I came across an article today describing McDonald’s new initiative of trying to make their Happy Meals healthier. My first thought was “Good for them.” Then, I actually read the article. Eh, in my opinion it’s a weak effort and here’s why.

You see, the healthy part of it is a serving of apple slices, or carrots, or any other fruit or vegetable that’s “in season.” They are also lowering the serving of fries to 1.1 ounce, down from 2.4 ounces. Ok, so it’s a step in the right direction, but I think they can do better.

Define Healthy Food

Dictionary.com defines Healthy as follows:

health·y   [hel-thee]
adjective, health·i·er, health·i·est.
1. possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body; a healthy mind.
2. pertaining to or characteristic of good health, or a sound and vigorous mind: a healthy appearance; healthy attitudes.
3. conducive to good health; healthful: healthy recreations.
4. prosperous or sound: a healthy business.
5. Informal . fairly large: I bought a healthy number of books.

Eating healthy is objective. You want to do something good for your body and want it to be for the betterment of yourself. For some the choice is a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet. For others it’s a low carbohydrate, higher fat diet. A good rule of thumb for everyone is to eat your colors. But, learning what’s healthy for yourself is your responsibility. The literature is out there, and there is a lot of it. You can’t just rely on what any one source, including the US Federal Government, to tell you what is and is not healthy for you.

Fast Food

Fast food in the US is notoriously unhealthy. It, in general, is packed with tons of carbohydrates and saturated fats. Combine that with the sugary drinks that usually go with these dietary bombs just make for a lethal concoction. On top of that, add all the preservatives and salt and it’s definitely a recipe for disaster.

I’ll admit to partaking of this stuff on occasion, but not often and usually local or regional chains. I haven’t eaten McDonald’s or Burger King in a few years and I feel I’ve done myself a service.

Obesity

Obesity is an epidemic and huge problem for Americans. It was not such an issue in the 1950′s and 1960′s. Some articles I’ve read, that unfortunately I can’t find at this time, have made the correlation between the rise of obesity in the US, and the time the US Government started pushing its original version of the food pyramid. Once that happened, it seems obesity began to grow.

I’m no stranger to obesity, being heavy most of my life myself. I was not always as hefty as I am now, I started life out a toothpick and started ballooning around the first or second grade. I imagine that about that time is was easier to grab McDonald’s than to cook at home. I don’t really remember that time very much, but it’s was the early 80′s so it’s possible that fast food became a normal meal-time occurrence in our home.

Healthy Fast Food

So now McDonald’s and company want to make their food more healthy and attractive to parents. That’s respectable and noble, but just offering some veggies or fruits, and a few less fries isn’t my idea of making it healthy. Let’s take it further. Let’s do away with the chemically treated, artificially flavored, and well-preserved burger or nuggets. Make it with real meat and real chicken, not processed mystery substances that resemble either. Stop spraying your buns with sugar-water and make your fries without all the chemical preservatives. Cut the carbs, cut the fat, and cut the additives, then it’ll be healthier.

In the very end, parents need to take responsibility in what they feed their children. Trust me, it is no fun being overweight as a kid. You get picked last, you can’t keep up playing with the other kids, and it’s not good for you over all. Adults need to take responsibility for what they eat, and stay educated on the latest health information. Above all else, ask questions! As a lot of questions about what you put into your body. If the people serving you the stuff can’t tell you what’s in it; run,run far away.

My Message to the Fast Food Industry

I would like to see healthy choices for adults as well, because adult obesity is just as much of an epidemic as the childhood version is. Post your calorie and fat content of each item on the menu, and have guides that break it down better than the Government wants you too. From where I stand, if you want my business you will quit trying to kill me with your food.

There you have it ladies and gents. This is all my opinion and subjective. I have laid out my thoughts and feelings about this latest “healthy fast food” initiative, and I feel good about it. Feel free to comment on this article, good or bad, I can take it.

That’s the question isn’t it? A few months ago I came across an article that talked about how law makers were looking at new and stricter requirements on trade schools, pointing mostly at culinary schools for being so expensive that you can’t possibly pay your loans back. I’ve been thinking about writing an article of my own about the good, the bad, and the ugly of going to culinary school since I’ve been through the process and everything that goes with it. Today I decided to go ahead and write about it.

Note: I’m giving my opinions based on my experiences at the school I went to. Your mileage may vary.

The Good

At the beginning they were pretty upfront to say you won’t be a rich star chef to start with. And you won’t. It’s good that they let you know this ahead of your decision to spend tons of money to go to their school. It’s important to know what you’re getting into before hand.

The friendship bonds you make during your stint at the school are great! You get a real sense of family when you spend 4 to 6 hours a day with the same people, making wonderful food and helping each other out. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all rainbows and lollipops, but you will make friends and connections while you’re there.

You learn the basic techniques and knowledge that will help you cook anything. I have cooked things that I never thought I could. It’s nice for Chef to come up and say “I need you to make a beurre blanc sauce” and be able to do so on a whim. It makes your job a lot easier and they come to trust you in your position.

The Bad

It’s a drain on you physically and mentally. Think of it as a “culinary boot camp” where you are expected to learn in a fast-paced and condensed environment. The pressure is near unbearable at times. Failure to produce quality items may cost you dearly on your score. Another way to put it is this. Think of Iron Chef, but for a year and your instructors each have different tastes and expect different things. You score depends on their opinions and expertise.

