US Food Policy: If you could change one thing...
Replies
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most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I would never have known this if you hadn't told me.
Next you're going to tell me Olive Garden doesn't make its desserts fresh on-site or that some restaurants buy their desserts from bakeries instead of making them in their own kitchens.
The horror!
If I am paying money to someone else to cook the dinner I am going to eat, I want it cooked. Not re-heated stuff from a freezer to the microwave or deep fryer to my plate.
If I wanted to eat like that I wouldn't go to a restaurant, but would go the grocery store and buy that crap and microwave or throw it in the oven myself.
I want food that was prepared from start to finish in the kitchen. Not pre-made in a factory some where and then shipped to a warehouse until the restaurant decides to place an order for that crap.0 -
most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I would never have known this if you hadn't told me.
Next you're going to tell me Olive Garden doesn't make its desserts fresh on-site or that some restaurants buy their desserts from bakeries instead of making them in their own kitchens.
The horror!
If I am paying money to someone else to cook the dinner I am going to eat, I want it cooked. Not re-heated stuff from a freezer to the microwave or deep fryer to my plate.
If I wanted to eat like that I wouldn't go to a restaurant, but would go the grocery store and buy that crap and microwave or throw it in the oven myself.
I want food that was prepared from start to finish in the kitchen. Not pre-made in a factory some where and then shipped to a warehouse until the restaurant decides to place an order for that crap.
then go to a restaurant where entrees cost more than $6.99.0 -
It is widely known that this is what's happening in major chain restaurants. As the Burro suggested, don't go to those restaurants if you want fresh-cooked meals.most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I would never have known this if you hadn't told me.
Next you're going to tell me Olive Garden doesn't make its desserts fresh on-site or that some restaurants buy their desserts from bakeries instead of making them in their own kitchens.
The horror!
If I am paying money to someone else to cook the dinner I am going to eat, I want it cooked. Not re-heated stuff from a freezer to the microwave or deep fryer to my plate.
If I wanted to eat like that I wouldn't go to a restaurant, but would go the grocery store and buy that crap and microwave or throw it in the oven myself.
I want food that was prepared from start to finish in the kitchen. Not pre-made in a factory some where and then shipped to a warehouse until the restaurant decides to place an order for that crap.
See how easy that is?
ETA -- It is done this way in chains to ensure the food tastes the same at the Applebee's somewhere in Florida as it does in the Applebee's somewhere in Wyoming.0 -
Reopen slaughter houses for horses and let the needy have some protein. If they are really hungry, they will eat it. They have come around to eating venison.
Venison and horse meat are vastly, vastly different. Venison, raised or hunted, are not routinely fed an excessive amount of substances banned in meat for human consumption the way that horses are.
Huh. I will have to tell my animals that. I am sure the cows will be pissed that the horses are getting something out of the same feed that they aren't.0 -
let the needy have some protein
You think the needy aren't getting meat? Go work as a grocery store cashier in an area with high food stamp usage. The needy are getting plenty of protein without eating horses.0 -
Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
i like this. i'd also like to see GI ranges on food labels.0 -
let the needy have some protein
You think the needy aren't getting meat? Go work as a grocery store cashier in an area with high food stamp usage. The needy are getting plenty of protein without eating horses.
not to mention cigarettes, beer, lotto tickets, illegal drugs and anything else you can buy with cash from your EBT card that works in any ATM0 -
Invest funds to creating Star Trek inspired food replicators. World hunger problem solved.
If you're going to dream, dream big.
