Cornutopia

After my article about the study of whole foods and processed foods, many people mentioned the difference in cost between the two, pointing out that lower-income families have to depend on processed foods because they are so much cheaper than whole foods. While I think this is an abhorrent practice in the US, I had to wonder how I would reconcile this distaste with my predominantly Libertarian beliefs—isn’t this just the free market economy working its magic? Isn’t it the same as lower-income families having to buy WalMart brand shoes instead of Nikes?

Only, as it turns out, if the federal government paid WalMart the difference between the cost of their shoes and the cost of Nike’s. You see, the lavish corn subsidies the government doles out (to the tune of $41.8 BILLION between 1995 and 2004) is what is mainly responsible for the fact that a McDonald’s extra value meal is cheaper than a box of lettuce. But what, you ask, does corn have to do with your Big Mac, 64 oz Coke and large fry?

It is first important to know that the huge corn subsidies encourage overproduction. A bushel of corn—about 56 pounds—costs $2. The same bushel costs a farmer over $3 to produce. Now, anyone with any kind of business sense—or any kind of sense at all—knows this is not going to end well for the farmer. So does the federal government; but instead of encouraging farmers to produce less to increase the price so they can make a profit (a little idea we like to call “supply and demand”), the feds pay out subsidies, ensuring farmers make up the difference not only to break even, but to turn a profit. Afterall, why continue doing something if you were going to perpetually break even? Now farmers are guaranteed to make a profit on whatever they produce—so why not produce as much as they possibly can?

This leads to an overabundance of cheap corn—so what do we do with it? First, about 50 percent goes to feeding animals that will eventually by processed into the burger or chicken nuggets in your extra value meal—whether it’s good for the animal or not. Much like humans, cows get fatter faster when fed a corn-based diet, giving Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) operators more cost-efficiency and a higher profit margin with a greater and faster turn-around for less. Unfortunately, the “grain fed” mystique applied to cows is just that—smoke and mirrors. Their meat is higher in saturated fat than that of a pastured cow, and the cow is pumped with antibiotics to combat the diseases brought on by feeding them corn (one of which is e. Coli)[1]. The meat going into your burger has now become infinitely cheaper—and infinitely more dangerous.

Another five percent of corn is turned into the mother of all sweeteners—High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Coupled with the USDA’s sugar tariffs, HFCS is ridiculously cheaper than cane sugar, which allows soft drink companies (and the plethora of other companies that use HFCS to sweeten their foods) to slash costs. But instead of just lowering the prices of their items, they’ve done what any true American would do: they’ve kept the prices the same, but increased portion size. Which is why you can now get six liters of Coke for the same price as a single jug of all natural apple juice.

The cheapness and abundance of corn and its by-products has not only skewed the cost of processed foods vs. whole foods, it’s also kicked off a virtual dietary holocaust. Between 1975 and 1997, per capital consumption of HFCS jumped from almost nothing to 60.4 pounds per year, which equals about 200 extra calories per person per day. In the past 25 years, thanks to the cheapening of processed food, caloric intake has risen a total of 300 calories per person, per day. The obesity rate went from 15% in 1960 to 31% in 1980, and since 1980 has increased an additional 42%—which means two thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese; that’s 66 percent! In almost the same amount of time, from 1980 to 2004, the percentage of disposable income Americans spent on food fell from 15.4% to 10.8%.

All in all, we’re spending less money on food (less, even, than any other industrialized nation) and getting fatter because of it. Fatter and unhealthier. From 1997-2004, the rate of type II diabetes climbed 41 percent.

Before I get too off-track and begin to rant on the veritable environmental disaster that is corn[2], I will try to wrap things up with my original point: the government needs to stop subsidizing the over-production of corn. This would make soft drinks, candy, overly processed beef, chicken, and a host of other things reflect their true market value. We would see, then, that these foods aren’t really cheaper than whole foods—the government has just forced them to be that way.

Note: A great deal of the information presented herein has been gleaned from three main sources. One is Michael Pollan, specifically in his article “When a Crop Becomes King.” Another is Kate Hopkins’ article “Tariffs and Subsidies – The Literal Cost of High Fructose Corn Syrup,” and finally, Tom Philpott’s “How the feds make bad-for-you food cheaper than healthful fare.”

[1] Cows have rumens, which have a neutral pH and allow them to digest grass. Any diseases in the cows stomach will not be able to survive in our acidy stomachs. The corn causes the acid level in the rumen to rise, causing painful acidosis for the cows, but also allowing the germs inside to develop a resistance to the acid in our stomachs.

