“Dija Know…”
Joe's Restaurant Newsletter -63
NOV 2011
Nancy Kreger's works are gracing Joe's walls through the holiday season. And on Sun Dec 4 at 3PM you are invited for a showing of her new and old works here at Joe's. Refreshments will be served and Nancy will be here to chat about her work. Also you may want to purchase Nancy's holiday greeting cards thus supporting a local artist (unless you have a friend at Hallmark)! Nancy's paintings, prints and greeting cards are available right here at Joe's.
We are now making all of our pizzas with our own fresh made mozzarella. We buy the curd from a small family-run local dairy - Old Windmill Dairy. Roland or one of his crew hand stretch it into cheese several times a day. You absolutely cannot get fresher Fresh Mozzarella anywhere. And now all of our pizzas are made with this truly local, artisan cheese. What a difference!
Joel Salatin has a new book out - Folks, This Ain't Normal. Joel was prominently featured in Michael Pollan's paradigm-changing book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. Joel, a hardheaded food purist, wants Big Government out of his fields. Ironically his beautiful self-sustaining Polyface Farm is located in VA near Washington DC. Polyface is a near perfect template for the local sustainable food-production movement that is swelling every year in the United Sates of America. We are getting the message. You 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 … whether we slow down enough to be aware of it or not. Joel's pearls of homegrown wisdom and truths about the hope of REAL whole healthy food production shine through the pages of his books. We will soon be carrying his books for sale. Why? Because he says what we believe. Your and our demands for a local sustainable food supply are being heard. This vital movement is growing. We can and will reclaim control over how we fuel our bodies and therefore our lives.
An addendum - By the way, don't get me wrong - I want you to have the choice to eat Monsanto, Cargill, Jenny-O and Tyson “foods”. I also want to preserve my right, and yours, not to.
MacDonald's has now been both the cause of and victim of it's own food scandal. Last week, it was the McRib scandal. This week, it's the Egg McMuffin. See video here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/video-egg-supplier-scandal-rocks-mcdonalds/article2243611/ *
As we said in a past newsletter about eggs (see Dija Know #44) - you just cannot produce an egg for 7 cents. If you do, something will go wrong. Disease is rampant in industrial chicken farms, antibiotics are routine, workers are devoid of pride in their work (who wouldn't be?), cruelty is shocking, careless practices cannot be perfectly monitored, chicken feed is grossly species inappropriate and of cheapest quality. Quite frankly these common production protocols form the perfect storm for disease-producing food. Do not expect food scares to be occasional occurrences. The remedy? Know your grower. Know who produces what you eat. Make them accountable by visiting their farms and asking questions. Exercise your freedom to make informed and wise choices. This is the only way we can change things that are utterly untenable.
*BTW - be warned you may not be able to watch the video footage of the MacDonald's and Target egg farm operation.
We want to acknowledge some promotions. Keith and Leo are doing a fine job as day and night managers. And Christiana is incredibly diligent as headwaiter. All three deserve kudos for their hard work and the unique style each brings to his/her job. Not to mention, we are so pleased with every member of our staff. The kitchen team members are steady as a rock and front of house team has flair and truly care about our guests. Thank you all so much.
If I could shout out any single message that I have learned (the hard way, btw) it would be, “It's the food, stupid!” It's always the food.
In the human body, nutritional deficiencies can take a long time to show up. Our bodies have amazing compensatory mechanisms and humans have a relatively long life span. But show up they do.
A friend of mine raises chickens. She frequently gives me updates on their health and their egg production.
Over the years she has learned that when she cuts corners and feeds them nutritionally inferior scratch, they soon exhibit chicken diseases (whatever they may be) and their egg production goes down or the shells are thin or the yolks don't hold form. Now a chicken population is a nearly perfect population to observe. With a relatively short life span and high metabolism, health issues quickly show up. Now let's make the leap to humans. For over a decade I have been asking myself why so many people nowadays are not well? Many people think they're just getting old - but I maintain that is not normal or acceptable. What happened to vitality and robust health? When and why did this epidemic of degenerative diseases (I prefer to call them syndromes) begin? Even in young people, certain chronic diseases are alarmingly prevalent. Many young people now carry unhealthy fat deposits - a sure sign that health is out of balance. And furthermore, it is now commonly accepted to use antibiotics and drugs as routine therapy, rather than getting to the real CAUSE of health problems.
Cut to the chase -- In my not so humble opinion, I can only conclude “It's the food, stupid!” When my chicken farmer friend improves the quality of what she feeds her hens, egg production returns to normal and her hens are healthy and happy. Although it takes much longer to see results in humans, food, real food has remarkable regenerative properties.
And fortunately humans have more control over their food choices than do chickens. Our choices are narrowed by monopolies and agribusiness, but we still do have choices. The best is of course to grow your own - you control the soil, the seed, the fertilizer and the harvest. More practical for most of us is to Know Your Grower. Get to know the farmers. Visit the Farmers Market. Buy at the local LaMontanitas CO-OP. Visit farms. Ask questions. Avoid processed food, inferior quality food, GMO food, irradiated food and food shipped long distances.
There is a price to pay for cheap, agribusiness “food” and I assure you, you do not want to pay that price.
The Beaujolais is here! The Beaujolais is here!
I love Beaujolais Nouveau - always have, always will. Simple, unsophisticated, fun, fruity, young and immanently drinkable. It heralds the holiday season - the coming of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and it must be drunk by New Years Day! So order a glass or a bottle and enjoy it with almost any food. This year we have chosen the classic Georges DuBeoeuf 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau. An inexpensive joy-filled treat.
Your positive response to and support of our local food buying efforts is tremendously encouraging. Joe's continues to increase its Farmers Market buying. Currently well over 1/3 of our food budget goes to local farmers and growers alone. In a commercial operation that is astounding - it surprises even us! What that means is this - your support of the local farmers encourages them to take more risks growing a bigger variety of foods for a longer season. Additionally, local food producers (like Ed from Old Windmill Dairy) try more exotic products because they know you will buy them. These are huge steps in taking back control of our food supply.
Here is a partial list of local ingredients we use: grass finished NM Sweetgrass Co-Op ground beef, lamb, bison, chile, eggs, NM organic flour, feta, house made mozzarella, fruits, veggies, sprouts, wines, beers and breads.
Free food! With a Joe's gift card for $100 (when you pay with a check or cash) it is programmed to give you an additional $10 worth of food free. This is our “frequent diner” card.
Joe's hand-made French chocolate truffles. They are close to divine. Who do you know who would love a little red bag of truffles? $1.99 @ or 5 for $8.99.
Are you on Joe's check list? Are you using your credit cards less frequently? I know we are and somehow it is liberating. Far less paperwork and fees and more fees. Then there are the regulations - they change frequently and always in the BB's (big banks) favor. We as taxpayers have contributed generously to the BB's bailouts and their CEOs' mega bonuses. Well, enough is enough. Here at Joe's we are going retro and will do what we can to encourage guests to pay by personal check and of course time-honored cash and precious metals! So if you are a regular and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get on Joe's check list.
“Anyone not busy learning is busy dying. For as long as you foster a willingness to learn, you will ward off sclerosis of the brain and hardening of the mental arteries.” Felix Dennis publisher of Maxim
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