Unless you are already working in a kitchen, you may be hard-pressed to find a job while you are in school, and that goes double for college towns. I went to school in Austin. During my time down there I had a lot of issues finding a job. At interviews, what few I could get, the managers tended to frown and culinary school student. A lot of the them tended to have low opinions of the school process of “churning out” graduates.

The Ugly

It is expensive! You pay about the same as a regular bachelor’s degree from a small university like WT A&M for an associate’s in culinary arts. It’s hard to think where all that money goes, but I’m sure it’s to pay for all the food and instructor’s salaries. I would love to take a look at the breakdown myself, but the chances of that are slim to none.

You will make next to nothing coming out of culinary school. Your loans need to be paid back, and they want it soon. You can defer and put off your loans, but they will be there waiting for you, and growing in interest. The financial aid at the school I went to was less than impressive. I was a week into school when they informed me that the could not find financial aid for all of my tuition, and I would have to pay a heap of money every month if I wanted to continue. Eventually they found some more money, but not after paying for 6 months on loans I hadn’t even received yet. It was a bit of a nightmare really.

In the End

Well, it’s a couple of years after I graduated. I’ve had the hardest and most rewarding jobs in my life. Would I go to culinary school again? Maybe. if I could get all the facts about exactly how much tuition is, and if they can find financial aid for all of my tuition before I started school. I definitely think that someone needs to look into where all that money goes though. I mean, $42,000 multiplied by 20 people in a class is $840,000 total for year. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t use $42,000 in food and paperwork in a year. Oh, and by the way, tuition was going up each new graduating class at a rate of about $5,000 per.

Bottom line: If you’re young and want to cook, go work in a kitchen and learn as you go. You don’t need thousands of dollars of debt to be a great chef, and certainly not right out of high school. As for me, I don’t really have 15 to 20 years to work my way up in a kitchen, that’s why I went to school.

Just some food for thought! Happy eating!

I would like to take this time to thank our brave men and women of the US Armed Forces. You all mean so much to me. All of you make it possible for us to live in a free society, and be able to pursue our dreams. Thank you for being you and serving your country.

Sometimes we take for granted that you fight for our freedom. You sacrifice your rights, privileges, and lives to give those same rights and privileges to the rest of us so we may live free. Freedom doesn’t come free, and we should all appreciate those who make the sacrifices for the greater good.

We should also appreciate and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. They paid the price many of us could not or would not. They died so that we may live. Don’t take for granted what they have done. And to those who would disrespect the fallen soldiers, I feel sorry for you. If you have nothing better to do than shake signs at a funeral, please find a hobby like cooking. I’d bet money you would find it to be a lot more enjoyable!

It does make me sad that I can’t cook for each and every one of our troops. You guys are all in my thoughts every day.

You may have heard the story “The Tortoise and the Hare” as a child. (Spoiler Alert!) Naturally, the tortoise wins and all live happily ever after! Well, the same can be said for cooking, and oh how delicious it is!

I’m talking about the slow food movement at Slow Food International and Slow Food USA, and their work to better the environment and the quality of the foods we eat every day. They want everyone to slow down, enjoy, and make the right choices for the food we eat. It’s about eating from organic and sustainable sources, and being educated to do so.

It’s all about slow. Slow grown foods and picked when ripe tend to be better for the environment, taste better, and be better for you. They contain flavors the mega-marts can’t come close to, and going organic means less exposure to pesticides and other chemicals.

Slow cooked foods tend to taste better as all the flavors and juices tend to meld well together and intensify as the cooking goes on. When was the last time you had an organic grass-fed, slow braised tenderloin? How about a true free ranged slow roasted chicken? Oh, and let’s not forget the vegetables that were fresh picked on the farm that morning? The thought of it makes my mouth water.

I can’t tell you how to eat. I can’t tell you where to shop. I will tell you that if you don’t start looking into slow foods, you are missing some very deliciously wonderful morsels of goodness.

This is just something to think about.

Note: No, I am not affiliated with Slow Food International or USA and I am not a member at this time. I hope to become a member in the near future, when resources permit. I do agree with their methods and the idea of sustainable production and slow cookery of food.

Ok, I’ve been forever breaking and mending this site for the last couple of days. Yet again, I’m not real happy with the limited theme I chose, so I will be changing themes again and customizing it the way I like it. I hope this next one will be better, and offer the options I want so I don’t have to go mucking about in the code. I have lots of plans for this blog and I hope I can get them all rolled out.

Here are some changes I’ve made in the last couple of days:

• I’ve changed to a micro-format for recipes for Google optimization, and it actually works. The former plug-in just didn’t work.
• I’ve switched over to Feedburner news feeds. It’ll help with both server load and bandwidth.
• Aside from Facebook integration, Twitter integration is now installed.
• There is a mobile version of this site. If you come to this site from your smart phone or iPod Touch, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

So my to-do list as of right now is:

• Change to a new theme.
• Possibly start a demonstration video podcast or a regular audio podcast.

So I should get going! I have a prior engagement this evening, but I’ll get to the to-do’s in the next couple of days.

Happy eating!