, 2009

While I am a true subscriber to the concept that slow is beautiful, my life doesn’t always seem to go that way. Likewise, I work with families that want to eat local fresh foods, but simply don’t have 90 minutes to savor the cooking process.

Here is a meal you can count on for nutrient density without compromising flavor or your schedule. It takes about 30 minutes, but the interactive time is low since the squash just bakes in the oven so you can multi-task while you make this meal.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with quinoa, goat cheese, chopped walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Roasted bell peppers and sauteed kale on the side:

The Squash and Bell Pepper:
Set oven to 450

Slice and seed the squash. Place flesh side down on a bake pan with about 1/4 inch of water. Place in oven for about 20 minutes, or until flesh is easily punctured by a fork.

Place bell peppers right on the rack for 10-15 minutes or until flesh can be punctured with a fork.

Stuffing:
Cook quinoa on the stove-top 2 parts water to 1 part grain (takes about 10 minutes and you can cook this ahead of time).

Toss quinoa with walnuts and pumpkin seeds. (You can really use any nuts, seeds, or diced/sauteed veggies you like).

Remove squash from the oven. Place goat cheese in the cup of the squash, then add quinoa blend.

Turn Oven Off:
Place stuffed squash back in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the peppers and kale.

Kale:
Warm about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (or water for a low-fat steam).
Add diced onion – warm until lightly translucent
Add chopped kale – saute for about 3-5 minutes

Serving the Bell Peppers:

Peel if you like, slice in strips if you prefer, or just serve up whole peppers. Left-overs keep for several days in the fridge and make flavorful additions to sandwiches or salads.