Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
I applaud Ms. Obama for her Let's Move campaign. I do. I also applaud Jamie Oliver for helping American's figure this super big problem out.
There is a danger, however, of Let's Move ending up just as silly a joke as Mrs. Reagan's Just Say No campaign if social marketing isn't backed by public policy and legislation.
When it comes to "eating healthy" one might as well jump right into the "which religion is better?" cesspool - as both yield the same inconclusive battle of argumentative ideology.
Our children don't need our ideology. They need fresh food.
Kids don't need prescriptive eating rules such as less fructose, or less fat, or more protein, or South Beach, or Atkins, or Weight Watchers. They need unadulterated food - real food - not man-made, processed food that is super cheap because most of it is made in a laboratory somewhere.
I also want to caution that this is NOT a problem that can be solved overnight. Policy change takes time and we should approach the incorporation of fresh food into children's diets as a systematic strategic plan of complete governmental policy overhaul.
I tire of those who bang the drum of childhood nutrition utopia who aren't really helping the matter, demanding instant widespread overhauls without understanding that the entire system has to be modified without collapsing, and who are currently as obstructionist as Strom Thurmond or Joseph McCarthy or Mitch McConnell.
Here are 5 government policies we can implement to help make Let's Move successful:
- Increase support for farmers and modify the ridiculous corn commodity structure that creates an impossible pricing-to-market structure for FOOD & DAIRY FARMERS. Give federal dollars to a farmer who actually grows FOOD - edible food? What a bloody brilliant idea.
- Create legislation that makes fruits and vegetables affordable to most families. I cringe when hear that feeding kids healthier starts at home. In this economic recession where most families can only afford to feed their kids once or twice a day, I don't blame ANYONE for choosing to give their kids 10 Oreos for 950 calories for $.50, over 10 carrots for 250 calories for $1.50. The 5 A Day Fruit & Vegetable campaign is a MARKETING CAMPAIGN not a standard by which to measure good or bad parenting. Something is very wrong with this picture, and feeding kids healthier starts in the Farm Bill, not at American dinner tables. Blame Senators, not working moms.
- Increase funding to schools so that they can raise the amount that they spend per child/ per meal. Duh. What is the average now, less than $2/child/meal? Food Service Directors, just like Mom, are forced to serve Oreos too.
- Create a US Ban on food advertising to kids under 12 years old and between the hours of 7am - 10pm. The EU has been doing this for awhile, and in the light of massive research proving that "seeing is believing" for kids who don't have their cause-effect differentiators in place yet, Spain is following. What are WE doing over here. Oh . . . . . nothing. Let's show kids what a healthy lunch is on TV (pizza rolls) and then try to feed them a decent dinner (chicken with mashed sweet potatoes) and complain to our friends at our social gatherings that our kids are such picky eaters we've given up cooking for them as the only thing they'll eat are pizza rolls.
- Create MORE funding for Know your Farmer, Know your Food initiatives so that communities and school districts and make learning about agriculture, farming, and food, with annual field trips to local farms a normal and integral part of the curriculum. What does it say about any anti-obesity campaigns when 85% of our children can't find a carrot in a field? Why? Because somewhere in the last 50 years we forgot to mention that carrots grow underground. How in the hell can we expect a child to eat more carrots when they have no idea what one really is?
I'm skeptical to think that Mrs. Obama's Let's Move campaign can actually be successful against the tsunami tide of industry lobbyists who grease the hands of our politicians.
I'll stand for a moment, and applaud Mrs. Obama for trying to do the right thing. And then I'll go back to working in the trenches supporting my friends like Chef Tim Cipriano of New Haven Public Schools who beats this drum every day, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that perhaps Mrs. Obama can actually positively affect federal food policy.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
This is the age old mantra: we can monkey with nature - twist her to bend to our will in a chemical lab - if it suits whatever problem we believe we have.
Scientists in India have genetically modified a tomato to remain ripe, but not spoil, for up to 3x longer than tomatoes cursed with "normally functioning genes." The reasoning? They claim that as much as 50% of produce is lost to spoilage between harvest and dinner plate in the developing world. I'll take that statement one step further to point out that increasing the food supply by cheating Mother Nature decreases the amount of land and the number of farmers needed to produce food.
While the statement is true that there is 50% spoilage loss in developing countries, it is a hard stretch to say that it is the tomato's fault. It is NOT the tomato's fault, people.
