Category: FOOD

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In Final Spending Bill, Salty Food and Belching Cows Are Winners

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In Final Spending Bill, Salty Food and Belching Cows Are Winners

By ROBERT PEARDEC. 14, 2014

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies preserved their tax breaks. Farmers and ranchers were spared having to report on pollution from manure. Tourist destinations like Las Vegas benefited from a travel promotion program.

Also buried in the giant spending bill that cleared the Senate on Saturday and is headed to President Obama for his signature were provisions that prohibit the federal government from requiring less salt in school lunches and allow schools to obtain exemptions from whole-grain requirements for pasta and tortillas.

The watered-down standards for school meals were a setback for the first lady, Michelle Obama, who had vowed to fight “until the bitter end” for tougher nutrition standards. But they were a victory for food companies and some local school officials, who had sought changes in regulations that are taking effect over several years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/us/politics/in-final-spending-bill-salty-food-and-belching-cows-are-winners.html?_r=0

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Chef Cesar Sotomayor of Cafe 37 in Ridgewood on ice cream, Whole Foods and keeping trim

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Chef Cesar Sotomayor of Cafe 37 in Ridgewood on ice cream, Whole Foods and keeping trim

NOVEMBER 12, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD
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Cesar Sotomayor

Café 37, Ridgewood

Cesar Sotomayor, 38, owes his love of cooking to his Venezuelan roots — as a child in Caracas, his grandmother cooked for 10 family members each day. Sotomayor “grew up in the kitchen.”

A few years after his arrival in the United States in 1999, a chance meeting with chef Michael Latour at Burlington Coat Factory in Paramus landed him a spot in Latour’s Ridgewood restaurant, where Sotomayor did menial tasks such as dicing vegetables and sanitizing the kitchen, all while learning the trade.

His five years at Latour, combined with an associate’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from Bergen Community College, landed him in the head chef position at Ridgewood’s Village Green in 2007. During his six-year tenure, he established his own cooking style, and in July 2012, the Hawthorne resident opened Café 37, also in Ridgewood, serving modern American cuisine. The restaurant received 2 1/2 out of 4 stars from The Record in 2012.

Here, Sotomayor talks about Whole Foods, his weakness for ice cream, and how to stay slim when you’re surrounded by food.

https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/chef-cesar-sotomayor-of-cafe-37-in-ridgewood-on-ice-cream-whole-foods-and-keeping-trim-1.1131538

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Not every food is helped by putting it in the refrigerator, scientists say

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Not every food is helped by putting it in the refrigerator, scientists say.

OCTOBER 12, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN PETRICK
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Distinguished scholar, microbiologist and Rutgers University professor Dr. Don Schaffner would like to impart some personal wisdom upon the general public in an effort to educate those who might benefit from his insight: He eats his peanut butter at room temperature only.

“I personally just don’t like cold peanut butter, so I keep it out of the refrigerator,” Schaffner said. And he’s not just talking Skippy, or Jif. He means natural peanut butter, without any preservatives. While other food safety experts, in an abundance of caution, might say he’s living dangerously, you know what, says the renowned food scientist and unabashed peanut butter lover? It ain’t gonna kill ya.

“In my house, it doesn’t stay around for more than a couple of weeks. And I have never experienced it going rancid, within that time frame. If you expect to keep it around for a month or more, if you eat peanut butter that slowly in your house, then maybe you should think about putting it in the refrigerator. But within a couple of weeks, I’ve never had a problem.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/food-news/not-every-food-is-helped-by-putting-it-in-the-refrigerator-scientists-say-1.1107531#sthash.uY117VDw.dpuf

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Chef/owner John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern on how parents don’t feed their kids healthy food

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Chef/owner John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern on how parents don’t feed their kids healthy food

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD

John Halligan

Park Steakhouse, Park Ridge

Park West Tavern, Ridgewood

After working at a slew of high-end hotels in New York City and Los Angeles, John Halligan, who grew up in Hillsdale, moved back to New Jersey – River Vale – and, 11 years ago, opened Park Steakhouse in Park Ridge.

“It is something I thought the neighborhood needed,” Halligan says. “I’m a big meat eater.”

Three years ago, the Culinary Institute of America grad opened Park West Tavern in Ridgewood. The “corporate” chef for both restaurants (he has chefs de cuisine at each) is now poised to open Park West Loft, a special-events venue and banquet above the Tavern.

