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Chipotle Promotes Food, Inc. Documentary

YumSugar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:37:35 -0700

Chipotle doesn't just want to feed its customers - it wants to educate them, too. The fast-casual food chain has teamed up with Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media, and River Road Entertainment to promote Food, Inc., a documentary that exposes issues with the food industry in America. Beginning today, Chipotle Mexican Grill will host free screenings of the film. In addition, the eatery will advertise Food, Inc. with printed material in its 800-plus stores and prepare a bonus feature about sustainable agriculture to be included in the DVD when it is released later this year.
"Chipotle is a great example of a company that's on the right track to improving our food system," director Robert Kenner said. "Chipotle's philosophy shares many of the same values expressed in Food, Inc., and we are very pleased with their support of our film." The Mexican food chain claims to use more naturally raised poultry and pork than any other restaurant worldwide. It also sources ingredients locally whenever possible and buys 35 percent of its beans from organic producers. This promotion is a smart strategy: if Chipotle's devotees weren't aware of the company's sustainable practices yet, they will be now.

Did you know Chipotle was so dedicated to sustainability? Will you attend a free Food, Inc. screening?

Photo by flickr user Photo2217

King Corn: A Food Documentary to Watch

YumSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:45:05 -0700

"Everything on your plate is corn." That line, uttered by an interviewee in King Corn, is essentially the premise behind this new food-focused documentary. Much the way that Super Size Me uses a clever gimmick to take on the fast-food industry, King Corn follows two friends, Ian Cheney and Kurt Ellis, who move to Iowa to find out how this unassuming crop has made its way into so many grocery-store staples in the form of corn syrup, malodextrin, and other not-so-healthy ingredients.

With humor and a vagabond attitude, Cheney and Ellis establish a one-acre corn farm so that they can follow the life cycle of their crop. Along the way, they visit the Midwest's sprawling corn complexes and interview experts about how the highly subsidized crop has become an easy target in the fight against obesity. The movie opened this weekend in New York, and over the next few weeks will be showing in other cities, including LA, San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago. (Check the King Corn site to find out if it's coming to your city.) Watch the trailer and tell me what you think when you read more

King Corn Trailer

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What's Cooking at Slashfood

YumSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:30:56 -0700

We love Slashfood so much that every Thursday we round up their most delicious stories. Here are this week's finds:

Korean bibimbap makes a versatile, well-rounded dinner for one.
Appalachia's red hot dogs are the subject of a new food documentary.
Good news: Turns out drinking too much beer doesn't actually cause beer bellies.
The Skinny Chef learns how to bring out the best in a tomatillo.
Embrace the nostalgia of bread-and-butter pickles sans the high-fructose corn syrup.
A Boston Marathoner becomes the face of breakfast haven Waffle House.

Photo by flickr user avlxyz

Food, Inc. Film Exposes Problems With US Food Consumption

YumSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:00:20 -0700

In addition to being captured in photos by National Geographic, the sustainable food crisis is also the focus of a new documentary. Magnolia Pictures' Food, Inc. is a call to action to change the way America eats. It discusses food consumption today, its heavy dependence on corn, its ties to national policy, and its inevitable impact on our nation's health.

Based on the book Food, Inc. (and similar to The Omnivore's Dilemma), the premise of this film appears to be similar: the country's food system, with its focus on making food bigger, cheaper, and faster, is making America sick. The movie also addresses the contamination issues plaguing the nation and the enormous power wielded by US food corporations, with sustainable food poster boys Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser making appearances in the documentary.

If you haven't seen it yet, below is the trailer for the film, which debuts in select cities June 12. Do you think this documentary will prove to be as influential as proponents are hoping it to be? Will you go see it?

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Gwyneth Nabs Cookbook Deal

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:30:09 -0800

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow's career may be headed away from the silver screen. The movie star is set to pen her first book, a cookbook, to be published in 2010.

Publishers Janklow & Nesbit have described the cookbook, entitled My Father's Daughter, as one that "focuses on the importance of togetherness at mealtime, emphasizing that cooking for your family is the ultimate expression of love."

In her tome, the movie star will undoubtedly pay homage to her late father, Bruce Paltrow. Last year, she told Us magazine that she was experimenting with favorite family recipes.

"My dad was an insane pancake maker," she said. "I'm just working on a recipe right now. I'm adapting it to make mine slightly more healthy."

Paltrow abandoned her famously stringent macrobiotic diet when pregnant with daughter Apple, and admitted that she "couldn't look at brown rice. It made me throw up." Last year, the actress starred in a documentary series, Spain . . . On the Road Again, with celebrity chef Mario Batali, and the two traveled the Iberian Peninsula, sampling regional Spanish cuisine. Around the same time, the actress also launched an online lifestyle newsletter, entitled Goop, which includes seasonal recipes and the star's favorite places to dine.

What do you think of the news? Would you pick up a copy of My Father's Daughter to try out some of the actress's original recipes?

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Come Party With Me: Movie Club Meeting - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:15:41 -0700

Recently my friend Kirin told me about her decision to start a documentary film club. The club will be similar to a book club, but instead of reading and discussing a book, guests will watch and chat about a documentary. I was excited by the idea and volunteered to create a menu for the first meeting, where King Corn will be the featured movie. Since the foodie film focuses on the lifecycle of the crop, Kirin wants the party to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Instead of wasting paper by sending hard invites, she's requested that I make a green email invite. To see how I made the one shown here, read more.

To make a similar invite you will need the following supplies:

image of corn or a corn field
computer

To assemble the invite:

Start by dragging the image into Photoshop. Create a new file and copy and paste the image into the blank file. Center the image to the left and write out the details of the party on the right. For my invite I used the font Calisto MT in size 18 to write the following message:

Dear Friend,

You’ve been selected
to be a part of my
documentary film club.