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They still had the paper when I worked there. It was in NY, so they'd buy a lot of soda. There's a 5 cent deposit on the cans and bottles that they didn't have to pay when they used food stamps, but they could bring the bottles back and redeem them for the deposit they didn't pay. People would redeem hundreds of dollars worth to get the cash.let the needy have some protein
You think the needy aren't getting meat? Go work as a grocery store cashier in an area with high food stamp usage. The needy are getting plenty of protein without eating horses.
not to mention cigarettes, beer, lotto tickets, illegal drugs and anything else you can buy with cash from your EBT card that works in any ATM0 -
More honest labeling with ingredients. The only objectiion to the "it's just personal responsiblity" arguments I have is that not everyone has the resources to be knowledgeable about health, afford better brands, or resources to engage in being "more informed." I'm talking about the working class who have to buy TV dinners or other cheap foods to get by. They have no choice in what they buy as food because the only food they can buy are the cheap brands. Yet those brands contain terrrible ingredients, bad nutrition, etc. Sure, it's food, but we end up with a society where the poor are malnurished, and the middle class or wealthy have access and resources to healthier and more sustainable sources of food. If that sits well with you, then ok. But to me, I feel like there needs to be a little bit more regulation regarding ingredients other than just the labeling--perhaps banning certain chemicals, additives, perservatives, and GMO's we don't know are completely safe. (Keep in mind, just because they haven't been confirmed to NOT be safe, some also haven't been confirmed TO BE safe).
But I don't know, this could bring about unintended consequences as well. It's an interesting discussion.
"Brands" have nothing to do with nutrition. And as a member of the class of working poor, I find it hilarious to make the claim that Americans can not access nutrition information. That is laughable. it's also silly to claim that poor people "have to buy TV dinners." TV dinners are actually too expensive if you have a food budget of $80/week for a family of four, like I do.
I appreciate your kind empathy, but it's simply not true.
Ok, I apologize. I am not a member of the working class, so I can't claim to understand that reality. And yes, "brands" and types of products have a lot to do with nutrition. Amy's company, for example, has whole organic food ingredients, prodivding you with more adequate nutrition. Other companies with similar products are cheaper, but they contain chemicals and other non-foods that haven't been proven to be safe (nor unsafe, like I said before). What I'm saying that we should go beyond honest labeling.
As far as TV dinners, I accept that was a completely incorrect and probably ignorant statement. Again, I don't know that reality, so I can't claim to know. But I do know that buying whole foods it's typically more expensive than buying processed foods. I know many who would love to buy organic whole foods, but it is not within there means. Sometimes it isn't even in mine, depending on the month. So I suppose I was making a generalized blanketed uneducated statement, and for that I apologize.
When I mentioned resources, I didn't mean the access to nutrition information, I meant the access to information/research regarding ingredients and nutriton label reading. Sometimes it requires interenet usage, which many actually do not have. Everyone thinks that "Oh, America, we all have the SAME opportunities and the SAME access to information..." No...those of us with internet access, despite our backgrounds, are actually more privileged than those who don't.
Again I'm not trying to pretend like I understand your situation. I'm also not trying to be any type of "savior." I just think banning certain things that have not been proven to be safe or healthy for the body is probable, and that "personal responsibility" doesn't apply to everyone.
I could be wrong, though, as I said. I could be completely off.
Food is food. When I go to the store, I buy food. I buy meat from "the meat department," and I put produce in the bag, weigh it, then put it in my cart. Virtually *nothing* I buy has any brand name on it. I typically purchase "one ingredient" foods, as in, stuff that is not advertised on TV. That is the main reason that it is cheaper than TV dinners or other foods that are associated by branding. Branding carries a marketing expense that is included in cost of of goods sold, ergo, in the price.
The internet is actually *free* for someone who is not determined to access it at high speeds of data transfer, and it's everywhere at broadband speed for anyone who lives in an urban area.
As far as bans, I only believe in a ban on banning things. No one has the right to tell me what I can or can't it put in my own body. My body. My choice.0 -
The reason it's only required for chain restaurants is because it's expensive to have the testing done to determine the calorie count, and that could seriously shut down smaller mom and pop restaurants.Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
Yup, accurate ones too.
So much this. Regardless of chain or not. They know what they're putting in it shouldn't be that hard. And let's be honest, if they had to start reporting calorie counts and sodium content a lot of places would stop the abuse of butter and salt in their recipes.
Couldn't they just add up the values of the ingredients?