Most challenging dish: Roasted suckling pig with crispy skin at Park Steakhouse. It is a very difficult dish to prepare. Very complex. We confit it, press it, braise it. It takes two to three days [$29].

Dish I’m most proud of: Our steaks. We age them all here for 21 days.

Most essential kitchen tool: Vitamix blender. I use it for everything — stocks, purées, sauces.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/chef-owner-john-halligan-of-park-steakhouse-and-park-west-tavern-on-how-parents-don-t-feed-their-kids-healthy-food-1.1089515#sthash.kPaptK6K.dpuf

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Ridgewood Girl Scout is keeping food drive fresh

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Ridgewood Girl Scout is keeping food drive fresh

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014, 12:51 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER

Last summer, as a group of Passaic campers complained about their food, Ridgewood Girl Scout Hayley Punjabi looked guiltily at her healthful, filling meal.The Girl Scout-led summer camp in Passaic, which Punjabi interned at, provided free state lunches for low-income children. In terms of their quality, Punjabi saw the lunches as “very mediocre.”

“It was really sad, and this is like 15 minutes from Ridgewood, New Jersey,” Punjabi said. “I would bring a nice salad and a whole food lunch, and I would just feel so bad.”

The campers were some of “the nicest girls I’ve ever met,” the Ridgewood High School (RHS) senior recalled, so it hurt her to hear them commenting about their food – saying things like “it’s the same thing every day” and “I’m hungry.”

Now, Punjabi is doing something about it.

In an attempt to get filling, healthy food to low-income people, she has organized special food drives for the clients of Social Services Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity (SSA). The first drive is taking place tomorrow, Sept. 9 and the second one will be Tuesday, Sept. 16, according to Punjabi. Instead of calling for the typical salt-and-fat-heavy non-perishable goods, Punjabi is asking only for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Both drives will take place at the Ridgewood train station headquarters of the SSA from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/girl-scout-is-keeping-food-drive-fresh-1.1083318#sthash.R8E3pBeM.dpuf

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Let them Eat Fries : Fast food workers take to the streets

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Let them Eat Fries : Fast food workers take to the streets

Thousands of fast food workers are expected to stage protests Thursday outside of restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Domino’s in a coordinated push for higher pay.

Backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), fast food workers in 150 cities plan to walk off the job and pick up picket signs to demand that they be paid no less than $15 per hour. It will be the seventh strike organized by the Fast Food Forward campaign since November 2012, when the campaign began.

“At Thursday’s strike, fast food restaurants will see firsthand that workers are willing to do whatever it takes to win $15 and union rights,” said Kendall Fells, the organizing director at Fast Food Forward, which receives funding from the SEIU.

Business groups and franchises are pushing back on the campaign, arguing an increase in the minimum wage would be bad for the economy and ultimately hurt workers.

Steve Caldeira, CEO of the International Franchise Association, said in a Wednesday statement that the SEIU and other labor groups were putting pressure on the corporations in a callous attempt to grow their membership.

“When you boil this all down, it’s really about the unions being hypocritical and greedy by exploiting proposals meant to support fast food workers to enrich themselves,” Caldeira said in a statement.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s most powerful business group, produced an analysis that says more than 40 of the full-time employees at SEIU headquarters make less than $15 per hour — the same amount that the union says should be the minimum for fast food workers.

Read more: https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/216594-fast-food-workers-take-to-the-streets-for-15-minimum#ixzz3CLvkywmD 

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Fast-food workers prepare to escalate wage demands

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Fast-food workers prepare to escalate wage demands

JULY 26, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE RECORD

* Fast-food workers will be asked do “whatever it takes” to win $15 an hour and a union

CHICAGO — Fast-food employees say they’re prepared to escalate their campaign for higher wages and union representation, starting with a national convention in suburban Chicago, where more than 1,000 workers are expected to discuss the future of the effort that has spread to dozens of cities in less than two years.

About 1,300 workers were to attend sessions Friday and today at an expo center in Villa Park, Illinois, where they’ll be asked to do “whatever it takes” to win $15-an-hour wages and a union, said Kendall Fells, organizing director of the national effort and a representative of the Service Employees International Union.

