Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -135 February 2017
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In Chinese astrology 2017
the year of the fire rooster.
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♦ The Chinese Year of the Fire Rooster started Jan 28. According to that calendar, here’s what 2017 can look like. It will be a powerful year with no middle of the road when it comes to moving forward. Impressions count. You’ll want to look your best and be clear on your intentions concerning love, money, and business. Stick to practical well-proven paths to ensure success, rather than risky ventures. “I am alert, ready to take action, the first on the scene, last to leave, I take chances, but I am precise, I know where things belong, I am orderly and fastidious, nothing escapes me, I am always prepared, I never give up or in. I am the Rooster.”
Sounds like a fascinating year!
♦ Local artists’ works are displayed on Joe’s walls. The three artists now showing at Joe’s – Chris Pennington’s colorful equine paintings are displayed in the Red Room. Nancy Nickerson’s new landscapes and charming chickens hang in the main dining room and Mary Olivea’s ever-creative quilts can be viewed along the ramp. As well there are artists’ greeting cards for sale at the red counter.
♦ DiJa know . . . We don’t feel it, we don’t know it’s happening, but bone loss begins around age 30 at a rate of 1-2% per year. Yikes that’s a lot. And men, you are not immune. So if you even suspect you may have some bone loss, please don’t wait for a fracture to confirm it. Ask your doc for a DEXA scan (bone density scan). Find out where you stand. A brilliant non-drug approach impressed me so much that I spent several months testing the technology before deciding to make the investment to bring it to Santa Fe. DancingBones is now up and running right here in Rodeo Plaza. The fact is bone density can be maintained and even recovered. This new technology is effective, drug-free, non-invasive and measurable. Each week the client receives a graphed performance report. And as we know, numbers don’t lie – the results are not subjective. Additionally, muscle strength, joint stability and balance will be improved. All in as little as 20 minutes a week without changing clothes, without sweat and arduous workouts. If you follow my newsletters, you know how passionate I am about passing forward solid effective health information to those who are interested in being the best they can be. Come join us in the DancingBones program. Your first session is free. Pick up a flyer at the desk on your way out. Here’s to “living and moving with ageless vitality!” www.DancingBones.us
♦ Friday Feb 2nd, Groundhog Day, Richard Eeds will broadcast the Morning Show live from Joe’s on Hutton FM 101.5. Richard keeps New Mexicans abreast of the times. And each 1st Friday of the month from 7:30 – 11am, he does it live from Joe’s. During the broadcast get a surprise discount on your breakfast. Just ask!
♦ Joe’s Red Room is always perfect for your parties and meetings, seating 30-36 people comfortably. Call 471-3800 to reserve all or part of it.
♦ DiJa know – There’s good news for a change about our US food supply. For so many years I have railed against genetically modified “food-like substances” displacing REAL food. About the massive numbers of acres of prime farmland usurped and ruined by monoculture and pesticide laden “food” production by giant corporate producers (Conagra, Bayer, Syngenta, Dow, Cargill, Monsanto, Tyson, etc). Giant agribusiness has threatened our sources of good real food and therefore our health. Recently however, I see a glimmer of light on the horizon. (Well yes, it is 6:40 am as I write so the glimmer is an actual sunrise!) But seriously there is good news – all driven by you and me and by the growing numbers of voices raised in demand of good whole real food. Here I paraphrase from Ken Roseboro of Agroecolgy in Nov. 2016. In A new report U.S. acreage allocated to organic farming reached 4.1 million acres in 2016, a new record and an 11 percent increase over 2014. And the number of certified organic farms in the U.S. increased by 1,000 farms over 2014 – a 6.2% increase. The top five states in organic cropland are California, Montana, Wisconsin, New York, and North Dakota. In 2016 Montana has seen a 30 percent increase over 2014, in organic farmland. Scott Shander, an economist at Mercaris, attributes the increase in organic acres to … consumer demand for organic foods. (Mercaris is a market data service and online trading platform for organic, non-GMO, and certified agricultural commodities.) Shander says, “The organic industry is growing and farmers are looking to add value and meet consumer demands.” Alex Heilman, also with Mercaris, adds “the number of organic acres is likely to continue increasing, especially with larger companies such as General Mills and Ardent Mills launching programs to increase organic acres.”
