Top U.S. Chef Introducing a Cheap and Healthy Fast Food Chain

[demmiblue]

Source: Care2

<snip>

Last year, Choi made a splash when he called out the culinary world for allowing good food to become a classist issue, inevitably creating “desolate food communities.” Now, he’s taking action himself – along with notable San Francisco restaurateur Daniel Patterson — to fill the gaps with restaurants of his own.

<snip>

Indeed, it seems unfair to declare that people living in lower income neighborhoods wouldn’t want healthier dining alternatives when such alternatives rarely exist to prove otherwise.

To compete with current fast food giants like McDonald’s and Burger King, cost is essential. After all, giving people who live near the poverty line access to better food is useless if they can’t afford to eat the food regularly. For that reason, Loco’l aims to price each of its items between $2 and $6.

Although the Loco’l team has yet to reveal a complete menu, Choi said it would feature multicultural cuisine that mimics the current appetite of the American populace. That means tacos, falafels, rice bowls, salads, and, yes, hamburgers. Healthier hamburgers, though: the beef will be mixed with tofu and Choi’s colleague, Chad Robertson, is currently developing a whole grain fermented bun just for the restaurant chain.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/top-u-s-chef-introducing-a-cheap-and-healthy-fast-food-chain.html#ixzz3BolQAyCn

[whistler162]

1. Sorry but not a cannibal....

"the beef will be mixed with tofu and Choi’s colleague, Chad Robertson,"

Shudder... though a very limited market supply.

[louis-t]

3. HaHa!!

didn't catch that.

[whistler162]

5. Editing and proof raeding is a lost art.

[msanthrope]

12. Indeed it is (please don't correct your post! It's perfect!) nt

[louis-t]

2. As long as the food doesn't taste like styrofoam, I'll go.

[dilby]

4. Cool idea but will be interesting how he will be able to afford chefs in fast food place with

a pricing menu that he is suggesting. Even in high end restaurants chefs are barely making enough money to live. I would also like to see his menu to determine what he considers healthy affordable food. I have a feeling the food will be 10% protein, 20% veggies and 70% carbs but the carbs will be brown rice or whole grain bread or pasta so people will believe it's good for them.

[whistler162]

6. Good fast food is Green Hills Market deli or

Wegmans(Hot, Asian, Soup, and Salad buffets).

[NightWatcher]

7. So he's going to open them in rough, blighted inner cities, right?

Or will the first ones open in San Fran and other trendy locales?

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Because San Fran has no low income neighborhoods, right?

Here are a few: Bayview,the Tenderloin,Vistacion Valley,Western Addition, Treasure Island, Sunnydale, and Chinatown -- but there's already plenty of cheap, nutritious fast food in Chinatown.

[Logical]

8. The first day it is open some DU member will insult it and call it "low grade dog food"

[steve2470]

10. yep nt

[KurtNYC]

9. From Bloomberg on down, the comfortable always think that low income people eat at restaurants.

Bloomberg thought the answer to obesity was to limit the size of those $5 a piece soft drinks at movie theaters. To him $12 each for tickets and $5 for the soda were cheap.

This idea seems similar. I work on a farm that donates a lot to local food banks and soup kitchens. The clients there MAY go to McDonalds once in a while to get something off the Dollar Menu. Perhaps to people who have restaurants full of people spending $50 each for dinner, the assumption is that low income families spend $5 each on dinner. They really seem to have no idea how little money other people have.

There ARE healthy fast food restaurants and their core customers are young working adults with above average disposable income -- Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Jason's Deli, Panera, and, Noodles and Company are examples.

A better aid for low income Americans is the "Good and Cheap" SNAP cookbook produced this year by a Canadian nutritionist. Her goal was to offer great meals on $4 per day:

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

[Laelth]

15. Nice link. Thanks. n/t

-Laelth

[Prophet 451]

11. I'll give it a try if they open one near me

That said, I live in a mid-sized English city so I may have to wait a while to try out their burgers.

[MineralMan]

13. Good luck to him.

But, I'd skip the tofu in the burgers. Instead, use something else, like oats to bulk them up. I"m not sure who he thinks will be patronizing his restaurant, but if he makes the food too strange, it won't sell well.

[Laelth]

14. Good. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth