Comment Archives: stories: Special Issues: Yum
Re: “Stands Deliver”
El Nene is muy excellente. It is right up there with El Gero Canelo and BK's and just might be even better! TTDave
Re: “Sorely Missed”
OK, missed that you'd mentioned the Tack Room. It would get my vote. Sorry to hear that the Big A is gone! There was a great little Greek place on East 6th at N. Park named El Greco, but it's been gone 20 years and probably wasn't known well enough to qualify. If Casa Molina on Speedway ever closes there'll be nothing to come back for.
Re: “Retro Restaurants”
Really nice article, thanks so much. I remember the Saddle and Sirloin, Ash Alley, and the Old Pueblo Club, the Central, the Green Shack, the Most. My parents moved here in '42 but we didn't dine out frequently and my parents did not socialize so we did not have the opportunity to try a whole lot of restaurants. I liked Ye Olde Lantern for lobster on my birthdays.
Re: “Tucson's Native Cuisine”
Great information and history. Makes me want to move back to my beloved Tucson.
Emilie
Albuquerque
Re: “The Joy of Happy Hour”
I'm surprised that the Black Angus isn't mentioned here. They have a happy hour that includes 1/2 price appetizers from 5pm to 7pm M-F. We like the Wagon Wheel, which is a selection including potato skins, cocktail shrimp, poppers etc. and is regularly $12.95 so comes in at $6.50 and is almost a meal for two. There are several other items and probably drinks too, but we don't do alcohol so I can't say about that.
Re: “Growing With Love”
erlichman writes, "Food production is among the most regulated and scrutinized of processes, and today's synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are completely biodegradable" Really? Then explain to me how e-coli winds up in our fast food hamburgers and peanut butter, just to name a few processors, when we have such rigorous regulation and scrutiny from the establishment. Sheesh....
Re: “Growing With Love”
You are right, I am unable to read and also thick, probably from all the natural pesticides in the organic food I consume not to mention the tea from China that I prefer to drink cold. FYI - referencing sources nonsensically and out of context does not make your "piece" factual just full of hyperbolic rhetoric.
Re: “Growing With Love”
Sources, disinformation, rhetoric? I guess you don't read very well, do you? Since you appear to be thick, here are the sources... consumerfreedom.com, The National Review, The Center for Global Food Issues, Tanaka Farms, Irvine, California, USDA, and the FDA. Unlike you, I actually did research for this piece and my facts are exactly that, facts that are verifiable. Why don't you do a little research of your own? As far as the local organic farm, more power to them; may they stay small and local.
Re: “Growing With Love”
Sleeping Frog Farms is not a corporate conglomerate nor was this a political article, just a referral to a local organic source. The bizarre response deriding all that is organic contains no factual information nor any references or sources - just a lot of rhetoric and disinformation concerning the organic movement and organic farming.
Re: “Growing With Love”
Organic food is one of the biggest scams out there... Here are three popular myths perpetuated by the organic food industry and the counter arguments to those myths...
Buying organic food benefits small farmers, and represents a blow to the big food corporations.
All right, let's take for granted the position that major food producers deserve to be struck with a blow. I'm sure the starving millions in Africa appreciate the sentiment.
Make no mistake, organic food is big, big business. The days when the organic produce section of the supermarket represented the product of a small local farmer are long gone. California alone produces over $600 million in organic produce, most of it coming from just five farms, who are also the same producers of most non-organic food in the state. 70 percent of all organic milk is controlled by just one major milk producer.
Five or ten years ago, when the major food producers saw that organic food was coming into vogue, what do you think they did? They smelled higher prices charged for less product, and started producing organic crops. Nearly all organic crops in the United States are either grown, distributed, or sold by exactly the same companies who produce conventional crops. They don't care which one you buy. You're not striking a blow at anyone, except at your own pocketbook.
Trader Joe's is a supermarket chain specializing in organic, vegetarian, and alternative foods with hundreds of locations throughout the United States, centered in organic-happy Southern California. Shoppers appreciate its image of healthful food in a small-business family atmosphere. Really? In 2005 alone, Trader Joe's racked up sales estimated at $4.5 billion. The company is owned by a family trust set up by German billionaire Theo Albrecht, ranked the 22nd richest man in the world by Forbes in 2004. He's the co-founder and CEO of German multi-national ALDI, with global revenue in grocery sales at $37 billion. According to Business Week, the decade of the 1990's saw Trader Joe's increase its profits by 1000%. Trader Joe's also compensates its employees aggressively, with starting salaries for supervisors at $40,000. They hire only non-union workers. Now, to any capitalist or business-minded person, there's nothing wrong with any of that (unless you're pro-union or anti-big business). It's a great company, and very successful. Trader Joe's customers are willing to pay their premium prices to get that healthful image. But they should not kid themselves that they're striking a blow at big business and supporting the little guy.
I'm not exactly sure why anticorporatism wound up on the organic food agenda, since it's so counterintuitive. The irony is that the organic food companies supply a smaller amount of food per acre planted, and enjoy dramatically higher profits, which is why anticorporatists hate corporations in the first place.
For more information about organic food as big business, go to consumerfreedom.com and do a search for organic foods.