Someone has to test it and make sure they're not lying. Plus, they have to follow standards and you, as a consumer, have to be sure that if something says it's 600 calories, it is not 1500. It could be a health hazard if you rely on that. For instance, just to be silly about it, let's say on your menu, one of your dishes says "does not contain nuts", but you cook the meal in a pan the just cooked a meal with nuts, and because you have a severe allergy to nuts, you die.
So, these agencies, or whatever, have to inspect the standards and make sure you follow your recipes and that a 500 calorie meal us in fact, a 500 calories meal, or thereabouts, and that the contents and ingredients are accurate.
On the surface, it seems simple, but it's the monitoring and ensuring that makes it hard and expensive.
And, then, what do you do if someone is out of compliance? Fine them? Close them down? I mean, what's the crime?
See, it's complicated. Remember, people with allergies and diseases might depend on the labeling for more than just calories. It's gets difficult to navigate.
And considering how food prices are going up, not down, all this regulation would just make food more expensive. Lose/lose proposition.
But if we're dreaming, I'd say cut the level of sodium in processed foods and restaurant dishes, and get started on those food replicators. Come on, it's the 21st century.0 -
The internet is actually *free* for someone who is not determined to access it at high speeds of data transfer, and it's everywhere at broadband speed for anyone who lives in an urban area.
Not to quibble, but you're overlooking that someone needs a device in order to access the internet, and lots of the working poor do not have those devices. As budget cuts have deepened in communities, lots of libraries that provided free access and a device to do so are closed or have drastically limited hours. It's quite a problem for lots of working class folks looking for work, or looking for more/better work.0 -
The reason it's only required for chain restaurants is because it's expensive to have the testing done to determine the calorie count, and that could seriously shut down smaller mom and pop restaurants.Require all restaurants to post nutritional information on their menus.
Yup, accurate ones too.
So much this. Regardless of chain or not. They know what they're putting in it shouldn't be that hard. And let's be honest, if they had to start reporting calorie counts and sodium content a lot of places would stop the abuse of butter and salt in their recipes.
Couldn't they just add up the values of the ingredients?
Sort of, but... Many times at the mom & pop restaurants, they work with a base recipe and adjust as needed - especially when it comes to specials. Make some, taste, realize it needs something - more salt, let's say - add some salt. Re-taste and find that it needs something else - more cream/milk/butter, let's say - now the nutritional values are incorrect. Not to mention if/when you run out of the ingredients your supplier brings (which is what your values are based upon) and you have to get something from the local store - and they don't have exactly what your recipe calls for, so you have to make adjustments to make it work. It happens quite a bit.0 -
My sister is a fantastic restaurant manager and actually when she went to work at a different restaurant many of the employees also requested to go that restaurant or quit all together.
They don't cook most of the food. Its re-heated crap. This is why we rarely eat out any more.
There are plenty of people that work in the restaurant industry that corroborates what she is the rest of us family members also.
A good manager of people (or a manager that lets the employees get away with whatever they want) is not the same as a good business manager. Meaning: just because some of the employees wanted to work for her, doesn't mean she has any business managing a restaurant - especially if she's using canned/frozen goods, vice fresh.
You do realize, that as manager, she is the one that should be making those decisions, right? The chef tells her what (s)he needs for ingredients, and the manager procures the items. If she's just managing chain restaurants, it's different, as corporate decides those things. But, then again, I'm pretty sure most people know that chain restaurants don't (always) use fresh foods.0 -
Invest funds to creating Star Trek inspired food replicators. World hunger problem solved.
If you're going to dream, dream big.
Ha! Totally this.0 -
Yes.That's silly and Russia just rounded up stray dogs in sochi and killed them, should we do that as well?0 -
I think her sister works for chain/franchise restaurants. The cooks and managers don't have that discretion because the food has to be uniform in every location. That's why they use frozen, pre-measured, pre-seasoned foods in those places.My sister is a fantastic restaurant manager and actually when she went to work at a different restaurant many of the employees also requested to go that restaurant or quit all together.
They don't cook most of the food. Its re-heated crap. This is why we rarely eat out any more.
There are plenty of people that work in the restaurant industry that corroborates what she is the rest of us family members also.