Ummmm. It is OUR fault.
Claiming that this new genetic modification "paves the way for the future of all fruits" scientists argue their Right To Modify Nature is fundamental to the survival of the human species claiming that with the global population may double in the next 50 years, we have to genetically modify all of our food to protect our natural resources.
I refuse to concede that the tomato is smarter than a human being.
I refuse to concede that our last refuge of hope for the survival of the human race is to run away, not actively solve our own social problems, and point the Blame Finger at a perishable, inanimate object.
I refuse to concede that all of our global problems can be solved in a lab and NOT by farming sustainably, paying fair wages to our workers, supporting our farmers, and creating policies that protect agricultural practices.
Maybe that is just too hard.
Oh, and by the way . . . . . . Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of nearly two-thirds of the workforce for that entire country. The monsoons, the droughts, the government loan schemes, the slave-labor wages that force farmers to plow under their fields because they can't pay wages to bring their tomatoes to market, the Intellectual Property Rights of Monsanto and Cargill, and the harsh IMF rules have left India with the highest farmer suicide rate in the world.
Blame the tomato, man.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
Emily Brooks and the Edibles Advocate Alliance is pleased to announce its newest educational program for community & government leaders and farmers & producers.
Establishing a Shared-Use Commercial Kitchen is our Entrepreneurial Training Program that details the planning, design and budgetary considerations for developing, sharing, and using an FDA approved, multi-tenant commercial kitchen.
If you haven't registered yet, don't forget to do so!
The Shared-Use Commercial Kitchen Entrepreneurial Training Course is an excellent follow-up for the great information you'll gain at the Farm to Kitchen to Market Conference (and for those of you who couldn't quite make it) and covers the necessary requirements to establish a successful FDA-approved kitchen.
This class is for individuals, government or community leaders, farmers, and/or producers who want to create a commercial kitchen - and covers everything from laws, to safety standards, to equipment, to budgeting, to funding, to creating revenue streams by partnering/selling to others who wish to rent or use your kitchen.
This is a 7-Element course that could be done over the course of 2-to-7 weeks depending on the consensus, desires, and needs of the potential attendees. The pricing of this Training Course is dependent on the number of participants.
The more the merrier as the more collaborators you'll have working with you on these projects!
We're scheduling our next class to begin at the end of March or early April. Are you interested in more information? Let us know!
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
Whether you agree with Sarah Palin or not, she has 3 things to teach us about proper business management.
#1 DON'T criticize your competitors . . . and then get caught doing the same thing.
Sarah Palin has been a vociferous critic of President Obama for his use of a teleprompter. OK, so that's her opinion. BUT WAIT . . . . . . During a recent Tea Party speech when when she mocked Obama for teleprompters AGAIN, closer inspection of a photos and video footage of that speech reveal that Sarah had her crib notes written on the palm of her hand.
Good little business boys and girls know that when you point one finger at someone else, you've got 3 more fingers pointing right back at you. Always monitor what you perceive to be your competitors weaknesses, but do not openly make statements about those things. Competitor observations are best kept locked in those secretive strategy meetings.
#2 . . . be careful who your friends are!
Didn't your mother tell you that? Your personal and business reputations are tied directly to those whom you hold close around you.
Well, Rush Limbaugh shook up the system with his crude and unnecessary "retard comments" - first of all using that derogatory word in the first place, and secondly calling loudly for a "Retard Summit at the White House." Sarah Palin - I'd consider her in the business of running for office again - could have made one of two choices. She could have said or done nothing at all as there was no particular reason for her to comment on Limbaugh's Wednesday show. Or Sarah Palin could have gone out of her way, into a conversation that didn't particularly concern her, and embrace those comments with open arms.
Palin chose option #2. She said, in reference to the current party in the White House, "They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh." While that may indeed be her opinion, saying that OUT LOUD puts her directly into the firing range that Limbaugh created for himself. Why do that?
Good little business boys and girls tend to their knitting. They mind their manners and watch, VERY CAREFULLY, what they say and who they associate with.
#3 Solve problems quickly, even if it is just a PR problem
How long should it take for Sarah Palin to sign books for 300 families who had waited for her for over 7 hours outside in the frigid winter weather?
Here's a better question: how long does it take for the 200 cameras in the crowd to record videos like this and post "their perception" of that situation all over the Internet?
Good little business boys and girls make every reasonable effort to resolve poor customer experiences QUICKLY. With websites like Yelp and many others, consumers are more apt to want their voices heard.