Organic foods are healthier to eat.
Did you ever wonder why Chinese drink only hot tea? They boil it to kill the bacteria. Most local Chinese farming uses organic methods, in that the only fertilizers used are human and animal waste: Without being boiled, it's basically a nice cup of E. coli. In the case of China and other poor Asian nations, the reason for organic farming has less to do with ideology and more to do with lack of access to modern farming technology.
The National Review reports that Americans believe organic food is healthier by a 2-1 margin, despite the lack of any evidence supporting this. When you take the exact same strain of a plant and grow it in two different ways, its chemical and genetic makeup remain the same. One may be larger than the other if one growing method was more efficient, but its fundamental makeup and biochemical content is defined by its genes, not by the way it was grown. Consumer Reports found no consistent difference in appearance, flavor, or texture. A blanket statement like "organic cultivation results in a crop with superior nutritional value" has no logical or factual basis.
Some supporters of organic growing claim that the danger of non-organic food lies in the residues of chemical pesticides. This claim is even more ridiculous: Since the organic pesticides and fungicides are less efficient than their modern synthetic counterparts, up to seven times as much of it must be used. Organic pesticides include rotenone, which has been shown to cause the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease and is a natural poison used in hunting by some native tribes; pyrethrum, which is carcinogenic; sabadilla, which is highly toxic to honeybees; and fermented urine, which I don't want on my food whether it causes any diseases or not. Supporters of organics claim that the much larger amounts of chemicals they use is OK because those chemicals are all-natural. But just because something is natural doesn't mean that it's safe or healthy — consider the examples of hemlock, mercury, lead, toadstools, box jellyfish neurotoxin, asbestos — not to mention a nearly infinite number of toxic bacteria and viruses (E. coli, salmonella, bubonic plague, smallpox). When you hear any product claim to be healthy because its ingredients are all natural, be skeptical. By no definition can "all natural" mean that a product is healthful.
Consider the logical absurdity proposed by those who claim conventional growers produce less healthful food. To the organically minded, conventional growers are evil greedy corporations interested only in their profit margin. What's the best way to improve the profit margin? To buy less pesticides and fertilizer. This means they must use far more advanced and efficient products. The idea that pesticides leave dangerous residues is many decades out of date. Food production is among the most regulated and scrutinized of processes, and today's synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are completely biodegradable. They're supported by decades of studies that demonstrate their total safety.
In the United States, 2006 brought two major outbreaks of E. coli, both resulting in deaths and numerous illnesses, ultimately traced to organically grown spinach and lettuce. According to the Center for Global Food Issues, organic foods make up about 1% of all the food sold in the United States, but it accounts for 8% of E. coli cases.
Organic growing methods are better for the environment.
Organic methods require about twice the acreage to produce the same crop, thus directly resulting in the destruction of undeveloped land. During a recent Girl Scout field trip to Tanaka Farms in Irvine, California, one of the owners told us his dirty little secret that contradicts what you'll find on his web site. Market conditions compelled them to switch to organic a few years ago, and he absolutely hates it. The per-acre yield has been slashed. Organic farming produces less food, and requires more acreage.
Many so-called environmentalists generally favor organic farming, at the same time that they protest deforestation to make room for more agriculture. How do they reconcile these directly conflicting views? If you want to feed a growing population, you cannot do both, and soon won't be able to do either. If you support rainforest preservation, logically you should oppose organic farming, particularly in the developing world. On the other hand, if you demand organic soybeans, then you should have the courage to stand up and say that you don't care whether black and brown people around the world have enough to eat or not.
I'm not making this stuff up. For every dreadlocked white kid beating a bongo drum in favor of organics, there is a Ph.D. agriculturist warning about its short sightedness and urging efficient modern agriculture to feed our growing population. Personally I like forests and natural areas, so I favor using the farmlands that we already have as efficiently as possible. This benefits everyone. I say we dump the useless paranormal objections to foods freighted with evil corporate hate energy, and instead use our brains to our advantage for once. When we find a better way to grow the same crop faster, stronger, healthier, and on less acreage, let's do it. We all benefit.
Re: “Native Flavor”
every one forgot those kind of food now one by one it uplifting by them selves
los angeles seo
Re: “Pause, Stop, Relax”
The famous phrase was, "Let them eat cake." The aristocracy didn't say, "Let them drink tea." But the Brits made tea available to everyone in the land, including the poorest people like beggars. I can have my tea and drink it too.
Re: “Growing With Love”
Glad to know about this. The growing Green Community includes Kids Orchard a mamber of WWOOFusa.org. There are many good choices being make. <3
Re: “Growing With Love”
Best veggies in town hands down.
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Re: “In the Kitchen”
Love it! My wife and I have eaten there on many occasions and, yes, we're among those people who make special requests. She likes to have the sauces on the side so she can add just the right amount to her fish; I like my lobster shelled. Prior to going to Kingfisher, my wife said she didn't like seafood. Now we eat at Kingfisher and Bluefin more often than other restaurants (and we eat out a lot!). We've known many of the wait staff for years and they know our routine. Tim does great work up front and Jeff and Murph do frequent checks with the diners to make sure the food is tasty and prepared as they like.