Feed America=feed walmart?

Larger food banks no longer accept donations of food from individuals. This is because its a pain in the butt for them to inventory, package and store a multitude of small individually donated items. To their budget it makes more sense to let Walmart deal with warehousing the food and just go shopping with donated cash when you need inventory.

Large food banks, like Feed America, provide the majority of their services to the public school system. They supplement and often run the before and after school lunch programs. The intent of these programs is to provide additional food to kids whos working parents dobnt have the time to cook breakfast and dinner at home or take them to Mcdonalds.

So follow my logic train here. The government (and private doners) gives millions (billions) of dollars to food banks(*cough* middle men), which they spend at Walmart (and other large volume grocers) buying food to feed 10s of millions of American kids. Children who's parents cant afford to feed them or dont have the time to feed them because their wage is low and needs to be supplemented with the second job. A wage kept low by Walmart so its prices stay low and customers (the largest buyer of food being the government and/or private food banks) dont shop elsewhere.

mmmmm Horse

So I was working with these refugee kids from Cuba, and we were out to lunch and they asked what kind of meat the hamburger was. My first thought was "do they keep kosher and are worried its pork?". I guess I'm really sheltered..They were expecting horse. Apparently the idea of eating horse isnt that uncommon in America today. In general I've got no problem with people eating horse; I've had some myself up Vancouver BC and it was ok. It cant be an efficient animal to raise for meat purposes though. I'm not expert but horses come off as a lean animal and prob wouldnt be a popular meat for the same reason we dont raise elk for slaughter. From a patriots point of view I dont like the idea of Oklahoma slaughtering the former majestic wild mustang herds and selling them to soup factories in china. Its seems bizarre to me that suddenly people think horse meat is the breakthrough market that will save the meatpacking industry in America. Didnt George Bush claim Emu was the Americas next great meat product?
I dont know how its held up but Hot to Trot was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was a huge Mr. Ed fan too.

Nothing kills like success(Taco Lu)

Just a little update on the Taco Lu new location - HATED IT. The new building feels like a fancy restaurant (not a taco cantina) and looks like a ski/hunting lodge(not a taco cantina). Being literally the only place to eat in Jax the people who couldnt get into the old location now flock to the new. I still can only get a seat by snagging one at the bar unless I want to wait 45 mins. Everything that was intimate and "real" (if crowded) is gone replaced by a -store- that belongs with the chain restaurants at St. Johns Towncenter. The old bar was busy but had dark nooks that buffeted you from the throngs. The "open" ski lodge design brings everyone's noise into your face like a school cafeteria. Parking is still impossible even with the larger lot and I lol'd at the huge line for the "free" valet.

I wonder if they'll be able to maintain quality and price with such an increase in demand. I guess nothing kills like success. 

Jacksonville Taco Lu is New!

The only restaurant in Jacksonville worth eating at has finally opened its new location. For those of you who havnt tried it, Taco Lu is an up scale "Cantina" that serves lots of alcohol and tacos. While you can get tacos anywhere..Taco Lu brings in unusual ingredients, fresh local fish, and manages to keep the bill fairly small. My favorites are the Scallop Avocado taco, Wahoo with wilted spinach taco, and the brisket royal with grapes and cubes of queso taco. They also offer excellent chips and salsa for free. The salsa is perfect mixed of having great flavor but not being too spicy. Total thumbs up..though avoid the mens bathroom in their original location..I guess they are trying to keep the name authentic.   

Food Mission : Find Chor Ladda

Flower shaped pasta with cocunut milk and minced chicken. Its a Thai dish. Gotta find some and try this!

FDA claims Licorice causes Arrhythmia.

Hmm anyone know anyone with heart issues that loves licorice tea ?

Food trucks abound!

Apparently a whole culture of gourmet food truck eat'n has sprung up of late. Both In the Pacific Northwest and in Florida. I'm proud to say while living in Lynnwood we tried out several of the taco trucks in the area in an effort to show the foster kids more diversity in food beyond and Mac & Cheese, Pizza and sushi.  Guess I gotta get on the band wagon here in Florida. wonder if the model could be used to make mobile social service providers.

pet food confusion

I bought Wellness cat food at Petco today..after spending like a hours evaluating the ingredients of the various products. It gets good ratings on the internet too...but then there is this video..it looks like a fake..I mean really thats a LOT of bones..and my product doesnt seem to have any...but still

Next time we are in Az

Gotta try this place!

Worst food ever ?

Spotted this at the local Kroger market. Its a pie crust  filled with molasses and sugar crystals that have been dyed different colors with food coloring. Is that not the most digesting thing you've ever heard of ? And isnt Mardi Gras like more than a month away? I guess the sugar will be nicely aged by the time the holiday rolls around....yumm

To have wolves you must kill wolves

Interesting story here. We've gotten to the point of saturation with wolf populations where we need to be constantly gassing their dens in order to protect our precious population of walking McDonald's hamburgers. I like a good steak but between deforestation for grazing land and this sorta stuff cow really doesnt seem worth it.

Whale of a tail

Here is a good ole Florida story. Fisherman finds a dead whale washed up on shore. Butchers it to eat. Gets arrested. Btw this isnt on some island somewhere...this is in Delray Beach..that Boca for ya. Here is a link to The Cove, an award winning documentary about dolphin/whale farming that I've never seen but is suppose to be mind opening. 

Hot coffee at 30,000 locations

No, not Starbucks. What I feel is the worlds best coffee is apparently available in all the bottom dwelling fast food restaurants. Quiznos being better than Subway, McDonalds is better than Burger King).  The only exception to this is Boarders vs Barnes and Noble.

Anyhoo go give them a try if you got one of these in your neighborhood..its better coffee at a better price with better presentation imho. Just dont eat the food at the restaurant.

Pop up restaurants

Here is an interesting story I heard about on NPR this morn. Basically folks who want to run a restaurant but dont want to buy all the expensive cooking devices are renting out bakeries and whatnot during the evening on a temporary basis. Then through the miracle of the internet the foodies find these place and 'vala' instant trendy success.

This story focuses on trendy chefs but I think shows off the knife in the back of snobbery is the restaurant business. Now that word of mouth is so popular good food, not a chefs reputation or a french pedigree, will bring in customers. This makes me wonder if Haddies place could have been saved if it had just been born when there was an internet. 

Beer + Taxidermy

 K..you can now buy beer bottles sewn into dead animals. I think this takes the crown of weird news

served-in-animal-corpses

Daytona area restaurant recommendations

Some recommendations for places to eat in Daytona Beach and the surrounding area