Last night, the Peeled Team went to check out a showdown between Berkeley journalism professor Michael Pollan (he of The Omivore's Dilemma), and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who Pollan ferociously took to task in his New York Times Bestseller.  The event took place at The University of Caifornia, Berkeley's 2,000 seat Zellerbach Hall, which usually hosts theater and dance and opera and the like.  Last night, it hosted a power point presentation and some chit chat.

But rarely has chit-chat been SOOO entertaining.  We were treated to about 2 hours worth of back and forth from two of the most influencial foodies of our time.  Hmmm.  There's an interesting notion.  "Our Time" is one that has room enough for several foodies.  No more rabid focus on Julia Childs or Alice Waters.  Now the pot is thickened with a multitude of opinions about just how much food should be in food, how organic is organic, and what's the future of fish in the sea.

But the evening started out with a lecture on hunting and gathering.  Huh?  When Pollan gave up the stage to Mackey, Mr. CEO put before us a macro-history of eating.  I suppose in some respect he was trying to frame the "big picture", but more than anything he was trying to gain a little sympathy.  He had, after all, wandered into a room full of people who had read Pollan's partly-anti-Whole Foods book.  And he was, after all, in Berkeley California, where hissing is an art form.

Sympathy he earned, through plain speaking, broad perspective, clear points, and a cheerfully intellectual take on all that we eat.  Going in I certainly carried none of the anti-Mackey prejudices bared by most of the audience, but walking out I considered myself a Mackey-fan. 

After the slide show, which also gave Mackey a chance to curry some favor thanks to his anouncement of a couple of bold initiatives for foodies and bleeding hearts, the two sat down for a tet-a-tet.  Pollan asked some civil questions (and some politely uncivil ones), but it took a while for a real conversation to get going.  They agree on a lot, like the dreadful state of the meat industry, and the disasterous consequences of over fishing.  But agreements make for boring talk.

The battlezones were mostly about the consequences of big business organics, which Mackey believes can be done responsibly, but which Pollan assumes will quickly dilute the value of Organic.  In an interesting concession, Pollan imagined what the world would be like if Coca-Cola when Organic (it'd be better.  Only slightly.  Mostly on corn farms.  Corn farms still suck).

For us at Peeled Snacks, such an engagement is better than the Super Bowl or the Oscars or the Premier of Indiana Jones part IV.  Here are two big thinkers bashing their heads together, chomping at each other, yet finding common ground, all in the public arena.  Thanks so much to the new Peeled Snacks team member, Matt, for snagging us the tickets.  He had a dentist's appointment, so he couldn't go.  Boy did he get the lousy part of that deal.

Both speakers really took to task the American meat industry, and I walked out of there seriously considering a return to vegetarianism (which, for the record, almost killed my northern-european rooted self).  Yet Mackey eloquently spoke to my reaction by saying that his consumers don't want to know all the terrible things there are to know about food-  there are so few options for getting good, responsibly grown meat, yet dining without meat would really suck.

The biggest, most interesting battle, and the only one which actually elicited hisses from the audience, occured around the COST of organic and local food.  Asked what Whole Foods can do for poor people with poor eating habits, Mackey tepidly offered that Americans are getting richer, and soon they'll all be able to buy all the organic, locally grown, nutrient rich, fair trade food that they want.

Boy did he look at the floor a lot when he was rolling out that spiel, and the Berkeley audience gave him a severe hissing for it.  Let's face it- health food is a luxury right now.  The cheapest thing to eat is corn syrup (thanks to government subsidies), which will keep you alive but will rot your brain.  To assume that eventually the huge gap between wealthy and poor in America will just naturally close is akin to assuming that pigs will one day fly.  Sure, it's possible, but it'll take a HECK of a lot of catapults.

Afterward the show we joined up with fellow foodie and friend Dana, the Queen of Goat Milk Ice Cream.  She offered this interesting insight into John Mackey:

He's a Vegan.

The nation's most influential grocer, a man who impacts decisions that determine the fates of MILLIONS of animals per month, doesn't even eat cheese.  I find that a scary, scary thought.  Sure, he's right- the meat industry scares the be-jeezus out of me too...  But I don't want to give it up.  Sigh

Ian "Peeled Skinny" K 

Posted by iankusc at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First things first: We just got into Amazon.com.  If you're shopping there, and feel like some snacks, DEFINITELY grab some.  The shipping prices blow our website's out of the water.  Thanks to everyone that made this possible.  We're very excited to be sold amongt such esteemed companies as Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" and "The Rocket Rod".