2 Quickly: corn requires more nitrogen fertilizer and pesticide than any other crop, the runoff of which flows from the Midwest to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it has created a 12,000 square mile “dead zone” that fish cannot survive in.

Elimination of Process

Everyone knows that processed foods are bad. They‘re full of sodium, preservatives and endless lists of chemical additives—not to mention the socio-economic woes they bring to the US and any other country that processes foods[1]. But are they really and truly less healthy than whole foods, or does it just come down to personal preference?

A recent scientific study by Sadie Barr and Jonathan Wright of the Department of Biology at Pomona College in California suggests there is a scientific reason to prefer whole foods over processed foods. They studied a sample size of 15 people, for one meal giving them sandwiches of multi-grain bread and cheddar cheese, and another meal consisting of white bread and processed cheese product[2]. The study measured three processes associated with eating and expending energy:

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) – the energy cost associated with keeping the body at rest.

Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) – the energy expenditure resulting from daily physical activities.

Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT) – the body’s increase in metabolism following the ingestion of food. In other words, the energy expended after eating: food breakdown, enzyme synthesis, peristalsis, etc. The study says this is responsible for about 10% of our total energy expenditure every day.

I’m not going to bother with their methods and how they measured and what kind of sample sizes they used—that can all be read in the study itself if one would be so inclined. What I will point out is “each meal derived the same proportion of energy from both the bread and cheese (60% bread, 40% cheese). WF meal composition was 40% carbohydrate, 39% fat, and 20% protein; PF meal composition was 50% carbohydrate, 33% fat, and 15% protein. The WF meal has approximately three times the amount of dietary fiber than the PF meal.”

The higher protein (which is the hardest macronutrient for your body to break down and process) as well as the presence of so much more fiber (which decreases the efficiency of food assimilation during digestion) in whole foods should immediately give you a hint at the results. The entire whole foods meal turned out to be much less efficiently digested, which is a good thing. You stay fuller longer, your body expends more energy while you do nothing. The two sandwiches were the same amount of calories; the makeup of one made the body burn more calories and take more time to digest it.

The result of eating more processed foods, therefore, is that the body expends less of the energy it takes in, leaving you with extra calories. It digests faster, making you hungry again sooner. The downward spiral of eating mainly processed foods should begin to emerge here: the more processed foods you eat, the more you’ll need to feel satiated.

The energy expended digesting. Whole foods are represented by squares, processed foods by triangles.

Another alarming statistic from the processed foods dealt with the BMR. Remember, this is just the energy burned to keep the body at rest—to allow you to sit on the couch after a meal and watch TV. The participants were studied for six hours after eating the sandwich, measuring their DIT every hour. The energy expended to digest the whole meal did not reach the resting energy rate for the body, even after six hours. That means, after six hours of sitting around after eating, the people who ate the whole meal were burning extra energy the entire time. For the processed meal, however, the energy expended hit the resting rate at the fifth hour and actually dropped below the resting energy rate in the sixth hour! That means that, after eating the processed food, they actually started using less energy than was required to keep their body at a resting rate.

The moral of the study is whole foods help you stay fuller and burn more energy—even in a state of rest—than processed foods. Which is alarming, as Americans are eating more and more processed foods all the time, be they pre-packaged microwavable meals at the grocery store or whatever is picked up at the drive-thru. This is a good example of why two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.

The solution is easy. It’s beyond easy, actually: stop eating processed foods. Or, if that’s too much of a leap for you, eat as much less as you can. Seventy-five percent of your grocery shopping should be done on the perimeter of the store: the fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy. Whole foods. Natural foods. I am living proof that a massive plate of vegetables (most deliciously in stir-fry form) is much more filling than a McDonald’s extra value meal. Whenever we would eat processed foods, I would always have room for potato chips as a snack—more processed food. When we eat more whole foods, though, I never seem to have room later in the night for much of a snack. And not only does it keep you fuller longer, you get to eat more because it’s so much better for you. I could eat a Double Quarter Pounder at McDonald’s and be fine, or I could eat a pound of asparagus and still come out on top. This is important for someone like me, where quantity is such a driving factor in the way I feed myself.

And I know it’s easy for people to say what should be done, but trust me: I am living proof. Since I’ve switched my diet to predominantly whole foods, I have lost weight, I have more energy, and I just all-around feel better about myself. That’s not to say I don’t occasionally crave the #2 at Wendy’s (because I do. A lot). I just make sure to limit my intake. Before I moved in with Girlfriend, I ate Wendy’s probably 2-3 times a week. Now, I eat there maybe once a quarter. And I am 100% better for it.

