Food Fights

Yesterday's economic blackout sent a  message to the president and the big box stores. Did it work? it may be too early to tell.Should we do it again  to make a stronger statement? Absolutely!!!

The reason for the blackout was to honor companies that still maintained their DEI - diversity -equity and inclusion policies and to protest those that followed President's Trump new policies.Atlanta based pastor Reverend Jamal Bryant organized a forty day protest  through the website targetfest.com.It was supposed to start on Ash Wednesday - March 5th 2025 and continue for forty days during the Lenten period.Right before this plan Reverend Al Sharpton announced in late January of this year that it would identify two companies for ninety day  boycotts focusing on businesses that had abandoned diversity pledges. The reverend stated that while federal government might eliminate DEI programs it was ultimately the consumers retained the power of where they could shop and spend their money. Unfortunately many stores where we shop for food and kitchen appliances scrapped their DEI programs. Topping the list were Walmart,Target , Amazon and it's subsidiary Whole Foods. Certain companies like General MIlls and Nestle also got rid of their diversity programs.

What does this mean? Do we still shop at these stores and buy their products? That's up to you. However it pays to research a store's hiring policies. Both Aldi and Lidl, German based companies that have the European sense of fairness (as many European based companies do) hire on a DEI basis.Anyone is welcome to work in their stores and there is a very likely chance of promotion in their first year of work. American based grocery stores like Acme and Stop & Shop. Shop at these stores as much as possible. Ldl has delicious foods like Aldi and at cost. Lidl offers clothing and household goods like pots and pans along with linens so you don;t have to rely on Target or Amazon for everything. Another economic blackout might also call for avoiding such fast food chains as Chick Fil't and Starbucks. What do you do then? As the organizers suggest look to the smaller family ownded businesses. There are some good coffee shops that are privately owned. Many bakeries also offer coffee and places to sit. Their homemade treats area lot better as we all know than the mass produced muffins and doughnuts. The same is true with family owned restaurants. The food is always fresh and they can easily customize your food to the way you want.

Another economic blackout may be planned. Be ready and knowledgeable about where to shop and eat. Support the places that still strongly support DEI in this turbulent time.

Your Community College The New Culinary School

 Let's face it - culinary schools are expensive. That's horrible for so many who want to be chefs and restaurant owners. However there's always community college. This staple of suburban life is stepping in and stepping up helping those to achieve those dreams.

Regular contributor, cookbook author and chef herself, Priya Krishna wrote about this new facet of American education in today's New York Times Food section. Thanks to their high tuition,  and pandemic many culinary schools are closing. The only ones still opened are the famous one like the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde park and ICE The Institute of Culinary Education in the heart of the world's restaurant capitol, new York ity.Even the famed Johnson & Wales , a college with a culinary bent has closed their Denver and Miami campuses. Community colleges will always be open, offering a variety of majors from communications to nursing and now aspects of the food industry.They are also much cheaper. A student ca receive a certificate for only $6500 and $14,000 for a two year Associates Degree. One semester at the CIA is $20,000.There is already too much student debt and starting out line cooks can''t afford that on their beginning salaries. 

Many companies and local governments are realizing that the culinary departments are worth investing in . The state-of-the-art kitchens at North Essex Community College in Haverhill Massachusetts were built and equipped from funding from the state and Lupoli Companies. The last is a Massachusetts real estate developer that owns the culinary arts building.Graduates are then hired at Bosa, owned by Lupoli. There are also perks too such as breaking down meats at Haverhill Beef Company, a local butcher. Other have gardens planted on site such as Butler Community College in El Dorado Kansas. This allows students to cook in the farm to table method. At Mott Community School in Flint, Michigan run the student coffee shop that in turns  fund scholarships. Yet there is criticism despite all the good they do. Jeffrey Gardner , a consulting chef in Atlanta feel the community college grads have an outdated French  cuisine background along with teachers not having adequate restaurant backgrounds. There's also no ethnic diversity in the training either. None have backgrounds or classes in African and Asian cooking. Yet these courses and programs do fill a need. Local businesses need the grads and they are hard working according to Sussex Community College's superviser Martin Kestner. His grads help out the local restaurants in Newton, New Jertsey

Community colleges have a lot going for them. Their culinary programs are worth looking into. Young chefs can get a good education at a reasonable price.