Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -130 September 2016
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Two food labels we currently can trust when shopping for groceries
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♦ This must surely be the best month of all in Santa Fe. Zozobra, Fiestas, the Pet Parade, the Wine and Chile Fiesta – it makes your head spin. The weather is exquisite in September and the bounty of our fabulous Farmers Market is at its very best. Enjoy!
♦ Friday Sept. 2nd from 7:30 – 11am, Richard Eeds returns to Joe’s, broadcasting the Morning Show live on Hutton FM 101.5. Richard does a comprehensive job of keeping New Mexicans abreast of the times. And each 1st Friday of the month he does it live from Joe’s. During the broadcast get a surprise discount on your breakfast. Just ask!
♦ I’ve never really caught the magic of shopping at Whole Foods Market. Maybe it’s too far away or too crowded or maybe I just felt uneasy about their broad claims of local and organic sourcing. Well as it turns out, besides Monsanto, the other big supporter of the DARK act is Whole Foods. July 29 – after much resistance, the GMO labeling law passed. HR1599 appears deliberately confusing and rife with covert protections for Monsanto’s plans to dominate, no to replace, traditional and most importantly diverse, food production. Dubbed the DARK act (Deny Americans the Right to Know) this bill blocks the FDA from ever mandating GMO food labeling and allows food companies to use the word “natural” on foods containing GMO ingredients. Furthermore it preempts states’ ability to require meaningful GMO labeling. For years people have trusted Whole Foods for clean non-GMO foods. If we can’t trust a company called WHOLE FOODS, whom can we trust?! I can’t for the life of me figure out how their alliance with Monsanto and support for NOT labeling GMO foods will help their image or their bottom line. What’s in it for them? Someone enlighten me please. Additionally Whole Foods has been repeatedly caught lying about its support for this deceptive law. The entire GMO food issue is becoming mired in doublespeak and confusion. It’s almost impossible to distinguish the black hats from the white hats as old alliances disintegrate and others form. In the meantime, folks who demand non-GMO food still have a couple of choices: 1.) KYG – know your grower – buy as much locally grown as possible from farmers you actually know 2.) grow your own and 3.)watch for this label.:
The Non-GMO project is a non-profit committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, verifying non-GMO choices and educating consumers. Read more here: https://www.organicconsumers.org/essays/organic-traitors-team-monsanto-and-gma-dark-act
♦ Ah, the Amish. Deprived in so many ways. No cars, no computers, no televisions, no electric lighting, no jobs in air-conditioned cubicles. Instead they must work hard outdoors in the sun, walk a lot, garden and raise livestock for food using traditional methods. Deprived of “food” made with artificial ingredients, trans fats and sugar substitutes; deprived of skim milk or pasteurized milk, they instead must drink raw whole milk with all its enzymes intact. (I would guess there is no lactose intolerance in the Amish community – just my opinion). Well with all this deprivation, researchers at Ohio State University expected “the Amish would have higher chronic disease rates since they eat so much full-fat dairy and red meat as well as shun conventional health care. Instead, what the OSU researchers found shocked them. Published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, their research shows the Amish have virtually no cancer in their population. And many experts now consider them the healthiest people in America.” (from Dr. Micozzi’s newsletter.)
I would love to see this group studied for a multiplicity of conditions. For instance do they suffer the same rate of allergies as the rest of the US population? What is their average life span? What about the rate of occurrence of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and auto-immune disorders? What impact does their lifestyle have on the whole of their health? I assume it’s a positive impact, but it would be great to really see the data!
♦ Mom said bananas were good for me, but I didn’t know they were this good! Take a look at this list of banana benefits: lifts mood and depression (contains tryptophan), helps with PMS (contains B6), stimulates hemoglobin production in blood – a benefit for anemia, can reduce blood pressure and boost brain power (contains potassium), high in fiber, a heartburn remedy, a banana smoothie is said to be a hangover cure, soothes intestinal digestive discomfort and ulcers, takes away the sting of insect bites when rubbed with the banana skin and some say the banana skin will also take away warts. So a banana is really a natural remedy for many ills. Maybe we should change the old adage to “a banana a day keeps the doctor away.” Hmmm…I wonder if this goes for banana cream pie?
♦ Perception vs. reality. So much of marketing is smoke and mirrors. Effort is put into fooling us, spinning information for a result that appears to be the answer to the consumers’ demands. This holds true for Joe’s nemesis as well – carryout containers. For years we have struggled with how to best package food for carryout. Many natural looking containers are only that – natural looking. They are designed to give the perception of acceptability. Some of the requirements that guide Joe’s choices are: portability, correct size, temperature maintenance, recyclability, reusability or disposability, affordability and of course environmental impact – true carbon footprint. We’ve had our suppliers on the alert for the right containers that meet these demands and yet after all these years we have not found the perfect product. When we examine the reality – the true carbon footprint of some of the “natural-looking” products – we must take into consideration: source (not China please), lamination, durability, off-gassing, shipping distance, biodegradability or re-usability, etc. We often find that we are driven back to just three materials that may not appear to be the best choices, but in the overall picture have stood the test of time and in fact have a smaller carbon footprint. Styrofoam (is still in the running believe it or not), single-ply paper products and aluminum. But we have not given up the search for the ideal. We are currently trying out a new one – a biodegradable sugar cane bagasse container. Bagasse is the fibrous remains left after the canes are pressed to extract their juice. We hope it works out.
♦ ❤ 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.
♦ DiJa Know? Germany – a country with low to moderate winds and one cloudy day after another – plans to be fully powered by sun and wind by 2030. New Mexico has more sun and wind than Germany, I’m sure. We are the king of sun and the queen of wind (or visa versa – I get them mixed up!) and yet we have no comprehensive plan for employing these renewables. Exasperating!
♦ Some of the farmers & ranchers who supply Joe’s: Monte Vista Organics, Jacona Farms, Green Tractor, Camino de Paz, Synergia Ranch, Romero Farms, Shepherd’s Lamb, LaMont’s Buffalo, Eve’s Ranch, Susan’s Sprouts and several others who rotate with the seasons. They get their seeds from heirloom seed banks, family and friends, their fertilizer from animals and compost and their agronomic advice from tradition.
♦ 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: funny signs
l In a Veterinarian’s waiting room:
Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!
l In front of convention room reserved for a Psychic Fair: Cancelled Due to Unforeseen Circumstances.
l Sign on the back of septic tank truck:
Caution – This Truck is full of Political Promises.
l Church billboard – Too hot to keep changing sign.
Sin bad, Jesus good, details inside.
Joe’s Dining
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507
505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
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