Ham and Lamb Reign Supreme

Publication of the AFBF Public Relations Department
Insider
on Trends
2
White House
Garden
As many as 55 fruits
and vegetables will
be produced from
the south lawn
3
4
Foodie Resorts
The latest trend for
dedicated foodies
6
Reader Poll
Your turn to be
heard
Garnishes
One great way
to add color and
pizzazz
Quote
“I’ve been able to have my
kids eat so many different
things that they would
have never touched if we
bought it at a store.”
• First lady Michelle
Obama, before breaking
ground for a White House
garden on the first day of
spring. See related article
on page 2.
The preferences of
foodies, who generally
are more discriminating
than other consumers,
continue to influence the
food grown by America’s
farmers and ranchers.
With this trend in mind,
we hope you enjoy this
edition of Foodie News.
Volume 2
Number 4
April 2009
Ham and Lamb Reign Supreme
In what could be best
described as an enduring
food trend, baked ham
and roast lamb have long
reigned supreme as traditional meats for Easter
brunch or dinner. Lamb
does double duty as a traditional meat dish for
Passover Seder meals.
This year, as consumers
change the way they shop
for food to eat at home in
response to the economic
downturn, the ham-lamb
trend could take a hit,
according to a recent joint
study conducted by the
American Meat Institute
and the Food Marketing
Institute. When it comes
to the meat case overall,
consumers are “trading
down, substituting and
eliminating.”
“For pork, consumers
may want to consider a
shoulder roast, also
known as a pork picnic.
This cut is high in both
value and flavor,” Dave
Ray, AMI vice president of
public affairs told Foodie
News. “Lamb shanks are a
good value and also work
well when cooked slowly
in a nice sauce,” he said.
Although meat-buying
behavior has changed, according to the AMI/FMI
study (dubbed the Power
of Meat), the trend is that
consumers report spending about the same amount
overall on groceries each
week, about $91.
How shoppers prefer
to buy meat was another
focus of the study. The
popularity of case-ready
(pre-packaged) meats
continues to grow. About
70 percent of all meats are
purchased as case-ready
products. And 30 percent
of consumers purchase
exclusively from the meat
case without using a fullservice counter.
However, when it comes
to that special Easter or
Passover meal, interest in
the full-service meat
counter could pick up.
Family gatherings, holidays, barbecues and other
special occasions are
times when consumers
turn to the full-service
meat counter for assistance in picking out or
requesting a special cut,
according to the study.
AMI (Stretching Your
Meat Dollar, www.meatmattersinfo.org) and
AFBF (Food Check-Out
Week nutrition fact cards,
www.fb.org) offer tips
on economizing at the
grocery store.
And no Easter is complete without something
on the sweeter side.
Made only with U.S.sourced ingredients,
Peeps, the marshmallow
confection beloved by
children of all ages, has
claimed the title of topselling non-chocolate
Easter candy for two decades, according to manufacturer Just Born, Inc.
“Many adults with an
enduring fondness for
Peeps consider them a
gourmet favorite and enjoy them in fondue, Crème
Brûlée and as a cappuccino topping,” Milena
DeLuca, PR spokesperson
for Just Born, told Foodie
News.
EDITOR'S COLUMN
White House Garden Offers Hope and
Teaching Moment for Agriculture
By John Hart, American Farm Bureau Federation director of news services
Photo Courtesy of The White House/Joyce N. Boghosian
O
n the first day of
spring, which was
also National Agriculture Day, first lady
Michelle Obama, with the
help of local elementary
school students, broke
ground for a fruit and vegetable garden on the south
lawn of the White House.
The 1,100-square-foot garden will provide as many as
55 different fruits and
vegetables for use in the
White House kitchen.
Some of the produce will
be donated to a nearby
soup kitchen.
The new garden—the first
of its kind since Eleanor
Roosevelt planted a victory
garden during World War
II—made headlines and
brought some positive
news and brightness to a
nation that has been inundated by negative economic news. Planting a garden
in springtime means new
life, growth and hope,
something America’s farmers certainly understand,
since they devote their lives
to carefully growing crops
and raising livestock.
For American agriculture,
the new White House garden offers a great teaching
moment. Farm Bureau sees
the garden as just one
more way to engage the
public about what goes into
producing food. American
Farm Bureau Federation
President Bob Stallman is
hopeful that other families
across our nation will join
First lady Michelle Obama, accompanied by students
from Washington’s Bancroft Elementary School, breaks
ground for a kitchen garden on the south lawn of the
White House on March 20, the first day of spring.
the Obama family and
plant their own gardens
this spring.
