If you read this blog at all frequently, you should run out and buy the April ‘08 issue of Ode Magazine, to read “Eat a burger, Save the World: Why the ‘new’ fast food is good for you (and the planet)”. This front-page article discusses many of the restaurants we’ve featured here in the Feel Good Fast Food blog, including Pizza Fusion, Chipotle, BurgerVille, BetterBurger, and Pret a Manger. Author, Mary Desmond Pinkowish, cites the “five ingredients for a greater, greener fast-food joint: 1) Keep it Local 2) Make it Good 3) Make it Healthy 4) Take Care of your Employees 5) Take Care of the Environment”

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

If you want to celebrate Irish tradition and have corned beef this St. Patrick’s Day, try natural beef from companies like Niman Ranch. To get your traditional fare fix, load up on sauerkraut. Still high sodium, but low in calorie and high fiber.

And if you want to follow the good ol’ St. Patrick’s Day tradition of drinking. Here are some healthier and eco-friendly alternatives than the regular liquor you can find in any market and store. Most of these drinks are free of plastic, and have biodegradable packaging.

Organic Beer

1. Peak
2. Butte Creek
3. Wolaver’s

Or why don’t you try non-alcoholic drinks. They have less alcoholic content without sacrificing taste. Some of the more popular selections are the following:

1. O’Douls
2. Beck’s
3. St. Pauli’s Girl

As more restaurants try to incorporate green practices into their operations, the issue of costs comes into play. In a Kansas City Business Journal article, “Restaurants nibble at greens”, it states that typically there’s a 5-25% premium for eco-friendly products. The price difference is also evident in meats where all natural products can lead to a 10% increase in menu prices and for organic meat products, the bill increases by 20% to 30%.

The result is that some resturants face financial obstacles in becoming more environmentally friendly and must moderate their efforts. As Rod Andersen, president of The Andersen Restaurant Group says “We’re putting our foot in the water, but we’re not going for a swim yet”.

At the same time, once a resturant has adapted all of its operations, it appears that being green is easy to repeat. The New York Times recently reported how resturants such as Pizza Fusion and Birdbath Organic Bakery have been able to continue it s green operations and expand. Pizza fusion plans to open a lcoation in San Diego with its hybrid delivery cars this spring. Also, for its third location, Birdbath Organic Bakery will be using herbs they’ve grown onsite.

Evidence reveals the postive aspects of being green as 62% of consumers would probably choose an eco-friendly restaurant according to a Nation’s Restaurant News survey. Also, as Christopher Fillie (a LEED-specialist contractor and current contractor for Sharab) states “the reality is that the cost of doing business poorly [i.e. using traditional energy sources] is going up” which further supports the argument for doing what it takes to be green. Though it is apparent that it is costly for a novice restaurant to become green, it’s clear that it’s possible and that the benefits outweigh the costs.

I hope so. One of the reasons I am so passionate about Feel Good Fast Food is because I have felt the impact of how different types of foods impact the way I feel. I might be more observant about this than others because I have a family history of depression. Though, when you get down to it, I’m not sure what family doesn’t have a history of depression.

New research links depression and anxiety with unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking habits. Reuters reported on this study where “results showed that adults with current depression or a previous diagnosis of depression were 60 percent more likely to be obese and twice as likely to smoke as their non-depressed peers.”

Feeling down can inspire cravings of fat, carbs, and salt. The problem is that eating too much of these foods can make you feel even more sluggish, tired, and depressed. This is why I’m passionate about serving convenient, crave-able, comfortable foods that are better-for-you and actually help you feel good in both the short and long term.

It is thrilling to be able to share with you that, after years of planning and writing this blog, I am opening Amanda’s, a Feel Good Fast Food restaurant, in the San Francisco Bay Area this year. I’ll post periodic updates to the feelgoodfastfood.org blog as our restaurant construction and other preparations progress.

Thank you all for your inspiration, support, and encouragement.

Keep Feelin’ Good!

-Amanda