The entire study, “Postprandial energy expenditure in whole-food and processed-food meals: implications for daily energy expenditure” (“Postprandial” means after eating), can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897733/, which has the full text version, an abstract, and a PDF version.

[1] For more on said woes, read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food and Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.

[2] Meal One: Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Multi-Grain and Sargento Natural Medium Cheddar. Meal Two: Weber’s Enriched Bread and Kraft Singles American pasteurized prepared cheese product.

Stumbling Away From South Beach

On Saturday, July 10, Girlfriend and I accompanied our best beer buddies Mel and Ray to Nodding Head Brewery’s Royal Stumble, and original and oh-so-fun four-hour-long beer festival accompanied by a small but potent BBQ buffet.

The idea behind the Stumble (this year’s being the 11th annual) is an ever-expanding cadre of local breweries each bring a keg and a few representatives to Nodding Head. The first brewery to kick their keg gets a trophy and bragging rights for the next year.  That each brewery is trying their damnedest to get rid of their beer only benefits those lucky enough to attend, assuring everyone they will never have an empty glass.

And, to be sure, your glass is full from the time you walk up the flight of stairs to get into the bar; people with pitchers lean over the railing to try to be the first to pour you a beer.  From then on, there is a constant stream of pitchers being walked around the room in addition to the kegs set up at each of the booths along the wall of the brewery.

This year offered an excellent selection of local breweries, as well as a few not-so-local but just as excellent.  Each brewery, of course, offered one beer:

Dock St.: Saison Du Potts
Dogfish Head: Festina Peche
Earth Bread + Brewery: Glutinus Minimus
Flying Fish: Farmhouse Ale
General Lafayette: Barren Hill Best Bitter
Nodding Head: Grog
Ommegang: Rare Vos
Philadelphia Brewing Co: Pennsylvania Pale Ale
Sly Fox: Helles
Stewart’s: Coffee Stout
Stoudt’s: Heifer in Wheat
Triumph: Saison
Troegs: Sunshine Pils
Twin Lakes: Greenville Pale Ale
Victory: Helios
Yards: Philly Pale Ale

It was nice to see a nice selection of saisons—which are fast becoming one of my favorite styles—and a dark beer thrown in for good measure.  The three bolded above easily stood out amongst the rest and were some of the few I voluntarily went back for seconds (or thirds[1]).  I didn’t go back, however, to General Lafayette, despite having a soft spot in my heart for them[2].  Whoever was manning the keg looked like he couldn’t have been more bored.  Not a good look for a restaurant and brewery that has recently claimed financial woes and—one would think—would want to try to entice more customers with some excitement about their beer.

And thank god Stewart’s was good and the people were nice, because Girlfriend and I ended up going back to them more than anyone.  Not because Girlfriend liked the beer—she didn’t particularly care for it at first—but because every time you took one of their pours, you got a sticker.  At the end of the festival, the person with the most stickers won a 5-pound bag of the artisanal coffee used to brew the stout.  Not being much of a beer fan, and having nothing better to do at a beer festival, Girlfriend made it her one and only goal for the remaining three or so hours to win that coffee.  She talked almost everyone in the bar into giving her a stick—some as many as five or six.  Her quest endeared her to Suzanne Woods, Ric Hoffman, and a plethora of men helping her achieve her goal.  Which she did, blowing away any feasible competition with a whopping 146 stickers.  I think second place had 12.

Not even counting the bonus of not having to buy coffee for the next eight years, the Royal Stumble was extremely fun.  It didn’t have the air of a higher class clientele that SAVOR did, but it also didn’t have the level of let’s-get-wasted-for-cheap douchebaggery that I found at the Winterfest we attended in February[3].  The Stumble was nestled perfectly in the middle and offered a great time to everyone involved, even a Girlfriend who doesn’t like beer.  And if that’s not a clear indication of its greatness (or its 11 years and running), I don’t know what is.

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[1] Or fourths.

[2] When Girlfriend and I moved to Philadelphia in 2007, General Lafayette was where she took me to celebrate me getting my first job in the city.

[3] The fact that tickets are only available at the bar or by phone definitely helps.

Weigh-In #6

This week brought further proof that when you continue to eat intelligently and treat your body well, you can have still indulge here and there and lose weight.  I had my weekly weigh-in this morning and came in at 218.4 lbs, which makes me happy for a few reasons.

