Chicago (January 25, 2012)—While the restaurant industry as a whole spent 2011 in a recessionary slump, the family midscale segment has been the most negatively impacted and the next few years aren’t expected to show an upward swing. According to a recentMintel foodservice report, 80% of family restaurant-goers who are eating out less in general are doing so because of budgetary reasons. No surprise there.  Due to this and other challenges, family restaurant sales are expected to decline by 7% over the next four years. (except those that deliver a high health, high value experience).

“Playing the pricing game has not proved successful for family restaurants,” notes Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Mintel. “Mintel believes that the greatest opportunity for the market to return to a path of growth is to employ a sustainable approach to value by promoting reasonable prices with value-added benefits like health and convenience.” 

You have to love that sort of thinking coming from a food related industry. As if they’re doing anything to add “health value” besides mitigating for the additives and preservatives which comprise 60% of the food Americans typically consume. Maybe it’s time we all started playing the “Is It Healthy?” Game instead.

The challenge for restaurant operators is that historically, “healthy” menu items don’t sell well because a healthy item often communicates “no taste.” That’s certainly been true in my experience with most franchise restaurants. A lack of creativity, understanding about food as health and a seriously flawed food supply chain won’t make up for what ails the sector. 

However, a change may be imminent. In fact, 34% of restaurant-goers say healthy food is an important factor in selecting a family restaurant. Now if they only understood a bit more about what that means and we’d have a lot more healthy options and better health outcomes.

Adding value through convenience is another approach that can benefit this segment.(Better take a look at this video showing the impacts of convenience over nutrition) While the majority (75%) of consumers enjoy the sit-down, full-service experience, families are more likely to say that service at these restaurants is typically too slow. As a result, families are more likely to save family restaurants for weekend dining, when they have more time.

“By utilizing an ‘express lunch’ concept, family midscale restaurants can attract the business crowd during the week and perhaps implement a ‘family express dinner’ where families can still enjoy their sit-down experience, but at a pace that coincides with their busy week night schedules,” adds Eric Giandelone.

A number of restaurant attributes are cited as important in selecting a family restaurant. Seventy percent of family restaurant patrons say value for their money is most important, followed by menu items they like, fresh food and convenient location (69%, 60% and 59% respectively).

When asked what family restaurant goers want to see more of on the menu, 44% said fruit as a side option, while 41% want different preparation methods, like grilling. These numbers correspond with the importance of healthy menu items being available.

About Mintel

Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. For 40 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, offering exclusive data and analysis that directly impacts client success. With offices in Chicago, New York, London, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, and now India, Malaysia and Singapore, Mintel has forged a unique reputation as a world-renowned business brand. For more information on Mintel, please visit www.mintel.com.

Follow Mintel on Twitter, LinkedIn, or catch up with the latest news, views and information from the team behind Mintel on The Mintel Blog.

Once you see the difference between a lunch of blue gatorade, top ramen and gummy bears, you might not be so quick to choose convenience over nutrition next time. The good news is they show the same lunch made from all organic ingredients.  What a difference food makes. And the FDA would have us believe there’s no difference at all. See for yourself but be warned, this video changed me. The food I eat is processed  by my kitchen knives.

<

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, the second TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” – an independently organized event, licensed by TED – was held at the Times Center in New York City. TEDxManhattan will explored the issues, the impacts and the innovations happening as we shift to a more sustainable way of eating and farming and help to create connections and unite different areas of the food movement.

Riverside’s Habitat For Humanity ReStore hosted one of 70 global, live stream viewing parties and invited Riverside’s community garden advocates, teachers, gardeners and people who love to eat healthy food to come together, get connected and be inspired about how achievable healthy, safe and delicious food really is.

The presentation by  Stephen Ritz, Edible Food Walls and How They’re Changing Students’ Lives, was truly an amazing tale of inspiration and joy. The talks are short, compelling and potentially life changing. You won’t waste your time if you take a look at some of them. WARNING!! You might not ever look at the food you eat in the same way, but then that’s the point isn’t it?

Thanks to Tedx, Habitat for Humanity and to all my friends and neighbors who will make a difference in the community because of this event.

Technorati Tags: farming, food movement, Food Safety, social justice, sustainable agriculture, TEDx Changing The Way We Eat

The Expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A.

The Situation: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. “You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young,” says vom Saal. “I won’t go near canned tomatoes.”

The Answer: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe’s and Pomi.

Siri Says: A very dear friend of ours sent us this 7 foods article. Oh, bummer! Every winter I buy a 12 pack of organic chopped tomatoes for my winter soups and stews. Well, of course, I didn’t buy them this winter and I tossed the last can. (Throwing food away — ouch!)

Do watch the video below. It is quite helpful. However, I’ll tel you now, there are no tomatoes in BPA-free cans, and you’ll have to search for those in glass. I found organic tomato sauce and canned sun-dried toms at my organic grocers. A brief google search was very unsatisfactory — with one food site trying to convince me that BPA in tomato cans wasn’t that big a deal!!!

We haven’t been lucky enough to have a big crop of summer tomatoes to can. But boy, we sure can grow tiny tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and Japanese egg plant! Odd about the tomatoes, isn’t it?

Which cans are BPA Free? Watch the Video.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The Expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming.

The Situation: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. “We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure,” says Salatin.

The Answer: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers’ markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It’s usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don’t see it, ask your butcher.

WATCH VIDEO: Why Grass-Fed Beef? Emeril Answers

3. Microwave Popcorn

The Expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group.

The Situation: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The Solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

The FDA says it’s safe. How about you? Watch the Video.

4. Conventionally Grown (Not Organic) Potatoes

The Expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

The Situation: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes—the nation’s most popular vegetable—they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”

The Answer: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

5. Farmed Salmon

The Expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The Situation: Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. “You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. “It’s that bad.” Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The Answer: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it’s farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

Other costs and impacts of farmed salmon in the video.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The Expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society.

The Situation: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. “When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract,” says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. “There’s not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans,” admits North. “However, it’s banned in most industrialized countries.”

The Answer: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

For a little back story on the story you didn’t get, watch the video.

7. Conventional Apples

The Expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

The Situation: If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don’t develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it’s just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. “Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers,” he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson’s disease.

The Answer: Buy organic apples. If you can’t afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

Technorati Tags: beta-carotene, bisphenol-A, BPA, calcium, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), farmed salmon, grass fed beef, magnesium, microwave popcorn, omega-3s, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), potassium, rBGH, rBGH-free, rBST, rBST-free, recombinant bovine growth hormone, synthetic estrogen, vitamin E

Technorati Tags: Dosas