Greetings from a complete noobie in the midwest who is just getting acquainted with wholesome ethnic and "whole" foods. I attended a three day Harvard Medical School/ Culinary Institute healthy kitchens seminar this spring, and now know enough to show my ignorance! I wish that high gas prices would cause people to drive less and high food prices would cause people to rethink the fast food ruts they have dropped into. My sense is that many of these patterns are a consequence of time constraints. Couple that with dollar menus and super size fries and the prognosis is grim. The drawback with whole foods isn't cost so much as the need to plan ahead to cook those steel-cut oats in the morning or soak the beans overnight. It will always be easier to order a pizza, and more popular with the young ones who dislike the unfamiliar or delayed gratification. My wife recently opened a generic make-and-take kitchen in our central SD community, and the biggest hit so far with customers has been a takeout salad bar with greens other than iceberg lettuce and hand crafted vinaigrettes. We are holding classes with some local MDs on healthy eating, but the problem we see is that no one will carry the peasant-food, try something new banner as it's not profitable. Someday, I hope our healthcare system will get the word out. For now, we're just trying to demonstrate that healthy foods can be simple, inexpensive and put the joy back in eating. We are attracting interest and our classes are full, but many attendees weren't motivated until adverse medical tests sent them our way. I hope I'm not threadjacking by asking not whether folks will begin to enjoy real food, but how can we make that happen? Thanks.