“It’s a great way to discover what it takes to produce food and learn about
the growing cycle, from
preparing the seed to tending the weeds and pests,
and with hard work, a
bountiful harvest,” Stallman, a Texas rice farmer
and cattle producer, said
this week. “Home gardens
are a great way to complement production agriculture that Farm Bureau
members devote their lives
to.”
In that statement, the
AFBF president chose a
key word: “complement.”
Home gardens are great for
providing fruits and vegetables for family meals, but
no one expects these gardens to displace the bounty
brought forth by America’s
hard-working farm and
ranch families. Modern
production agriculture
in the United States is
an undisputed marvel in
feeding a hungry planet.
The White House garden
rekindles a whisper of the
agrarian spirit that built
our nation. Gardens, and
the dirt-under-the-fingernails work that goes with
them, instill a degree of
appreciation of what it
takes to put food on the
table. The first family, the
White House staff and
the school children who
will help tend the garden
throughout the year are
indeed leading by example.
More than 98 percent of
our nation’s farms and
ranches are owned and
operated by individuals or
families, and those farm
and ranch families appreciate the first family’s nod
to food production.
While gardens have always been a traditional part
of life for farm families,
they also know that the productive farms they own and
operate remain critical to
the strength of our nation.
Whether it is bread on
the White House table,
made from Kansas wheat,
orange juice from a Florida citrus grove, baked
potatoes from the rich soils
of Idaho or rice from the
lush fields of Arkansas,
professional farmers fortify
the nutritional needs of
our nation.In other words,
it takes all of America’s
farm and ranch families to
feed this nation and much
of the world. Today, each
American farmer feeds
an average 143 people,
compared to just 19 people
in 1940. Thanks to modern
technology and state-of-the
art production practices,
American farmers are the
world’s most productive.
And without a doubt, the
vast majority of America’s
hard working family farmers welcome a new garden
on the south lawn of the
White House as just one
more way to tell the story
of America’s amazing,
miraculous food production system. It becomes
easier to take in that big
picture after you have had
a little dirt under your
fingernails.
Top Chefs Agree—Garnishes Bring Taste,
Texture and Visual Delight of Food
Food garnishes add
color, a sense of balance
and cause the taste buds
to anticipate the delicacy
presented on a plate.
While many garnishes
are a work of art, the
modern foodie doesn’t
need to go to a lot of
trouble to add pizzazz
to a plate prepared at
home.
Patrick O’Connell,
chef and proprietor at
the Inn at Little Washington in Washington,
Va., believes the importance and power of garnishes is frequently
underestimated.
“Garnishes can make
or break a dish. Too
often they are not in
harmony with the taste
of the other ingredients
or with the visual composition of the plate,”
O’Connell told Foodie
News.
O’Connell knows what
he’s talking about. He
serves food fit for the
most demanding palates
from every corner of the
globe and many customers
return to indulge in his
five-star rated culinary
delights.
“The importance and
power of garnishes is frequently underestimated,”
O’Connell said. “Ideally, a
garnish should contribute
something to both the
taste and texture of the
dish as well as to its visual
delight.”
One of the simplest garnishes to immediately add
visual appeal to a dish is a
tasty sauce. They come in
a wide array of colors and
textures and are simple to
apply. If you’re not sure
you have just the right
sauce, try some oil. It gives
your plate a rich golden
color and it can be mixed
with other items to add
even more colors.
“In classical cooking
there is a rule that anything
placed on a plate of food
has to be edible. This concept is still valid,” says
O’Connell. Among the edible garnishes used at the
Inn at Little Washington
are blueberries and strawberries. A small cluster of
grapes in the center of a
plate or on one side also
can add a touch of the farm
as well as a feeling of grace
and well-being.
Herbs are an important
garnish to consider. O’Connell favors using chervil,
micro greens or Italian
parsley to add a more interesting look than is possible with curly parsley.
Also, “In the spring, tiny
lavender flowers sprinkled
across the rim of a plate
can add a striking burst
of color,” said O’Connell.
“Among my favorite garnishes are the pale yellow,
pungent leaves of celery
hearts, which can be
combined with several
other delicate young
salad greens to create a
fresh, healthy, just-picked
look.”