The union has been providing financial and organizational support to the fast-food protests that began in late 2012 in New York City and have included daylong strikes and a protest outside this year’s McDonald’s Corp. shareholder meeting that resulted in more than 130 arrests.

“We want to talk about building leadership, power and doing whatever it takes, depending on what city they’re in and what the moment calls for,” said Fells, adding that the ramped-up actions will be “more high profile” and could include everything from civil disobedience to intensified efforts to organize workers.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/wage-battle-heating-up-1.1057683#sthash.MNFW2WJf.dpuf

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Whole Foods recalls salads in New Jersey, 2 other Northeast states

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Whole Foods recalls salads in New Jersey, 2 other Northeast states

JULY 8, 2014, 4:40 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014, 4:40 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS  — Whole Foods is recalling two pre-packaged salads sold in three northeastern states due to a mislabeling of allergens.

The mini four-ounce containers of pre-packaged Caesar salad and Mesclun goat cheese salad were sold on July 8 in stores in New York, New Jersey (excluding Princeton, Cherry Hill and Marlton), and Connecticut (excluding Glastonbury, West Hartford and Bishop’s Corner).

The company says allergen warnings were mistakenly switched on the two items. The Caesar salad package now contains a warning about tree nuts, when it should contain a warning about fish and egg allergens, while the Mesclun salad contains a warning about fish and egg allergens.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/whole-foods-recalls-salads-in-new-jersey-2-other-northeast-states-1.1048003#sthash.n9XEIs1E.dpuf

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Bergen County reaches deal to bring gourmet food trucks to county parks

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Bergen County reaches deal to bring gourmet food trucks to county parks

JUNE 4, 2014, 6:49 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014, 11:55 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

The gourmet food truck craze has landed in the Bergen County parks.

The first trucks in what organizers hope will be a rotating caravan serving everything from Thai food to hot dogs to ice cream have set up their mobile shops at Overpeck County Park and in Paramus at the Orchard Hills Golf Course and Van Saun Park.


– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-county-reaches-deal-to-bring-gourmet-food-trucks-to-county-parks-1.1028980#sthash.hsIcTQ1X.dpuf

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FOOD POLICE: USDA Creating $1.9 Million Research Center Devoted to Changing American’s Food Choices

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FOOD POLICE : USDA Creating $1.9 Million Research Center Devoted to Changing American’s Food Choices

Research to examine dismantling fast food combos

BY: Elizabeth Harrington
June 2, 2014 5:00 pm

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating a $2 million research center to study how the government can “nudge” Americans toward making healthier eating habits.

The agency is currently accepting grant applications to establish a “Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research,” which will facilitate studies such as how breaking up combo meals at fast food restaurants would influence customers.

“The USDA Center will facilitate new and innovative research on the application of behavioral economics theory to healthy food choice behaviors that would contribute to enhancing the nutrition, food security, and health of American consumers,” the USDA’s grant announcement said.

The center will be given at least $1.9 million over three years, with the possibility of future funding. Its research will focus on “facilitating food choice behaviors” and improving the diets of Americans enrolled on food stamps and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

https://freebeacon.com/issues/usda-creating-1-9-million-research-center-devoted-to-changing-americans-food-choices/

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World Bank sounds alarm on rising global food prices

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World Bank sounds alarm on rising global food prices

World food prices rose in the first quarter of the year for the first time since their all-time high in August 2012, driven by rising demand in China, drought in the United States and unrest in Ukraine.

According to the World Bank, internationally traded food prices increased by a sharp 4.0 percent. The leap was led by wheat and maize, up 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

As a result, international food prices in April were only 2.0 percent lower than a year ago and 16 percent below their record level in August 2012, the bank’s quarterly food price report said.

“Increasing weather concerns and import demand — and, arguably, to a lesser extent, uncertainty associated with the Ukraine situation — explain most of the price increases,” the report said.

World Bank economists said prices increased despite bumper crops in 2013 and continued projections of record grain harvests and stronger stocks expected for 2014.

Persistently dry conditions in the United States and strong global demand, particularly from China, partly explained the price rises.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/world-bank-sounds-alarm-rising-202850180.html#an6iKZy

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The First Lady’s food-fight debacle

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The First Lady’s food-fight debacle

By Michelle Malkin

May 21, 2014 | 6:50am

Look out, everyone: The nation’s school lunch lady, Michelle Obama, is mad.