What perception of YOUR brand do you want your customers to broadcast? Refusing to solve problems quickly can lead to direct, but cleverly veiled mockery.
I hope you don't want to be the next cover of Vogue . . . . .
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
It's been said that negative press will help one launch one's career. Well, in Hollywood perhaps. Even Donny Osmond engineered his own negative press as part of his marketing strategy - which might hopefully pay the bills since a lack of talent seems to be hindering his brand strategy.
What happens when ‘bad press' is sought, generated, and purposely spread and about an ideology - or a theory - or a program? Does that work as well as Lindsay Lohan's shenanigans which, at the advice of her managers, successfully launched Lohan as the most widely recognized Star across the world in 2008? That's a good question.
I LOVE internet buzz. Truly! I am also wise enough to know that publically interactive information that most of the internet provides can be wisely and strategically manipulated - information skewed with hidden agendas, twists, and marketing strategy (ohhhh so much fun!!) to create a desired effect.
So back to the question: does negative press about an ideology create a positive effect?
I have to step back and ask another question first: Why is Alice Waters, who founded the Edible Schoolyard in 1994, under media attack right now? Why are all of the top bloggers and media outlets gunning for the Edible Schoolyard as "an evil attempt to hurt our children" lo these 16 years later?
Laura Shapiro announced that its time to lock and load: it's open season on Alice Waters. And it is!
Here's a snapshot of the last few weeks: Caitlin Flanagan claims Water's school gardens are cheating our most vulnerable students by hijacking the curricula of schools. Elissa Altman then attempted to attack Flanagan's article as inflammatory by muddying Connecticut Farmland Trust and giving Monsanto a tracked-link "nod" which helps their marketing and awareness strategy (which I chose not to do). Isabel Cowles just pointed out that Alice Water's Edible Schoolyard is missing the point by not being able to marry ethereal ethos with reality to come up with an Edible solution that is more sustainable for more people. On Sunday, Anthony Bourdain chimed in saying "There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic" in a recession. The list goes on . . . and on . . . and on . . . .
So, why all of this negative press . . . . . NOW?
My guess? Alice Waters has a new book deal and is following Lindsay Lohan's marketing strategy of getting "press dirty" which may get her recognized, but will leave her equally disrespected in the end.
What a shame for both of them.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
In the last two years, our economy has shed over 7.2 million jobs. Many of these jobs are being lost PERMANENTLY - not permanently in the sense that Job X just isn't available, but PERMANENTLY because Job X no longer exists. New jobs will arise, but as The Wall Street Journal points out, it is anyone's guess what those jobs will be. The only guess The Labor Department has is that perhaps health care will be a bright spot in the future accounting for the millions of baby boomers that will flood the medical system. A guess, at best. Who's to say how the botched attempts at heatlh care reform will influence our economy via jobs and employment for the next 20 years.
So what? We're all supposed to become nurses?
Too, there is something different with this recession. We're forced into a very sudden job adjustment rather than the gradual reactionary period we've faced in the past. So what? We were all supposed to have received our nurses training 4 years ago - before the 2007 great economic guillotine drop?
Despite your thoughts about how that might sound facetious, the answer is actually YES.
When in doubt, learn something new. Something, anything! Subscribe for free podcasts or free online courses. Go back to school. Read new books. Investing in human capital - YOU'RE capital - will float you to the top of the pile when new, never before seen jobs arise on the scene.
Don't have time, you say? Sorry to hear that. The reality is you can spend a few extra hours a week investing in your own education, or you can spend a few more months on the bread lines. Pick one.
I personally want to be in the front of the line when the next, brand new job opportunities are created. In fact, I want to be so well informed that I can create my own damn job. Even British newspapers refer to the American Economy as Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.
The only standard rule of this current economy is Darwinian Theory.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
Ever heard of "positive deviance"?
Positive deviance is the act of observation of simple, common sense where, instead of throwing money at a problem or devising grand solutions, we are encouraged the study of the positive and good things that are happening around us, and then acting on them.
To be a "Positive Deviant" means taking what we've learned and inspiring others through positive example.
According to the Boston Globe, organizations around the world are now turning to positive deviance to address a dizzying array of challenges such as human trafficking in Asia to diabetes in the United States. The business world is also using positive deviance as part of their strategy to improve performance, yield, and sales. Additionally, positive deviance can be used to solidify business reputation and brand position -- encouraging their customers and community to change their behaviors towards more positive action.