Earlier on in the California Files I mentioned my muchacha Dana and her Goat Milk Ice Cream company, Laloo's.  Though I met her only a month ago, she's turned out to be a pretty cool dame, and I can safely vouch for her should anyone somehow run into her and wonder, "is this dame cool or not?"  Take it from me- she passes the test.

Anyway, last week the Peeled Snacks crew met up with Dana for a little din-din and chin-chin, during which we spilled out all our goofy, confused, barely credible analysis of California and its ways and means.  By no means are we neophytes (having lived in San Diego for a couple of years somewhere back there), yet somehow there still remained an unanswered "Riddle of California" about which we puzzled:

Why are people here so "Chill"?

If you've romped out here, you know something about it- the placidity of people, the ease with which they trundle down the streets, the smoothness of their smiles, the evenness of their tones.  Coming from New York, I'm used to ruffled feathers everywhere.  In my adopted city, everything IS out to get you- the taxis will run you over, the shop owners will rip you off, the hustlers will steal your baby.  You have to toughen yourself, and that toughening, frankly, ruffles the feathers of the soul (and skin of the face, in the form of wrinkles).

Here in San Francisco, the taxis are, for the record, MORE dangerous than the ones in New York (the city has the nation's highest pedestrian death rate).  The shops are just as much of a rip off.  And try wandering through San Francisco's frightfully dodgy "Tenderloin" district without someone trying to pinch something, ANYTHING off of you.  And yet, in spite of such similar slings and arrows and outrageous fortune, people here just seem to have a firmer grip on their inner Buddha.

Well, these observations (and others, like marvelling at how the yearly San Francisco Valentine's Day "Pillow Fight" (see photo above), fought between throngs of 20-something hipsters out front of the Ferry Building, would never work in NYC, what with all the thugs, creeps, and weirdos) I put before Dana, imploring her to make sense of this mad, happy city.  With her infectious laugh she took the question, played with it a moment, and offered this insight:

"People here just get into a routine.  They find a groove, and run with it."

Ah-HAH!!!  What makes Bay area denizens function! So if you say "Groovy" here, you're actually saying something somewhat complex.  So get into a "groove," a routine, is perhaps, a way to take the madness that abounds in this area and navigate it.  Pick a life destination, chart a firm course, and stick to it.

I can relate this all to the selling of snacks only by saying that we're trying to fit Peeled Snacks into as many of those grooves as possible.  I'm positive that many a groove would welcome our yummy snacks, but finding our way to the record player proves quite a task.  You gotta admit, though- Peeled Snacks make a LOT of sense in the context of West Coast routines.  When we blow up here, there'll be wonderful, groovy repercusions.

Posted by iankusc at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

California's suffered an odd winter this year, as Los Angeles received, gasp, snowfall, yet San Francisco has its driest January EVER.  Somehow, the Bush regime BS tact of renaming Global Warming "Global Climate Change" seems oddly apt as all those Angelinos huddle by their car engines (the city's only source of heat, I think).  The Bay area just got  its first blast of rain, though that hardly corrects the "change".

If anyone reading this wonders what on Earth the weather has to do with snacks,  then said person hasn't been paying attention.  To anything.  Two Fridays ago, an announcement by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change basically amounted to an attempt to say "the discussion is over.  This is happening, and it's our fault.  Now, what do we do about it." 

The White House's reaction? "We agree with it, and the science behind it is something that our country has played a very important role in," or so says U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.  Of course, this is the same Samuel Bodeman who, after Katrina hit, stated...

"We are committed to doing everything in our power to meet the immediate needs of those directly affected by Hurricane Katrina." Of course, he was speaking about oil company executives, but if words were deeds, he'd really seem like just the sweetest guy.

Anyway, all this chatting about weather and the environment and vulgar lies reminds me of the great state of California's tradition of pushing the cultural envelope.  Before dumping into the sea, this nation of ours (sometimes yours) takes some daring strides towards re-invention.  For 150 years,  the vangaurds of social change have used California as a testbed, sometimes progressing (John Muir, anyone?), sometimes impressing (HOLLYWOOD!), sometimes depressing (Nixon comes from here).

