Don't judge a food by its cover

I will forgive you for looking at the box of "Smart Start- Healthy Heart" cereal and thinking you were making a healthful choice for your breakfast.  Just by the sheer volume of health claims on the box you must be eating something that is at least relatively good for you, right?  Nope.  Pure marketing.  In fact, a great rule of thumb that I've heard before- AVOID buying foods that make health claims on the packaging. It's counter-intuitive, but these foods are actually much more likely to be highly processed franken-foods just like the Smart Start cereal.  Always consult the ingredient list before judging a food by its cover- it's the one place where the food manufacturer can't hide anything.

Happy 2012 everyone!  Now that the holidays are over, it's time to start eating like we mean it again- the days of eggnog, massive meals, and excessive baked goods are finally behind us.  And with the prevalence of diet related resolutions I think there's no better time to answer one of our most common inquiries- what's the healthiest thing at BYB?

Now, there's no easy answer to this one.  By most people's standards everything we serve is well within the realm of "healthy"- in general you're already eating some combo of fruits, grains, nuts, seeds (and sometimes veggies) with a touch of honey on top.  Then there's the problem of what "healthy" really means?  And what are your goals?  Are you hoping to lose weight, to enhance performance, up your energy, build muscle, or just feel better?

So without getting bogged down in the details, let me offer a few suggestions:

1.  Don't be scared...  venture beyond the island and berry bowl.  The green bowl really is delicious.  I promise.  I can't tell you how many people have taken months to build up the courage to try it, but once they did never looked back.  And it's got a whole freakin salad's worth of spinach ground into it!  It's truly a nutritional powerhouse.  Or for the athletes out there, try the Diego's Power Bowl.  The combo of hemp seeds/hemp milk/hemp protein and peanut butter give this one a TON of protein, and still won't weigh you down.

2.  Breakfast Bowls.  This part of our menu is hugely underrated, especially from a health perspective.  It's packed with whole grains, local organic ingredients, and other nutritious whole foods.  Replace your bacon and eggs with our Oatmeal, Quinoa, or Spartan Muesli, and you will most definitely feel a difference.  The spacial constraints of menu boards don't let us fully communicate how great these bowls are.  Take the Spartan Muesli for example, the full list of ingredients is as follows:

• Organic thick-rolled Oats, Phat Uncle Farms Almonds, Rancho La Vina Walnuts, Organic fresh-ground Flax Seeds, Avila & Sons dried fruit medley, Peacock Farms Raisins, and home-made Cashew Milk, topped with fresh-cut Bananas, Strawberries, Blueberries, Hemp-seeds, and a drizzle of San Marcos Honey.  

3.  Modify your bowl.  Want less sugar?  Say "no honey, sub almonds for granola".  Want to add a great source of complete protein, omega fatty acids, and fiber?  Say "add hemp seeds" (or "sub hemp-milk", or "add hemp protein").  More vitamins and minerals?  Say "add bee-pollen".  Healthy bacteria and calcium?  "with a bed of yogurt".  Play around, we've got all kinds of good stuff.

Food Excuses

One of the perks I've found to owning a health food restaurant is that I get to hear all the excuses under the sun as to why people do not eat healthfully.  When an obviously unhealthy person learns that I make a living selling healthy food, the conversation almost always progresses to reveal why it is they don't eat more healthfully.

Here are a few of the most common excuses, followed by my thoughts on each of them:

"I'm only on this planet for a short time, so I'm going to enjoy it!!"

• This is the most common excuse when the person learned of my occupation while in the act of eating something blatantly terrible for their health.  In my mind though there's a major gap in the logic here- this is implying that the reason a person would subject themselves to a deprived existence of eating healthfully is to postpone death.  I'd argue that by far the more important reason to eat healthfully is to live your life to its fullest- retaining a reasonable level of health and fitness enables you to do SO much more than when you are confined by an extra 50 lbs of flesh, or a debilitating disease.  I mean, what's worth more to you?  That philly cheesesteak, or your ability to play with your kids?  Eat to live, not simply to avoid death.  

"My great uncle Rick smokes 2 packs a day, eats nothin but steak and potatoes, and at 95 couldn't be healthier!!"