To be a positive deviant, you must lead by example. It forces you to study your environment, identify its flaws, and then seek to follow the positive models that others around you are setting.
Looking for a few positive deviants to get you started?
- Idealist.org believes that it's time for the world's idealists to work together where we all had a better community and a better life, where we were able to connect with others and share our skills, ideas, and resources, and where we can act on our good intentions, and help others ot act on theirs. Imagine, Connect, Act.
- Slow Money believes that we must use our money wisely; investing and spending as if food, farms, and fertility mattered. Connecting investors to the places where they live, creating vital relationships, and new sources of capital for small food entrepreneurs will enhance food security, food safety and access to healthy, sustainable foods. What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?
Are you a Positive Deviant? Be one.
Be the change that you want to see in this world, and use your business as a tool - not just to make money - but to affect long-term positive change around you.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
Julia Child has been called one of the most beloved figures in twentieth-century American culture. She had a source of inner power that the food industry has spent millions trying to replicate. People trusted Julia Child. She was a rare celebrity who never fell from grace.
There are EIGHT entrepreneurial lessons that can be taken from Julia's life as it is every entrepreneur's dream to accomplish what she did: to single-handedly change the world and make it a better place, while finding one's own happiness in the process.
Lesson # 1 Do What You Are - Refuse To Fit The Stereotypical Mold
At 6'2" with a nasally voice that could summon lost ships at sea, a contagious sense of humor, and a bluntness that made many shudder, Julia did not fit the typical mold of a diminutive, nonopined housewife. She spent nearly 50 years on television and has remained in our memories alongside Lucille Ball, Steve Allen, and Milton Berle. She allowed herself to make mistakes and laughed alongside with us as she did so. She swam against the tide, didn't fit any existing "pretty girl" categories, refused to invent a palatable character through which to placate us, staged no formal stunts, and proceeded to use her media time to hold true to herself and her mission - to teach.
Lesson # 2 Fail Gracefully, but Never Make The Same Mistake Twice
For all of Julia's endless, obsessive study of her craft, she clearly understood that failure might still have a horrible way of occasionally seizing control. Chin held high, Julia said "I don't believe in these women who are always apologizing for their food. If it is vile, the cook must just grin and bear it, with no word of excuse. Never apologize." The other side of that coin, when failures graced her table and her life, the harder she worked. It's safe to say that she never made the same mistake twice.
Lesson # 3 Learn, Study. Study, learn, and Study Again.
Julia Child was a detailed perfectionist. She spent long hours in the kitchen under hard labor, writing page after page of instructions. She tested and retested, often remaking the same dish 10 times or more in one day. Cooking was Julia's passion. It lit a fire in her soul, but she didn't just rest on those laurels. She mastered her own skill set to keep that fire burning. "Life is hard & earnest," she scribbled. "Most pains - most results. If you know what doing - half battle is won." And she is right! There are too many books and articles on how to do things quickly, and very few on how to do things right.
Lesson # 4 Climb Obstacles and Master Doubt
It took Julia Child nearly 10 years to write and publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She suffered through multiple publishing houses, defended her stance (against current popular trends towards convenience foods) that American cooks actually want to learn to do what chefs do, in their own kitchens. Her first draft of Mastering, which only included 2 chapters to that point on poultry and sauces, exceeded over 800 pages. The book was rejected outright. "I am deeply depressed, gnawed by doubts, and feel that all our hard work may just lay a big rotten egg."
While doubts come, Julia also was wise enough to let them go again. She trimmed her recipes, abandoned her plans to write a gigantic treatise to French cooking and, capitulating to Americans need for speed, decided to "prepare a short and snappy book directed to the somewhat sophisticated housewife-chauffeur. Everything would be simpler, but nothing humdrum." The new manuscript ran about 300 pages, requiring another year and a half of hard labor, another agonizing round of finding a publisher, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking was finally published in October of 1961.
Lesson # 5 Trust Thyself And Thine Own Expertise
When Mastering was finally published in 1961, it sold only about 16,000 copies. Knopf, the book's publisher didn't really want to invest in advertising, and wasn't particularly interested in pushing sales. "Our publishers really are about as unbusinesslike as any I have encountered," Julia fumed. Quit? NO. Julia and her co-author Simca, created and funded their own media tour. In its second year, 65 thousand books had gone out; orders were coming in faster than the book could be printed. Twelve years later in 1974, Mastering appeared on the New York Times list of the century's best-selling cookbooks, with 1.3 million copies sold. And more than half a century after publication, Julia's book still sells more than 20,000 copies per year.
