We have switched blog platforms. We will now be blogging directly on our website.
Check out our new blog here!!!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
'Eat less,' U.S. says, but fast-food chains super-size their offerings” - LA Times
By owner of Nature's Express, Dr. Carl Myers
Honesty is appreciated wherever one finds it. In a recent LA Times article, Sharon Bernstein focuses on the wide gap between official nutrition recommendations and what sells. The following statement from a fast-food executive quoted in her article tells it like it is.
"The bottom line is that we're in the business of making money, and we make money off of what we sell," said Beth Mansfield, spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains. "If we wanted to listen to the food police and sell nuts and berries and tofu burgers, we wouldn't make any money and we'd be out of business."
She is right, ignoring the longer-term results of junk food is a great way to make money. Connecting the dots between skyrocketing medical costs and fat children, diabetes, and heart disease is unlikely to happen when someone is just looking for a quick and tasty bite to eat.
At Nature’s Express we are designed to maximize purpose, not profits. We serve less toxic food because we believe the world will be a better place the more we are fit and healthy instead of fat and unhealthy. Money is necessary for our business to grow, but no way is it the reason we’re in business.
Beth makes a good point. People choose which businesses will survive and which won’t. So far it is no contest - the high fat, high sugar, and high calorie choices are winning hands down.
In 1900 people said, “Who needs a horseless carriage?” In 1970 IBM execs said, ”Who needs a computer?”
Perhaps in 2030 (with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity uncommon) we will look back at 2011 and laugh – “Who needs healthier food?”
Stay tuned.
Carl (not Jr.)
Honesty is appreciated wherever one finds it. In a recent LA Times article, Sharon Bernstein focuses on the wide gap between official nutrition recommendations and what sells. The following statement from a fast-food executive quoted in her article tells it like it is.
"The bottom line is that we're in the business of making money, and we make money off of what we sell," said Beth Mansfield, spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains. "If we wanted to listen to the food police and sell nuts and berries and tofu burgers, we wouldn't make any money and we'd be out of business."
She is right, ignoring the longer-term results of junk food is a great way to make money. Connecting the dots between skyrocketing medical costs and fat children, diabetes, and heart disease is unlikely to happen when someone is just looking for a quick and tasty bite to eat.
At Nature’s Express we are designed to maximize purpose, not profits. We serve less toxic food because we believe the world will be a better place the more we are fit and healthy instead of fat and unhealthy. Money is necessary for our business to grow, but no way is it the reason we’re in business.
Beth makes a good point. People choose which businesses will survive and which won’t. So far it is no contest - the high fat, high sugar, and high calorie choices are winning hands down.
In 1900 people said, “Who needs a horseless carriage?” In 1970 IBM execs said, ”Who needs a computer?”
Perhaps in 2030 (with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity uncommon) we will look back at 2011 and laugh – “Who needs healthier food?”
Stay tuned.
Carl (not Jr.)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
We will have been open in Berkeley one year from tomorrow!
How did this happen? It feels like our grand opening was just last week!
We have learned a lot in the one year that Nature’s Express has been on Solano ave. offering up our vegan food.
We have met characters that even the best writer would be hard pressed to think up (like angry guitar guy who stands outside of the restaurant who thinks he’s Jimi Hendrix; reborn, or the guy who got mad at us for the placement of the cross walk on Solano Ave, outside of NE) , we’ve laughed until our sides hurt and some of us have even cried.
We’ve tasted unbelievably delicious food (my personal favorite, coconut spiced yam soup - which we haven’t had in a while….just sayin’, Joel) and even some food that didn’t quite pan out (our Krab Kakes were great in theory) .We have seen each other at our best and at times our worst. We have seen many busy days and some painfully slow days. We have gotten to know and adore our regulars (Dan, Dawn, Larry, Don, Ryan, Amanda, Sean, Caroline, the rest of you know who you are and we thank you) and we continue to see new, curious faces. We have worked our asses off and we have been grateful for the opportunity to do so every step of the way. Thank you Carl for all of your support, advice and commitment in making the world a bite healthier!
I would also like to thank Alex Kushner and his crew, if anyone ever needs a rock solid, no BS contractor, I highly recommend him (http://www.akgeneral.us/Home.html ), Jesse, our POS guy – Jesse you are the best, CB, who helps us with our graphic design projects – it’s a 21stcentury craigslist love story!, Ann Wheat, one of the owners of Millennium restaurant and our biggest advocate.
Thank you to all of our most awesome employees – you are all a pleasure to work with, and entertaining to boot. Finally, (don’t worry, I’m almost done with my Oscar speech) to all of our customers – thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support.
Molly
P.S. Come in tomorrow for free soft serve and cookies!
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