Thyme, rosemary, sage,
mint and lemon grass are
other favorite herbs for
garnishes. For most herbs,
just a sprig or two on the
food or beside it is perfect.
But O’Connell warns,
“Don’t use one garnish
for everything. Certain
garnishes become so
commonplace that they
bring down a dish. The
repetitive use of a mint
sprig on every dessert
for example becomes
tiresome very quickly—
especially when it has
little to do with the
other flavors. I often
use a mixture of roughly chopped aromatic
herbs from the garden
strewn loosely across
a plate as though they
blew there in the wind
to convey a soft, fluid
look.”
What advice would
Patrick O’Connell give
foodies who like to
cook? “They need to be
continually reminded
that cooking, like other
art forms, is a vehicle
for communication and
that every aspect of a
presentation is making
a statement and contributing something to
the narrative.”
Foodie Resorts are the Latest on the Food Scene
As foodies continue to seek out higher-quality, unique culinary experiences,
it only makes sense they would include
fine dining in their vacation plans. But,
for hard-core foodies, a vacation destination in and of itself may not be a
beach or the mountains, but a resort
that specializes in gastronomy. And they
are paying big bucks for the experience.
Fortunately, resorts are eager to accommodate travelers with such culinary tastes. In the U.S., new resorts
that cater to foodies exclusively, as well
as established resorts that recently
began offering this kind of experience
to selected guests, are making a splash
in Boca Raton, Fla., Santa Fe, N.M.,
Dallas and Atlanta.
The Boca Raton Resort & Club, for
example, brought in Michelin-rated
U.K. chef Angela Hartnett to create
tapas and other Spanish specialties for
hotel guests. In Santa Fe, the Encantado resort dishes out Southwestern
farm-to-table food, including resort
favorite slow-roasted suckling pig.
A trend that continues to develop is
resorts that either use the farm-totable approach or even “pick” or “catch
your own” dinner. At the Montage Laguna Beach, Executive Chef James
Boyce takes guests to the local farmers’
market to shop for lunch and then helps
them prepare their goods in the resort’s
kitchen. The price tag for the marketto-plate program and one night’s
accommodation for two: $2,000.
Less expensive, but still a great culinary experience, is the Fairmont
Royal York’s “Shop with Chef” program. The Toronto resort offers
guests the opportunity to go
to the local market with Chef
David Garcelon to shop for
produce, meats and fish.
Garcelon then creates a six-course
dinner with the ingredients. The
program for two, which includes
shopping, dinner and two night’s
accommodation, is around $550.
For those action-seekers who like to
catch their dinner, resorts in Florida
and Nevis, in the British West Indies,
to name a few, offer such experiences.
At the Watercolor Inn and Resort
at Florida’s Santa Rose Beach, Chef
Chris Hastings takes guests on threeto-four day tours to catch fish, dig
for clams and even harvest honey.
He then cooks up dinner for guests
on the beach. With room and board,
patrons can expect to pay about
$1,500 for the voyage.
Further south at the Four Seasons
in Nevis guests can dive for their
dinner. A dive master teaches patrons
how to lasso lobsters and the
resort chef will
prepare their
catch
for
dinner.
“Dive and
Dine” is nearly $2,000 per couple, which excludes
accommodations.
Food By The Numbers
“For all the hoo-ha, organic food is not making
much of an impact on the
way Americans eat,” according to a recent New
York Times article. Sales of
organic foods and beverages added up to just under
$17 billion in 2006, according to the Organic Trade
Association—that’s less
than 3 percent of overall
U.S. sales in the category.
And, to the possible chagrin of some organic en-
thusiasts, “the organic food
business is now big business, and getting bigger,”
according to the NYT.
Major companies grow
and market about 25 percent of all organic foods
sold in the U.S.; that figure
jumps to 40 percent when
only processed organic
foods are tallied.
The federal government
rolled out its Certified Organic program six years
ago. Since then, sales of organic foods have doubled.
Most (about 75 percent)
U.S. grocery stores carry at
least some organic foods
and 30 percent of American consumers buy organics at least on occasion.