A good manager of people (or a manager that lets the employees get away with whatever they want) is not the same as a good business manager. Meaning: just because some of the employees wanted to work for her, doesn't mean she has any business managing a restaurant - especially if she's using canned/frozen goods, vice fresh.
You do realize, that as manager, she is the one that should be making those decisions, right? The chef tells her what (s)he needs for ingredients, and the manager procures the items. If she's just managing chain restaurants, it's different, as corporate decides those things. But, then again, I'm pretty sure most people know that chain restaurants don't (always) use fresh foods.
I have worked in local restaurants and I promise those places do not use frozen and canned foods the way she's describing. They cook from scratch.0 -
most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I would never have known this if you hadn't told me.
Next you're going to tell me Olive Garden doesn't make its desserts fresh on-site or that some restaurants buy their desserts from bakeries instead of making them in their own kitchens.
The horror!
If I am paying money to someone else to cook the dinner I am going to eat, I want it cooked. Not re-heated stuff from a freezer to the microwave or deep fryer to my plate.
If I wanted to eat like that I wouldn't go to a restaurant, but would go the grocery store and buy that crap and microwave or throw it in the oven myself.
I want food that was prepared from start to finish in the kitchen. Not pre-made in a factory some where and then shipped to a warehouse until the restaurant decides to place an order for that crap.
then go to a restaurant where entrees cost more than $6.99.
I do. I don't eat chain restaurants at all. We frequent only LOCAL restaurants for casual or upscale dining. However, there are many people in this country that aren't aware that the MAJORITY (I have never said all) of the restaurants serve them food that is no where near being cooked. It's merely reheated.
That is safe to say because the MAJORITY of all restaurants in this country are all chain restaurants of some sort.0 -
Less nannystatism, more personal responsibility
Could you give specifics?
See the former mayor Bloomberg's food policies, the current talk of banning trans fats, mandatory labeling of calorie counts at places with 20+ locations etc etc0 -
I actually just mentioned this on Twitter, I would love it if ALL bottled drinks were required to print the amount of ounces for like, 1/4 of a bottle, 1/2 a bottle, etc on the side so that people could properly distinguish 1 serving. Most bottles are 2 or 2.5 servings, so knowing when to stop drinking it would be nice!0
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most of that food is NOT fresh cooked, but rather warmed up from its frozen state. She has said about the only things that are actually cooked are steaks, burgers and some chicken. Its not cooked from scratch in the kitchens of those restaurants.
I would never have known this if you hadn't told me.
Next you're going to tell me Olive Garden doesn't make its desserts fresh on-site or that some restaurants buy their desserts from bakeries instead of making them in their own kitchens.
The horror!
If I am paying money to someone else to cook the dinner I am going to eat, I want it cooked. Not re-heated stuff from a freezer to the microwave or deep fryer to my plate.
If I wanted to eat like that I wouldn't go to a restaurant, but would go the grocery store and buy that crap and microwave or throw it in the oven myself.
I want food that was prepared from start to finish in the kitchen. Not pre-made in a factory some where and then shipped to a warehouse until the restaurant decides to place an order for that crap.
then go to a restaurant where entrees cost more than $6.99.
I do. I don't eat chain restaurants at all. We frequent only LOCAL restaurants for casual or upscale dining. However, there are many people in this country that aren't aware that the MAJORITY (I have never said all) of the restaurants serve them food that is no where near being cooked. It's merely reheated.
That is safe to say because the MAJORITY of all restaurants in this country are all chain restaurants of some sort.
You seriously think the vast majority of the population thinks that there's a culinary chef in the back of their Chili's hand rolling their southwestern eggrolls?0 -
You can go to any library and use the internet for free on their computers. You only need to get a library card, which is like 50 cents, so anyone can afford that. If you go to the library, you'll see all the homeless people hoarding the computers. So, yes, the internet is free for us all to use if we are near a library.0
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I actually just mentioned this on Twitter, I would love it if ALL bottled drinks were required to print the amount of ounces for like, 1/4 of a bottle, 1/2 a bottle, etc on the side so that people could properly distinguish 1 serving. Most bottles are 2 or 2.5 servings, so knowing when to stop drinking it would be nice!
