Hawaii Increasingly Dependent on Imported Food

On the front page of today's edition of the Honolulu Advertiser:

"Despite a national trend toward eating local, Hawai'i is growing increasingly reliant on imported foods.

The news isn't all bad for supporters of the buy 'local' movement. The state is producing more fruits and vegetables; it's just that the amount we import is growing faster. "

Read more.

Per Se, Per Calorie

This week's issue of New York Magazine features a very fair critique of a recently-passed law stating that restaurants (namely, fast food restaurants) would have to post nutritional information. Charles Platkins points out that while fast food restaurants certainly are not serving anything healthy, it would be wrong to assume that non-fast food restaurants—especially fancy, expensive, and highly-lauded ones—serve anything much healthier. In his article, "Per Se, Per Calorie" calorie counts and other nutritional facts are provided for each portion of the 9-course tasting menu at Per Se.

While I almost want to hate Platkins for revealing such information (oh, the sheer blasphemy of it!), it would certainly not stop me from eating a meal at Per Se. Platkins' critique of the law is undoubtedly fair.

I remember when P.F. Chang's, a nationwide Chinese chain restaurant, opened its first restaurant in Hawaii last year. Out of the state at that time, I perused the online menu to see what I would be missing out on. Reading the nutritional facts, I lost all interest in the restaurant, no matter how much my mainland friends had told me I was missing out. Dishes over 1,000, 1,500, even 2,000 calories each?! Disgusting!

So Platkins definitely has a point: Just because you aren't eating at a fast-food restaurant, it doesn't mean you are consuming anything healthier.

But here is the problem with Platkins' observation: A value-meal at McDonald's costs $5.99. The lavish 9-course menu at Per Se costs $250, without wine.

A person is much more likely to purchase a meal at McDonald's more often, because a meal there is more financially accessible. Thus, you have people visiting McDonald's when they feel like it. On the other hand, the average person can only afford a meal at Per Se on the occasional day of celebration. The financial inaccessibility of Per Se belittles the supposed nutritional danger that Platkins is implying.

Oh, shock! Oh, horror!

In other words, while a meal at Per Se can go into the thousands of calories, it probably only comes once every few months. Meanwhile, the supposedly healthier meal one can get at McDonald's can be obtained easily and often, meaning that the calories and fat will accumulate faster.


Platkins, you won't scare me off from my beloved Thomas Keller. ;)