The first and most obvious reason is I am continuing to lose weight. I am a very immediate results-driven person, which is why I give up on things so easily.  I can’t play like Jimmy Page after an hour of guitar practice? I give up.  I don’t have abs like Christian Bale after a week in the gym? I’m wasting my time. And while I may not be getting the results I feel I deserve (I should automatically lose a pound every time I pass up French fries), the results are there and they are tangible.  I am even sensing my clothes are becoming slightly baggier; whether this is reality or imagination, I don’t care.

The second reason is a few indulgences I had this week.  On Friday, there was a fund-raiser/pot-luck at work, and let’s just say no one seems as concerned as I am about what they eat.  That’s not to say the food was bad—just bad for you.  I allowed myself a sausage and peppers (sans bun), some coleslaw my co-worker said I absolutely had to try (it was basically coleslaw salad mix and mayo and not very good), potato salad[1], and homemade meatballs in homemade pasta sauce (the highlight).

I held back more than I normally would in this kind of food free-for-all (my usual consumption can be seen in my post about the Phillies game in June) because I knew Saturday would be a bit of a blowout at Nodding Head Brewery’s Royal Stumble (more on this later)—a four-hour beer festival and BBQ buffet.  There was no way I could pass up pulled pork, macaroni salad and potato fritters with a delicious spicy sauce.  It would’ve been stupid to, anyway—I’d rather eat a few extra calories than drink for four hours on an empty stomach.[2]

When it all was said and done, my restraint at work during the normal week (especially with the return of my boss’s candy basket) and Girlfriend’s wonderful home cooking—and don’t forget a trip to the gym here and there—allowed me to partake a little extra over the weekend and still not only come out on top weight-wise, but to still feel good about myself.

And this, as far as I’m concerned, is the best way to do it.   Allow yourself small indulgences every once in a while—just not too much or too often. If you don’t, your cravings continually build and build until you can no longer contain them.  Before you know it, you’re sitting at McDonald’s with six orders of large fries and three milkshakes.  Trust me.

TIP: While this may seem obvious[3], whenever you can, make your indulgences healthy—or at least healthier than the original.  Every few months, I start to build up an intense craving for Chinese food. It gets to the point where whenever Girlfriend mentions food, all I think of is sweet, sweet General Tso. So to keep this—and the obscene amount of sodium—at bay, whenever we eat at the local Whole Foods prepared food bar, I try to get something Chinese.  Be it the Szechuan tofu or whatever else they have on offer, it will not only be better for me, but I can get a serving without ordering a 2-pound tub of it and getting 30 ounces of rice on the side.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a healthy alternative to Cool Ranch Doritos.

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[1] There are only so many times you can put potato salad in front of me and expect me to resist.  This was not one of those times.

[2] And that, my friends, is how you justify overeating: it’s just the smart thing to do!

[3] Although a lot of things seem obvious when it comes to eating right, but turn out to be quite the opposite.  Like, whole grain Pringles are NOT healthy.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Altering your eating habits really makes you think about food. A lot. Specifically, it makes you think about all the delicious food you used to stuff yourself with that you need to cut back on, or cut out entirely. So, taking a cue from the Food Network, I’ve decided to take a moment to reflect on some of the best things I’ve ever eaten; or, as I like to think of them, The Things I’ll Probably Never Eat Again. I’ve used the same categories as the show, though I haven’t used all of them. Some of them, like The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Chocolate, would be useless to me (because I don’t like chocolate). I’ve tried to give as much information as possible so that you, too, can try these delectable items.

TOTALLY FRIED

Oreo Beignet – Valanni – Philadelphia, PA

When Girlfriend first suggested we try to Oreo Beignets she had heard about at Valanni, my first thought was, “What the hell’s a beignet?” My second thought was, “I don’t like Oreos.” When she explained to me what a beignet was, though, my third thought was, “Deep fried? I’m in.” And boy, was I ever. This is so much better than your usual deep-fried Oreo (which I’ve also had, of course). The batter is lighter, it is filled with a creamy goo that oozes out after you break into it, and the Oreos are soft and warm. It’s like a deep-fried Oreo taken past the next level and to the level after that. We don’t repeat restaurants often (there are just so many we want to try), and when we do it is even more rare that we repeat courses. The beignets, however, have not only brought us back to Valanni but back to the same course. And I’m sure they will, in time, bring us back once again.