Even the much maligned American knack for mathematics still seems capable of some basic fractions....0 -
You can go to any library and use the internet for free on their computers. You only need to get a library card, which is like 50 cents, so anyone can afford that. If you go to the library, you'll see all the homeless people hoarding the computers. So, yes, the internet is free for us all to use if we are near a library.
Good point. But you don't even have to go to the library. Dial-up is still free. It's been free for nearly 20 years.
We used to use NetZero, but there are other ISPs as well:
http://www.netzero.net/start/landing.do?page=www/free/index0 -
You can go to any library and use the internet for free on their computers. You only need to get a library card, which is like 50 cents, so anyone can afford that. If you go to the library, you'll see all the homeless people hoarding the computers. So, yes, the internet is free for us all to use if we are near a library.
Good point. But you don't even have to go to the library. Dial-up is still free. It's been free for nearly 20 years.
We used to use NetZero, but there are other ISPs as well:
http://www.netzero.net/start/landing.do?page=www/free/index
You still need the phone line. Oddly, there are places where there is no landline phone service offered in new developments. If they've run the fiber optic cables, they actually will not put in traditional phone lines. Among the many problems this has in addition to leaving people without phone service in severe weather, is that it costs quite a bit just for phone service.0 -
I actually just mentioned this on Twitter, I would love it if ALL bottled drinks were required to print the amount of ounces for like, 1/4 of a bottle, 1/2 a bottle, etc on the side so that people could properly distinguish 1 serving. Most bottles are 2 or 2.5 servings, so knowing when to stop drinking it would be nice!
You need someone to tell you how much water to drink?0 -
I actually just mentioned this on Twitter, I would love it if ALL bottled drinks were required to print the amount of ounces for like, 1/4 of a bottle, 1/2 a bottle, etc on the side so that people could properly distinguish 1 serving. Most bottles are 2 or 2.5 servings, so knowing when to stop drinking it would be nice!
Well that seems pretty easy to me... If a bottle is 2 (16 oz) servings and you only want to drink 1(8 oz) then just drink half and that would be 8 oz... Yay Math!!0 -
You can go to any library and use the internet for free on their computers. You only need to get a library card, which is like 50 cents, so anyone can afford that. If you go to the library, you'll see all the homeless people hoarding the computers. So, yes, the internet is free for us all to use if we are near a library.
Good point. But you don't even have to go to the library. Dial-up is still free. It's been free for nearly 20 years.
We used to use NetZero, but there are other ISPs as well:
http://www.netzero.net/start/landing.do?page=www/free/index
You still need the phone line. Oddly, there are places where there is no landline phone service offered in new developments. If they've run the fiber optic cables, they actually will not put in traditional phone lines. Among the many problems this has in addition to leaving people without phone service in severe weather, is that it costs quite a bit just for phone service.
The only people who do not have landlines are people who have mobile services instead. Poor people do not live in "new" homes. We can't afford that luxury. We live in ghettos, in old drafty houses, in subsidized apartments, Section 8/HUD, etc. Phone service is $9.95 a year through Walmart.0 -
I would be totally happy with a truth in labeling mandate. I will make my choices and take responsibility for them....but please give me honest info to work with, eh?0
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They still had the paper when I worked there. It was in NY, so they'd buy a lot of soda. There's a 5 cent deposit on the cans and bottles that they didn't have to pay when they used food stamps, but they could bring the bottles back and redeem them for the deposit they didn't pay. People would redeem hundreds of dollars worth to get the cash.let the needy have some protein
You think the needy aren't getting meat? Go work as a grocery store cashier in an area with high food stamp usage. The needy are getting plenty of protein without eating horses.
not to mention cigarettes, beer, lotto tickets, illegal drugs and anything else you can buy with cash from your EBT card that works in any ATM
thats cool.
i don't necessairly knock the EBT cards either (theres about a million forms of welfare in NYS, if you are on public assistance, you are entitled to cash from an EBT card), its just frustrating when they go to things that probably arent doing the beneficiary any good.0
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