Monday, August 17, 2009

Healthy? What gives you the right to tell *me* what is healthy?

So why is it that people seem to think that their one metric for "healthy" is the only standard by which all other people must live by? For example. If you are an office manager or a purchasing manager, or the global director of food service and you are in charge of stocking the break room, snack shelf, or 300 micro kitchens at your company think about what healthy means for everyone, not just what it means to you.

In this day and age of tailored dieting, what you think of as healthy is subjective. If you tried to eliminate EVERYTHING that was excluded from any one diet, you would have NOTHING left in the cupboards. Some people just look at calories. Some look for "organic." Some have cut out HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup.) Some are Vegan. Well now, you can not make sure everything in the kitchen is edible to everyone, however, you can try to make sure there are a few things for each possible diet. I am not saying you need 600 items to make everyone happy, but you all need to think outside of your own definitions of "healthy."

Don't just eliminate things that have a high sugar content, or a high calorie count. Poll your co-workers, and see what peoples' needs are. Beverage selections need to also be varied. Flavored waters, sparkling waters like San Pellegrino, AND a sodium free carbonated water beverage are examples of this. People will always want Coke, and Pepsi and other mass-market sodas, but you should add additional things like import sodas, not instead of. Even if you think it is better for people in the office to have an organic cola with no HFCS, some people will revolt if you take away their Pepsi. If cost is an issue, be realistic about that and let your employees know that something was removed because they are just too expensive, don't tell them it was because that beef jerky has too much sodium. Everyone is their own arbiter of health. If you want to make a difference, don't take away snacks that you deem to be unhealthy. Educate them by adding signs, or maybe a column in the company newsletter.

Snacks and drinks, when they are provided by the company are there as a perk to improve the work environment for all employees. If employees begin to feel that some outside force is trying to control their eating habits, then how do you think that perk, meant to improve morale is going to effect morale?

In closing, we all have different definitions of "healthy" and we need to respect those choices made by others. Food is a pleasure and a gift. Allow others to enjoy it as they want to.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Julie and Julia

So, I went and saw Julie and Julia tonight.

The food was divine, and the story more-so. I have not read the book, but now I want to. I also want to meet Julie and talk to her. I started blogging recently, (before I knew anything about the Julie and Julia story) and was amazed at the way I identified with the connection to food as an escape. I am a chef professionally, and yet, I still use food as a escape. Figure that one out.

I very much love the way Julia was portrayed. I was lucky enough to meet Julia Child, and she struck me in real life the same way she struck me in the film. The writing, the acting and even the cinematography were awesome. I am not going to go on and on, gushing about this film. Let's just say I loved it.

About the food. I have used Julia's recipe for Beef Bourguignon and loved it; however, I did not find that it needed salt. I think when this movie comes out on DVD I am going to have to get it, and have a dinner party, much like the one at the end of the film. Though because I do not have an amazing film location scouting crew, I will not have the rooftop patio to use.