The Food Scout

You may have heard in recent news that Spain is now producing "ethical" fois gras to help sidestep some of the controversy that caused fois gras to be banned in Chicago restaurants a couple of years ago. Times have obviously changed, as this is one of the many concerns that has fallen to the very bottom of the priority list, now that consumers and restaurants alike have gone on an "eating out diet." Foodservice was growing in recent years on the assumption that eating out had become a way of life--not just a special occasion--for consumers living in a time-crunched, convenience-driven world. But as gas prices rose and the stock market fell, ...

Last fall, when the Starbucks announced slowing same-store sales (and experienced a subsequent dip in stock price), various press reminded us of the “Starbucks Economic Indicator,” wherein rising sales at Starbucks in the past had indicated strong economic waters ahead, and lagging sales predicted economic trouble ahead for all. In fact, while Starbucks got all the press attention last fall, subsequent months showed trouble for Dunkin Donuts, Wal-Mart, and recently a slew of quickservice restaurant chains.

Was it Pepsi and Coke’s fault a decade ago that schools said “yes” to their offer to pay various school districts for exclusive vending machine contracts on campuses, netting $100 - 200K per year in additional school funds? Was it the schools’ fault that they made a deal with these companies in order to help shore up declining budgets needed to fund extracurricular activities? If schools had the money they needed to operate, they would simply decline these offers, right?

Add Los Angeles to the list of cities-that-are-focused-on-the-wrong-set-of-issues-so-they-enact-stupid-Prohibition-style-legislation. At least Chicago and New York council people took on obesity last year in a more realistic, if misguided, way: by outlawing foods like fois gras or frying oil that could simply be left of trucks headed for restaurants in the city.

When it comes to addressing the “Obesity Issue” and “Global Warming,” it is clear to me that the food industry is caught up in the nation’s effort to be busy with attack strategies that are about as productive as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Local governments have been doing high-fives over bans and attempted bans on everything from fois gras to frying oil and bottled water (bought with city funds). Not only, of course, will these efforts have little to no net effect on Obesity or Global Warming in the long-run, but in fact they have created a backlash that has encouraged increased consumption by some, or simply sent people “underground” to get their fix.