Lesson # 6 Tend Your Image Carefully
Julia tended her public image with great care. The only photographs allowed to be used were the ones taken by her husband Paul. She believed that commercial endorsements were demeaning, and that they tarnished one's reputation. She held her stance firm on that point, and kept her name free of commercial taint throughout her career. She closely guarded her privacy, and vigilantly controlled her media exposure.
Lesson # 7 "Bon courage!" Be of Good Courage!
Julia's sign off to the famous flopped-potato-cake show is wise advice not only to home cooks but all entrepreneurs. Julia held her personal beliefs in line with her craft and her mission. Whether you agree with her opinions or not, she believed in herself and, knew her path, and stuck to her guns.
Lesson # 8 Support All Of Those Around You
Julia Child generously supported the career aspirations of every gifted cook who came her way, regardless of her prejudices. Why? Because it was the art of cooking itself that was important, and she simply would not allow any prejudice, not even her own, to rob the world of a good chef. Julia fostered and encouraged her cooking competitors. In doing so, she single-handedly launched a new generation of "wacky, off-the-wall" newcomers, like Alice Waters, who in turn have shaped the American culinary landscape in their own way.
Julia Child has much to teach entrepreneurs. She followed one simple dogma: To Thine Own Self Be True. In doing so she forged a career path that made her personal life both happy and fulfilled, and she nurtured her competitors without threat to her own brand. Julia Child found what made HER happy. Her tools and the product she sold were perfectly cut onions, the right wrist angle for lacing caramel, and copper pots with singed bottoms.
When Julia Child died and our country mourned, it was clear that we never remembered anything about veal Prince Orloff. What we do remember is that Julia taught us that determination is what really matters, that skill is the only shortcut anyone in any situation will ever need, and that any task that takes a long time is probably worth it.
She used the skill of perfectly measuring the temperature of roasted duck to teach us something more important: cuisine as an art form, available to everybody as a joyful endeavor of love.
Posted by Emily Brooks
Yeah? And what do YOU think?
There are dirty secrets you need to know before you hit big-box retail stores the day after Thanksgiving. According to CNN, shoppers who think they will snag unbelievable bargains in a merchants' circular, will be stuck holding an empty bag.
Black Friday Sleaze Tactics
Don't we believe that if a national retailer mentions that they have a juicy deal, then they're probably prepared to have it in sufficient quantities, and if not, then provide you with a rain check? Nope. Look at the bottom of your circulars this year. You'll find wording such as:
- "while supplies last"
- "minimum 2 per store" - yes, that's 2 per STORE
- "no rain checks"
- "all items in limited quantities"
An example? This year, Sears for Black Friday is offering a 40-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $599.99 "Only while quantities last, minimum three per store, no rain checks." Are you going to stand in line starting at 4am under such poor odds?
Also beware of another Black Friday Sleaze Tactic of selling "derivative" electronics. Derivative models have less features than a standard model in that product line, but the difference is subtle, and most consumers can't notice the difference. According to Consumer Reports, Samsung and Sony are advertising Black Friday Deals on popular HDTV TV models, but aren't letting you know that you're buying a derivative - a TV that is actually cheaper than the standard model - at standard model discount pricing. This means you're buying an electronic derivative, and actually paying MORE for it that it's worth.
So why should we support our locally owned businesses?
Purchasing locally allows you to foster relationships with your businesses and their owners. Your local retailers and small businesses don't have large corporate sleaze scams intended to take advantage of you.
According to the New Rules Project, we can enjoy our Black Friday shopping rituals as if OUR COMMUNITY mattered, not some corporate enterprise.
Investing our holiday dollars with locally owned businesses within 50 miles of where we live would:
- Prevent big-box homogenization, preserving our unique businesses and adding charachacter to our individual neighborhoods
- Locally owned businesses build strong communities by participating and giving back
- Local business owners participate in local decision making, preserving your neighborhood
- Keeps dollars, jobs, innovation & healthy competition, and passionate entrepreneurs where YOU live
- Small businesses offer products based on their interests and not on a national sales plan increasing product diversity
Swipe your VISA -- Cast a Vote.
Where will you spend your money this year?