• A quote I read sums it up, "You can drive from San Francisco to LA at 120 MPH and not be pulled over or get in an accident- but I wouldn't bet my life on it."  Unfortunately there is no guarantee that a healthy diet will keep you from getting sick.  Human health is incredibly complex, and there are many factors beyond diet- such as stress or genetics- that play a role as well.  But being healthy is a game of odds- and if you want to greatly increase your odds of living a longer, healthier, more vibrant life- eating right is an easy way to do it.  

"I just can't afford to buy healthy, organic foods"

• Nope.  Sorry, not buying it.  It's not your finances holding you back from buying better food, it's your priorities.  Priorities and downright laziness.  As a percentage of income, Americans spend less per capita on food than almost any other developed nation on earth.  Check out this map that shows how the US stacks up globally http://civileats.com/2011/03/29/mapping-global-food-spending-infographic/.  This observation on American food spending leads to two important points:
• 1.  We're cheating.  We have heaps of inexpensive food readily available all the time.  But how is that?  How in the world is that double cheeseburger $.99?  Well, to attempt to sum up an extremely complex topic:  a large part of the real cost to produce those foods is hidden.  The environmental cost of producing the foods is not accounted for.  Government subsidies help out industrial/processed foods.  Not to mention the health care costs incurred due to eating cheap processed foods.
• 2.  If we're spending so little on food, the substance that gives us life, then what are we actually spending our money on?  The map I really want to see is the "per capita expenditures on crap you don't really need".  I'd bet we're dominating the globe on that one.  Here's another map we're definitely dominating- obesity! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7151813.stm.  This is NOT coincidental

           Some people actually can't afford to buy better food,  and that is a shame.  But the more people start buying better food, the cheaper those foods will become.  You are what you eat.  What are you?  

3 BYBs in 3 years!?

BYB La Cumbre was born just a couple days ago, and we will be having her grand opening festivities this Saturday the 19th.  It will be lots of fun- live music from 11-2, free organic coffee, raffles for free stuff, contests for free stuff, and 25% of all sales for the day will be donated to the Community Environmental Council, a local nonprofit dedicated to solving Santa Barbara's most pressing environmental issues.  

This is the 3rd BYB in 3 years of business.  Some people may have mixed feelings about this...

After all, what motivates a business like ours to grow?  Money, right?  Fame?  Competition?  Greed?  Ego?

Far too often, yes- all those reasons.

In our case however, there's a problem- Pete and I aren't all that motivated by money.  We want to make a nice living, but really don't care about being filthy rich.  We definitely are not in this for fame.  We're not all that competitive, and surely could never be described as greedy....  so why are we growing?

Our most important goals in business are 1- to promote a healthier lifestyle by serving healthy food.  2- to operate as "green" as possible, and inspire others to do the same.  3- to give our employees meaningful and rewarding jobs with opportunities to learn and advance.  4- to give back to our community.  5- To have fun.

These are the things that actually motivate us.  In the end, we just want to make a difference- to change the way people eat, and change the way business is ran. To do our part to make the world better.  

And given our goals and our motivation- why wouldn't we grow??  

I hope to see you all on Saturday at Backyard Bowls La Cumbre!

Vote with your spoon

The most efficient way to initiate change in this world is with your dollars.  How you spend your money each day should be thought of as casting votes, and possibly the most important of your votes are the foods you choose to eat.  The food you eat obviously has a direct and powerful influence on your personal health, but equally important is the massive impact it has on the health of our planet.

Agriculture, the production of food, is the single most important way that we as humans interact with planet earth.

So, about that cheeseburger- what are you really voting for?  It's all in there- pesticide/chemical usage, animal welfare, health care costs, fuel consumption, corporate greed, soil degredation, carbon emissions, personal health.... a loaded question indeed. 

We like to think that when you choose to dine at Backyard Bowls, you are in turn casting your votes for a lot of good things.  You are voting for healthy foods, and all the personal and social benefits that come from that.  You are voting for eco-friendly business, and all the environmental issues that addresses. You are voting for the use of natural, organic, and local ingredients.  Most importantly though, you are voting for a business that actually cares.  A business with a conscience.

Ask yourself- what kind of world do I want to live in?  Then- Are my daily votes being cast for that kind of world?