Wow the big boys are shifting their strategy – seeing profit in organics! That’s allright with me as long as they keep growing standards high. Hmmm. I still trust my local, know-her-by-name farmer waayyy more than Big Ag, organic or not. But I acknowledge and rejoice in the upward trend in organic farming.
♦ A Tuesday night tradition at Joe’s – Spaghetti and Chianti Night. $29.95 for two will get you Caesar Salad, Spaghetti with homemade Bolognese and a great ½ ltr of Chianti. Quite a deal! The Bolognese sauce is made with our grass-fed-and-finished regional beef.
♦ Mayor Gonzales, please stay away from sugar. Yes, I mean it. If you are so concerned about your citizens’ sugar consumption, we’d better not see you eating or drinking any. That’s meant to be a joke and I love most of what he is doing but the mayor wants to tax sugar-sweetened soft drinks. I understand why. Diabetes and obesity are out of control. But here’s the problem — it’s a slippery slope when those in power start micro-managing our lives, start making decisions about our diet/food consumption. Did rates of obesity and diabetes decline in NYC after Mayor Bloomberg taxed and messed with the sizes of sodas? Nope! Obesity didn’t budge. We think because people switched to other caloric drinks. From the American Sugar Alliance, “Taxes and bans and restrictions don’t change the behaviors that lead to obesity.” I don’t endorse excess sugar consumption – no no. But I contend there are far worse food additives than sugar that go unnoticed and are consumed daily by much of the population. One of the worst, of course, being artificial sweeteners like Splenda (aspartame). There are harmful substances in our water (fluoride, chlorine, etc.). There are pesticide, herbicide, hormone and antibiotic residues in our food supply that we have little control over. There are chemical substances in the air we breathe for goodness sake. All of these are more harmful than (a little!) sugar. Mayor Gonzales, I ask you, to please use your time and our resources for issues of governance that are far more pressing than sugar. Leave it up to us as mothers, fathers, nutritional consultants, healthcare professionals, food writers, restaurateurs, educators – to teach our children and to educate adults as to what a healthy and balanced diet is. Then we can make our own informed, hopefully healthy, choices. But please do not make them for us. Sugar-sweetened drinks? Let us decide for ourselves!
♦ ❤ Joe’s fresh dark French chocolate truffles are a perfect gift for any and all of your loved ones. Mocha or hazelnut? Ask your waiter.
♦ Why are we at Joe’s so persistent about this “buy local” stuff? Many factors are out of our hands when it comes to our food supply. Most of what ends up on the American dinner table derives from a shockingly few giant agribusinesses. Their reach is long- from designing
the (GMO) seeds to planting, fertilizing, processing and shipping. We as consumers cannot with confidence hand over the entire stewardship of our food to these few multinationals. Our passion here at Joe’s is for a local sustainable food supply – food produced by growers who are accountable for what they grow. KYG – Know Your Grower. We are able to look our local farmer in the eye and ask him about his growing practices or even visit his operation. This gives us the confidence that we are eating food that is healthy, wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often better than organic, humanely treated and minimally processed. It is grown with a smaller energy-use footprint and transported short distances. We cannot divorce human health, the economy, ecology, personal (perhaps spiritual) satisfaction or honorable work from food. Food is fundamental. What we eat, where it comes from, the stewardship of food animals, the nurturing and building of soils – all these factors affect us at a cellular and visceral level. Santa Fe is fortunate to have one of the very best Farmers Markets in the nation. Here at Joe’s we offer this bounty to you, keeping dollars in the community. In the interest of transparency, in 2008 Joe’s spent $30,000 on local foods. In 2009, $60,000. Each year since 2012 we have far exceeded $100,000 per annum (over 30% of our purchases).
Land, economy, health – inseparable.
♦ Joe’s will give you $10. What’s the catch? Well the way we figure it, if you cut out the middleman by NOT using a credit card, we can give that back to you and then some. Credit cards costs the retail merchant about 3-5% and extra time & paperwork. Now let’s be real – in today’s world one cannot function without a credit card. But there are still (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the Big Banks and actually save us all money. We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s gift card – purchase $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus! Your $100 gift card will actually buy you $110 worth of meals at Joe’s.
Giggles
l What’s Beethoven’s favorite fruit?…Ba-na-na-naa!
l Hear about the new restaurant called Karma? There’s no menu. You get what you deserve.
l Knock knock. Who’s there? Control Freak. Control … Wait, now you say, “Control Freak who?”
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Joe’s Dining
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
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