🚀 go-pugleaf

Yeah, lots of blah, blah, blah.
I like his shows, but why can't he be honest & say he did it for the money,
exposure, etc.  Lay off the helping the small farmer bs.
Kerr.
(taking out the x-post)

"Matt Russell" <pirate@airmail.net> wrote in message
news:pirate-18C35B.04391910112003@library.airnews.net...
> Don't know how many of you have ever watched Rick Bayless's TV cooking
> show.  He concentrates on traditional Mexican food, and from points
> further south.  He started shilling for Burger King, which I suppose
> would raise cries of "Sellout!" from the foodie crowd.  In an
> announcement on his website trying to justify his decision, I had
> trouble keeping my jaw out of my lap while reading it.
>
> I don't argue with his underlying message, and I suppose very few
> fast-food habitu�s will be perusing his website, but I found the tone
> incredibly arrogant.
>
> Just my $0.02.  Judge for yourself.
>
>
>
>
> http://www.fronterakitchens.com/rickbayless/whatsupwbk/
>
>
> Dear friends, colleagues and co-workers:
>
> Many of you have asked me why I chose to do that ad for Burger King.  It
> was very seriously thought-through, and here is my reasoning in a
> nutshell:  I decided that it�s time for those of us in the healthy
> food/sustainable food movement to applaud any positive steps we see in
> the behemoth quick-service restaurant chains. Seventy-five percent of
> our fellow Americans nourish themselves in their restaurants at least
> once a week  (an even more serious statistic is that almost 20 percent
> eat fast food three or more time a week). I can no longer ignore these
> statistics, and I ask you not to either.
>
> I can�t take responsibility for feeding all those fast food customers in
> my restaurant.  Besides, most of them couldn�t even afford my
> restaurant.  And since our culture has made a wrong turn, several
> generations now haven�t even learned to cook.   So my (or other�s)
> cooking shows and cookbooks don�t hit their radar screens.  These are
> people who know little beyond processed food flavors. Helping them take
> steps toward honest, seasonal, natural flavors, means starting with them
> (accepting them) where they are.
>
> These folks aren�t going to change over night.  And the fast food
> franchises aren�t going to go away.  But if my BK ad encourages a few
> hundred thousand people to experience a tasty, less-processed sandwich
> of crusty bread with grilled chicken, a sauce made from roasted tomatoes
> and poblano chiles, plus a topping of grilled fresh bell peppers and
> onions > promoting that?
>
> So I choose to work on both ends of the spectrum. At
> Frontera/Topolobampo, we�ve developed an amazing team of talented chefs
> a who purchased just under half-million dollars from local, sustainable
> family farms last year. This year our Frontera Farmer Foundation has
> raised nearly $300,000 to distribute to small family farms in the form
> of capital improvement grants. Clearly, we�re committed to promoting
> local, seasonal, sustainably raised products in the hand-crafted dishes
> at our fine-dining restaurants. But I refuse to limit myself to just
> this small-but-fast-growing segment, dismissing millions of Americans
> who are light-years from knowing the wonders of local organic produce. I
> want to help them along, too. Starting right where they are.
>
> I know this bridging of categories makes some people uncomfortable. But
> that�s honestly who I am. I�m both eco-chef and fast-food supporter, if
> I�m given a voice for positive change in both those camps. And I�m
> ethnic chef, bringing respect to a little-appreciated cuisine through
> restaurants, books and television shows. I�m co-author with my teenage
> daughter of a book out next fall exploring how cooking with folks in
> other countries develops a unique language of friendship and family. I�m
> a health writer, encouraging people to embrace the realistic role of
> fabulous food in healthy living. For me it is unconscionable to limit
> myself to one camp, since food touches our lives in so many ways.
>
> Most people think I did the BK ad for the money.  Well, that�s not
> me > support small, sustainable family farms around Chicago.  The Frontera
> Farmer Foundation is going to have a much bigger impact.  And, I also
> believe, these new offerings at Burger King are, too.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Rick Bayless