With her federal nutrition program under fire across the country and now on Capitol Hill, Mrs. Obama put out a “forceful” call to arms this week to “health activists,” according to The Washington Post.

She’s cracking the whip. Her orders are clear: There must be no escape. The East Wing and its sycophants zealously oppose any effort to alter, delay or waive top-down school meal rules. Big Lunch must be guarded at all costs.

Progressives blame kid-hating Republicans and greedy businesses for the revolt against Mrs. Obama’s failed policies. But the truth is right around the corner in your students’ cafeterias. Districts are losing money.

https://nypost.com/2014/05/21/the-first-ladys-food-fight-debacle/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

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Fast food workers strike for higher wages

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Fast food workers strike for higher wages

Bruce Horovitz, Yamiche Alcindor,Calum MacLeod, Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY8:58 a.m. EDT May 15, 2014

NEW YORK — Hundreds of fast food workers walked off their jobs in dozens of U.S. cities on Thursday — reportedly forcing at least a few locations to temporarily close or re-staff while mostly managers filled-in — as sympathetic protesters in several dozen countries joined in a united call for wages of $15 an hour and the right to form a union.

No violence was reported early Thursday. Restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC are being targeted. The strike, targeting the $200 billion fast-food industry at a time of intense competition, is aimed at directing consumer attention to the low wages of most fast-food workers. The one-day campaign continues protests launched 18 months ago.

Strikers claim that managers opted to close down a Burger King in Dorchester, Mass, where a half dozen workers were striking, but Burger King officials could not immediately confirm that. “During this time, customer service and quality will remain a top priority in Burger King restaurants,” company spokesman Alix Salyers said, in a statement. While McDonald’s officials insist that no McDonald’s restaurants have been closed due to the strike, protesters insist that several have.

In New York City, dozens of workers stood outside a McDonald’s nearby Penn Station demanding higher wages and the right to form a union.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/05/15/fast-food-workers-strike/9114245/

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With customers trending toward all-natural pet food, North Jersey pet shops adapt

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With customers trending toward all-natural pet food, North Jersey pet shops adapt

MAY 12, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

* Natural products cost consumers and stores more but are growing in popularity

North Jersey pet supply store owners say the trend of customers seeking pet food containing all-natural ingredients might cost customers more, but it has brought a growing number of better-informed pet owners into their shops.

In 2007, a massive recall of pet food that contained the chemical melamine, which is used in fertilizer and plastic utensils, shook customers’ preferences from generic food that contains corn, wheat or soy toward hormone- and steroid-free, grass-fed, all-meat ingredients, owners said.

In fact, through May 2013, the percentage of dog food brands claiming to be “gluten-free” was 28.6 percent, up from 12.6 percent in the full year of 2012, according to a report on United States pet food trends last year by Supply Side Animal Nutrition Insights. In the same report it said natural pet food accounted for $1.5 billion in sales in 2009, and was projected to outpace the sales of traditional pet food over the next five years.

This shift in what customers wanted to feed their pets forced local owners to expand their offerings of pet food, which added costs to their bottom line. But it also helped build trust with their customers. While large retailers like Petco offer organic and all-natural food, the owners said being a smaller store offers them the opportunity to talk one-on-one with customers and offer specific food recommendations for certain breeds of dogs.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/shops-say-pet-owners-choosing-food-with-care-1.1014144#sthash.5TP74JHj.dpuf

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Food Fight: Local Delis, Students Upset Over New Bergen Schools Rules On Food Deliveries

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Food Fight: Local Delis, Students Upset Over New Bergen Schools Rules On Food Deliveries

Officials: We Don’t Want Outsiders In Our Buildings; Bring Lunch Or Buy Here
March 24, 2014 6:34 PM

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — It’s a trend that is being stopped in its tracks.

Administrators in one New Jersey school district have put a stop to food deliveries during school hours. It had become a popular alternative to the school cafeteria.

For 5,900 students in Bergen County it’s a simple directive: either carry in your lunch or buy it at the cafeteria. No more delivery.

A local deli owner told CBS 2’s Lou Young the new rule is killing him.

“I used to do 150 lunches on a slow day, up to 250 a day. I was in eight schools, and now that’s down to zero,” said Roger Schmorrbusch, owner of the Park Wood Deli.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/03/24/local-delis-students-upset-over-new-bergen-schools-rules-on-food-deliveries/