Eating Out Doubt

While the implications from Food Inc. were pretty clear, I did have one reservation about moving to a completely organic, less meat reliant diet: eating out.

I am a diehard. I’ve been a busboy, waiter, bartender, corporate restaurant marketer, and still am an avid foodie. When Jen and I were first dating, I ran an 800-1200 eating out tab. Now that did include our bar tab, which was sizable enough for us to be implicated in the “Great Vodka Shortage” of ’07.

We tore up Olives, Hi-Rise and Dali in Boston; Crown & Anchor, Maudie’s and Hoover’s in Austin, Planet Thailand, Great Jones and Les Deux Gamin in New York; and 2 Urban Licks, Pappasito’s and Little Bankok in Atlanta. I love(d) them all.

Our first test was a road trip to Charleston. Normally I’m a McDonald’s biscuit meal kind of guy, but no mas. So there’s sort of a “huh, now what?” Well, we probably should have done breakfast at home, but didn’t. So we stopped at a grocery store and I got a yogurt and a banana. Breakfast was delicious and even cheaper than the value meal. The convenience factor definitely takes a hit in the morning.

When we got home, we did some research into our favorite places, and surprisingly, we’d already been eating organic/locally grown meals: Parish, Cakes and Ale (Decatur), Holeman and Finch, the Shed and even Holy Taco (parts of the menu). We also ran across and tried Ted’s Montana Grill, which features bison and sustainable packaging.

One of the things we learned watching Food Inc. is that America traded 75MM head of bison for 45MM head of cattle, in terms of the net headcount for our land limits. You don’t need a calculator to see the drop in capacity.

Bison is also leaner. Bison have a significantly less negative impact on the environment. They are universally grass fed. The cost is comparable to beef. There’s currently a slight premium. Oh, and it’s delicious. Yea Ted’s!

When you get below CDR (casual dining restaurants), the options are fewer, but are there if you can escape the gravity of McDonald’s and Wendy’s. Chipotle is championing Food Inc because of how they source their pork and their vegetarian options. Jason’s Deli has an organic salad bar that’s excellent and cheap. Most sandwich shops have a veggie sub. The taquerias around here offer tilapia and shrimp tacos. Eric Van Fossen swears by La Fonda’s fish tacos. I’m liking the blackened tilapia at Verde in Brookhaven. You see some grass fed this and that hear and there. There's a site called mnn.com has the "top ten" organic fast food restaurants.

I remember reading about George Harrison going veg in the 70s, but having to give it up because with the traveling, he couldn’t find food to eat. Well your stomach no longer has to gently weep. There are plenty of options, and they extend down to the cheaper, fast food arenas.