WITH BACON

Pork Crispy Treat – Kraftwerk – Philadelphia, PA

Pork Crispy Treat

Before we begin, let’s admit it: anything “with bacon” is excellent. If you asked me to eat poison ivy, I would think you were nuts. If you offered it to me wrapped in bacon, though, I would probably take the risk of the itchy mouth. Now, everybody’s had the usual stuff with bacon—eggs, mushrooms, scallops, filet, etc. etc. Bacon goes with EVERYTHING. I’ve had chocolate covered bacon. But nothing was quite so interesting or delightful as the Pork Crispy Treat at Kraftwerk. It takes the idea of a rice crispy treat, but replaces the rice crispies with crumbled up pork rinds; the top is sprinkled with bacon and drizzled with chocolate. It’s chewy, it’s crunchy, it’s salty, it’s sweet; it’s everything you could possibly want in an entire meal, let alone a dessert. And it’s got bacon in it, which makes it that much better.

OBSESSIONS

Romanburger – Mr. Hero – Multiple Ohio locations
Donair Sauce – Sonny’s Pizza – Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Of all the things I could be obsessed with—all the great food in Philadelphia, or New York, or anywhere else, I choose a fast food artery clogger and a glorified garlic sauce. But my god, are they good. These are two things I have to get whenever I am in the location—the Romanburger whenever I go home to Cleveland, donair sauce whenever Girlfriend goes home to Nova Scotia.

The Romanburger is a greasy, grayish meat patty with onions, salami, lettuce, tomato, sauce, and about 125 grams of fat and 1,800 calories. That’s on the 14-inch version—the only version I’ll get. Go big or go home, right? The Romanburger (which Michael Symon has listed as a guilty pleasure) is a once-in-a-great-while indulgence that will make your heart slow and your stomach groan, but it is worth every greasy, sketchy, absolutely delicious bite. Be sure to get your combo with cheese sauce for the waffle fries, too. It really can’t hurt that much.

Donair sauce is something I discovered when Girlfriend took me to her home pizza shop, Sonny’s Pizza, for a slice the first time we visited. Since then, I’ve gone to Sonny’s Pizza every time we’ve been back. One slice, with donair sauce, is about $2.50 Canadian; aside from being a great deal, it’s fantastic. Donair sauce, which seems to be limited to the Maritimes, is a sugary garlic sauce that comes as a cloudy white gel. As many people know, I am a royal disciple of Ranch dressing, but donair sauce is even greater than Ranch when it comes to dipping pizza crust—or the entire pizza. The garlic marries perfectly with the classic pizza toppings and sauce, and the sugary sweetness of the donair sauce gives the pizza an extra dimension. When we go back in August, my one goal remains: go back to Sonny’s at some point and get a slice.

WAKE UP CALL

Moco Loco – Kihei Café – Kihei, Maui, HI
The Kitchen Sink – Green Egg Café – Philadelphia, PA

The Moco Loco. My excitement is evident.

Breakfast might just be my favorite meal to eat out, which makes paring the selections down to two—let alone one—extremely difficult. I am a loyal disciple of eggs benedict, any kind of breakfast potato, and anything with the word “hash,” yet none of these things made the list on their own, which means you know these two have to be good.

When Girlfriend and I started planning our trip to Hawaii for our friend’s wedding, the first thing that jumped out at me was the Moco Loco, and apparently the Kihei Café was the best place to get one. Naturally, we stopped by for breakfast one day and, naturally, it turned out to be oh so true. The Moco Loco is a pile of fried rice—about two cups worth—topped with a hamburger patty, topped with a fried egg, and smothered in gravy. I placed my order, and the guy at the counter (who was extremely friendly) asked if I wanted to add bacon to the rice. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so happy in my life. “Of course!” I said. “That’s what we call the Big Daddy,” he told me. I could see why. When I had finished—and when my heart stopped palpitating—I knew the trip to Hawaii had been worth every penny.  [As an afterward, I just found out this has been named the fattiest food in Hawaii by health.com.]

The formidable Kitchen Sink

But then I got back to the mainland, and then Green Egg Café opened in South Philly. As I went down the menu on our first trip there, the Kitchen Sink shone out at me with a light that seemed from heaven. Not only was it named perfectly for someone like me, but the description was also perfect: Green Egg’s signature breakfast potato with peppers and other veg, their sausage gravy, your choice of meat, and two eggs cooked your way. All with a biscuit on top. It truly was the kitchen sink. And it was delicious. I got fried eggs, of course, to take advantage of the yolk, and chorizo sausage to get some delicious grease to mix in with the gravy. It was amazing. Unfortunately, they seem to have made up your mind for you recently and picked your meat and only give you scrambled eggs, but the first go-round was amazing. And amazingly filling, which I find to be very important in my food.

More Best Thing Ever to come, dear readers. But first, next up will be my recap of the Royal Stumble, a local beer fest that South Beach will have absolutely nothing to do with.