The Food Scene
• Twitter Widens Foodie Universe
Because of the social medium Twitter, chefs and foodies can now connect one-on-one
in 140 characters or less. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, “Mobile food trucks
are tweeting their locations. Local chefs are posting photos and descriptions of new
menu items. And it's even possible to find recipes (that would be “twecipes” in the everexpanding Twitter vernacular).” Such legends as Martha Stewart and Jamie Oliver are on Twitter, as well as many smaller
known and local chefs.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/20/FDEU16EF1M.DTL
• BK
Introduces
Whopper
Bar
Catering to foodies in what The Associated Press
calls “a sushi bar-like atmosphere,” Burger King
recently opened its first Whopper Bar in Orlando,
Fla. There, customers can choose up to 22
different toppings to fix their burgers. The chain
plans to open 20 more Whopper Bars around the
world in the next 12 to 18 months.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/
2009/03/burger-king-deb.html
• NYT Uncovers Popular
Food Myths
The New York Times recently
hosted a forum of foodies,
nutritionists and scholars to
debunk popular myths about
food. Such topics as fruit drinks,
grass-fed beef, Kosher products,
colorful veggies and even the
way our brain processes food are
included in the piece.
http://roomfordebate.blogs.
nytimes.com/2009/03/20/
food-glorious-food-myths/
?partner=rss&emc=rss
• Spread the word: Peanut butter is back
The Houston Chronicle says start spreading the news:
it’s time to welcome your old friend peanut butter
back into your life. “It should be the star ingredient in
everyone’s daily menu,” said Tanya
Steel, editor in chief of Epicurious.com.
“It’s
time
(for
peanut
butter)
to come
back and shine.”
http://www.chron.
com/disp/story.mpl/
life/food/6337255.html
• Shopping for Food: Exercise in frugality
Gatehouse News Service reports that a number of
cost-conscious shoppers are planning grocery trips
well in advance to maximize savings. They are also
cutting back on impulse purchases and switching
to lower-cost brands. Some grocery chains have
expanded lower-cost private-label offerings in an
effort to compete with retailers like Wal-Mart and
Target.
http://www.
morningsun.net/
business/
1660810818/
Shopping-forfood-becomesexercise-infrugality
Foodie News Reader Poll—It’s Your Turn
For more than a year now,
Foodie News has been arriving in your e-mail inbox
every month. As we celebrate and reflect on our first
year it seems appropriate
to recall some food trend
highlights we reported on in
past issues.
Our inaugural issue in
March 2008 set the tone
for the infant e-publication
by describing how foodies
help set U.S. food trends.
It also featured what
was to become a
popular regular feature, a
guest column writ-
ten exclusively for Foodie.
The first one was submitted
by Dave Corsi of the Wegmans grocery store chain,
who graciously agreed to
write a column for the new
newsletter, based only on
our assurances about its
intended focus and why
the American Farm Bureau
Federation was jumping
into this arena.
In May 2008, we wrote
about the continuing importance of food labeling to
consumers, a trend that
will continue to
strengthen.
The June
issue
pointed
out the
growing
popularity of
foodies who
prefer “raw
foods” that are
unprocessed and uncooked.
And who can forget the
article in the August issue
pointing out the trend of
“frosting shots?” These are
a popular choice at many
bakeries and cupcake stores
where customers can buy a
shot-sized blob of frosting
for a small fee, usually 75
cents or a dollar.
We hope Foodie News is
helpful to you in providing
the latest word on food
trends, consumer opinion
and developments in the
food industry. Spotting the
latest consumer crazes and
looking for future changes
in the way people eat is vital as farmers and ranchers
seek to continually meet
the needs of their customers
Now it’s your turn.
As a Foodie News reader,
we think it’s a safe bet that
you’re tuned in to the
trends that influence the
food produced in your
home state. You’re in a
better position than just
about anyone else to know
what local foodies are
latching onto right now
and what they may be
on the hunt for down the
road.
So, if you know about
some shining examples of
the latest food trends in
your home state, please
let us know. Share your
findings with editors
Cyndie Sirekis and John
Hart. We’ll publish the
trends you discover in
future issues of Foodie
News and put your byline
on your submissions. We
look forward to hearing
from you.
Drop Cyndie an e-mail at
[email protected] or write to
John at [email protected].
April 2009 Vol. 2 No. 4
Published monthly by the American Farm Bureau Federation,
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 1000W, Washington, DC 20024
Phone: 202-406-3600 — E-mail: [email protected]
Editors: Cyndie Sirekis, [email protected];
John Hart, [email protected]
Contributing Editor:
Tracy Grondine, [email protected]
Contributing Writer:
Jerry Harke, [email protected]
Research Assistant: Anna Burkholder
We hope you enjoyed reading this issue of Foodie News. You may distribute or republish the articles in this edition of Foodie News, except where noted otherwise.