But the legacy's a dubious one.  After all, this is where "Car Culture" truly found its footing, and thanks to the highway system, you can no find ample parking in the rush-hour traffic all over the state.  In spite of whatever claims to environmentalism Cali might have, the Military Industial Complex has hooks deep into the state.  And for all the parks put up here, soil erosion and habitat destruction receive no reprieve.

Furthermore, most impacting on California, at least as far as we're concerned, are the labor policies.  I suppose that's a way of saying "most impacting one Peeled Snacks", but whatever.  All the people here don't amount to enough people to pick all the pears off the trees come harvest season, so the crop spoils, and "Shock-olate" suffers, as the farmers proved last November when they dumped several tons of wasted crops on the Whitehouse lawn.
 
A former part of Mexico, California now protects itself as best it can from "illegals", yet the whole day worker culture runs on them.  And while California is often considered the great socialist experiment, the homeless problem here is out of control, and most of its citizenry suffer from the same Health Insurance mess as the rest of the country.  The ideals and intents just don't match the reality.  Though, in all fairness, at least here they're trying.  Texas can't brag as much.

California's put a couple of presidents up there, but they were both Republicans.  Yet somehow the state is perceived as a liberal home.  Hippy culture started here (though surely its roots run to New York soil), yet so did porn culture.  Is this place liberal, or libertarian, agrarian conservative, or inclusively socialist, or just the dystopian urban landscape run amok as predicted by "Blade Runner"....?

Well I'll tell you one thing- it's a great place to sell Peeled Snacks, and an even greater place to avoid the snow storms of the East Coast.... 

Posted by iankusc at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you know me (or my blog babbling), you know that I've a weakness for sodas, particularly the super-funky, fruity, bitter, or odd-ball variety.  I'll take as strong a ginger-beer as you can find me, or as fruity a grapefruit soda as you can concoct (and oh, can Fizzy-Lizzy make one fruity grapefruit soda).  In NYC, I know exactly which shops dabble in the funky sodas, but here in Cali?  I just didn't know where to go for the odd, the ambitious, the enticing soda or "pop"....

Then I discovered "The Berkeley Bowl"....

What do you look for in a grocery store?  Perhaps you look for variety?  Or maybe you look for your particular brands.  Maybe you're price concious.  Maybe you want all organic.  Do you like to discover new stuff?  In need of bulk?  Curious about the butcher shop?  Have high standards for veggies?  Are you (like my dear friend Eirik) a cheese addict?  What if you're into ALL these things? 

I kind of am.  I like my organic meats and produce, but I also like inexpensive bulk cereals and grains.  I know exactly what kind of canned tomatoes I like, but I want to have a lot of options when it comes to olive oil and tea.  The "Bowl" caters to ALL my needs in a bewildering, blinding fashion.  It's enormous, yet it has a density of substance (unlike, say, your box-store grocery, or anything in New York short of Fairway).

When I first walked into the Bowl, I was flabbergasted.  Piles of freshly baked bread loomed overhead as a maze of wines lurked behind, and aisles upon aisles of canned goods beckoned, while an army of veggies waited in the wings.  I felt like Theodore Davis must have felt when her first uncovered King Tutankhamen's tomb.  So much to SEE! So much to DO!  So many MUMMIES to FIGHT!

No, wait.  Scratch that last part.  Though there were a LOT of "Mommies" (Berkeley, much like NYC, seems to be experiencing a sizable Baby-Boom).  Frankly, I was in heaven, and what was supposed to be a quick trip to pick up some rice-milk turned into a veritable ORGY of shelf-gawking.  I dare-say that I've never, NEVER, seen such a perfect arrray of produce in all my life.  And anyone that knows me well will tell you that I'm a total produce SLUT!

But that's the great thing about California, isn't it?  You can pick up a locall grown, organic orange pepper for $1.09 per pound (and I did), and buy mushrooms by the wheel-barrow full (if you happen to own a wheel barrow).  Considering the cold-snap that my co-workers in New York are enduring, I can't rightly complain about the San Fran weather anymore, but if I COULD, I'd have to say that the produce makes it all worth it.

Now, if you'll forgive me, I'm going to go pick up some grapefruit soda.  And some carrots.  And some cereal.  And some lamb chops.  And some cheddar cheese.  And some olives.  And some...

...you get the point... 

Posted by iankusc at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)