Please join me for
a screening of
King Corn

A green, vegetarian dinner and a lively discussion
to follow

Wednesday, August 20
6:30 pm

Kirin’s House,
San Francisco

regrets only 415.333.3333

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes.
If desired add a creative background or extra designs.
Once satisfied with the invite, save as a jpeg. Send attached as part of an email. When I send email invites, I like to send the invite to myself first to make sure it sends how I envisioned. Next I send to a mass email list of all invited guests. You can also upload the image to an online invite service like evite or pingg.

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Burger King's "Whopper Virgins" Film Causes Controversy

partysugar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:00:23 -0800

As far as controversy goes, one would have thought Pepsi's Suicidal Calorie ads would be hard to top, but a new campaign from Burger King is generating just as much buzz. On a new website, Whoppervirgins.com, Burger King is showing footage of Thai villagers and Transylvanian farmers taking their first bite ever of a hamburger. The film, which was made by Stacy Peralta, the director of acclaimed documentaries like Riding Giants, is being dubbed the world's "purest taste test." But so far, the campaign created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky has received negative backlash from bloggers and even the advertising media. "These people would probably prefer schools and hospitals to prefab burgers," said Adweek's Barbara Lippert. Brian Morrissey of AdFreak called it "embarrassing and emblematic of how ignorant Americans still seem to the rest of the world." To check out a trailer of the ad, read more.

Do you agree with these remarks? Is this production funny, just plain stupid, or insensitive to these developing areas? Is it a good thing that these villagers are being introduced to America's fast food culture?

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Come Party With Me: Movie Club Meeting

partysugar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:45:00 -0700

The foodie documentary King Corn will be shown at my movie club meeting, so the menu features a variety of vegetarian corn dishes. During the screening, let guests nibble on corn cakes and pizzettas with corn and zucchini.

After the movie is finished, invite everyone around the table for a light meal of cheddar corn chowder with an arugula fresh corn salad on the side. The soup can be kept warm during the movie, while the salad can be assembled in advance and dressed just before serving.

For these delicious recipes that highlight the sweet flavor of corn, read more.

Corn Cakes With Fresh Corn and Chives
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine

Ingredients

1 fresh ear of corn or 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup milk
1 slightly beaten egg
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon snipped fresh chives or cilantro (optional)
1/3 cup dairy sour cream

Directions

Cut corn kernels from cob and measure 1/2 cup. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl stir boiling water into cornmeal to make a stiff mush. Stir in milk until smooth; then stir in fresh or frozen corn, egg, and the 1 tablespoon chives. Add flour mixture and stir just until combined.
In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons into hot oil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Transfer to a serving platter; cover and keep warm.
Repeat with remaining batter, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
Meanwhile, if desired, stir the 1 teaspoon chives into the sour cream. Serve sour cream with the corn cakes.

Makes 6 servings.

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White-Cheddar Corn Chowder
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 celery stalk, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable stock
1 cup nonfat milk
3 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 6 ears of corn)
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)

Directions

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add celery, and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, and cayenne.
Raise heat to medium-high, and add wine.
Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add potatoes, stock, and milk, and bring to a boil (skim any foam from surface). Reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add corn, and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Transfer 2 cups soup to a blender. Let cool slightly, then puree. Return puree to pan, and stir. Reheat if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into bowls, and top with cheese. Chowder can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Serves 6.

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Arugula, Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
From Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients

1/4 cup Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup minced shallots
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 ears white corn with small kernels, shucked
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 loosely packed cups arugula or peppercress (about 3/4 pound)
3 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
8 fresh organic nasturtiums (see Note), gently torn into bite-size pieces (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the Champagne vinegar with the minced shallots and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Let the shallots stand in the vinegar for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a sharp, thin knife and working over another bowl, cut the kernels from the ears of white corn.
Whisk the olive oil into the Champagne vinegar and shallots until blended. Add the arugula and toss with the dressing.
Add the cherry tomatoes and the corn kernels and toss gently. Transfer the salad to a large platter, scatter the nasturtiums on top and serve.

Serves 8.

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Bogs Across America

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:54:58 -0700

Of all the weird documentaries I was subjected to as a child, there is one that always comes to mind. I was in the third grade, and the documentary was about cranberry bogs, the marshy beds where cranberries grow. The way the shiny, ruby-colored berries were harvested by flooding the bogs fascinated me; it's an image that's floated around in my brain ever since.

So when I heard that Ocean Spray is creating a Bogs Across America tour by transforming public spaces into cranberry bogs, I was immediately excited. Unfortunately, none of the public bogs are near me, but if you live in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, then be sure to stop by. And if you do, be sure to snap a photo and share it with the rest of us!

New York’s Rockefeller Center: Nov. 1-3, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Chicago’s Tribune Tower’s Pioneer Court: Nov. 7-9, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Los Angeles’ Hollywood & Highland Center: Nov. 15-17, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Ocean Spray

The Great Chicken Wing Hunt

partysugar — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:03:31 -0700

Think you love chicken wings? Well think again. Matt Reynolds, a journalist from New York, recently left his job at Reuters to search for the best Buffalo wings in the state of New York. He's joined forces with 8 other wing enthusiasts - including a semi-pro eater, a chef and an old hippie - to create a documentary about their search for the ultimate chicken wing. They began eating, traveling, and movie making on August 18 and will continue hunting until September 2.

They update the status of the trip regularly online, so anybody can follow along in the quest. Just yesterday the Hunters were seen making a surprise stop at a pizzeria in Rochester. Did they eat wings? We'll just have to wait and see when the documentary comes out. Until then, you can check out the trailer to get a taste of their hysterical journey. To watch the clip, read more

Source: The BA Blog