Saturday, September 3, 2011

'Fresh Air,' Food, and the Four Day Work Week

by Erin

For the past couple of weeks NPR has been airing Terry Gross' Fresh Air episodes where she interviewed individuals who work with food.  She has spoken with chefs, food editors, Julia Childs, and even a chemist who spoke on the science behind frying.  Totally fascinating.  Max and I have been enjoying listening and learning from these individuals. 

Max was so impressed after listening to the episode on Grant Achatz, an arty Chicago chef that is overcoming tongue cancer.  He lost all sense of taste for a time and as his sense came back to him, they came one at a time. . . bitter, sweet, sour, etc.  Isn't that wild?  A chef with no sense of taste?  Listen to the episode here

Thursday evening while I was lying in bed, wondering how the hell I would ever get everything I needed to do for school, I listened to this episode with Gourmet Magazine editor Ruth Reichl.  Reichl left her high pressure job at the New York Times and moved to, the now debunked, GM, so she could make dinner for her family every night.  She sites the years as the best years of her life, and she gave me some ideas for quick and easy meals to try.  She also explained something about cooking that I have always known but never realized.  That cooking isn't what takes all the time, it is shopping and figuring out what you are going to make that takes time.  So true!  I know that I cook a lot more when everything I need is in the fridge.  I listened to this episode at the perfect time, just as I thought I couldn't get everything done, Ruth reminded me that the best thing to do is to slow down. 

Perhaps my favorite interview was chef Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse in Berkley.  I have always looked longingly through her cookbook, The Art of Simple Cooking at the bookstore with all her fresh and sustainable ingredients.  Besides listening to her talk about sustainability and her fantastic food, I was most excited to learn that Waters has actually put my idea of shorter, more productive work week (yes, it is my idea!) into action!  Her chefs work three or four days a week so they can spend more time with their families and in turn be more inspired in the kitchen.  Waters explained how this took so much of the burden off of her as the owner and executive chef of the restaurant since her chefs were more inspired and creative when they came into work.  Oh yeah, and she pays them a full time wage.  I believe this to be so true.  It is my belief that we could do more 'work' in less time or we could hire more people and stagger hours to ensure that this 'work' gets done.  Obama are you going to mention this in your employment speech next week?  Cheers to you Alice, especially because you have accomplished a shorter work week in one of the craziest industries out there!   Now I've got to figure out how we can do this in education.

Happy Labor Day weekend, my friends!

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Saturday, September 3, 2011

'Fresh Air,' Food, and the Four Day Work Week

by Erin

For the past couple of weeks NPR has been airing Terry Gross' Fresh Air episodes where she interviewed individuals who work with food.  She has spoken with chefs, food editors, Julia Childs, and even a chemist who spoke on the science behind frying.  Totally fascinating.  Max and I have been enjoying listening and learning from these individuals. 

Max was so impressed after listening to the episode on Grant Achatz, an arty Chicago chef that is overcoming tongue cancer.  He lost all sense of taste for a time and as his sense came back to him, they came one at a time. . . bitter, sweet, sour, etc.  Isn't that wild?  A chef with no sense of taste?  Listen to the episode here

Thursday evening while I was lying in bed, wondering how the hell I would ever get everything I needed to do for school, I listened to this episode with Gourmet Magazine editor Ruth Reichl.  Reichl left her high pressure job at the New York Times and moved to, the now debunked, GM, so she could make dinner for her family every night.  She sites the years as the best years of her life, and she gave me some ideas for quick and easy meals to try.  She also explained something about cooking that I have always known but never realized.  That cooking isn't what takes all the time, it is shopping and figuring out what you are going to make that takes time.  So true!  I know that I cook a lot more when everything I need is in the fridge.  I listened to this episode at the perfect time, just as I thought I couldn't get everything done, Ruth reminded me that the best thing to do is to slow down. 

Perhaps my favorite interview was chef Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse in Berkley.  I have always looked longingly through her cookbook, The Art of Simple Cooking at the bookstore with all her fresh and sustainable ingredients.  Besides listening to her talk about sustainability and her fantastic food, I was most excited to learn that Waters has actually put my idea of shorter, more productive work week (yes, it is my idea!) into action!  Her chefs work three or four days a week so they can spend more time with their families and in turn be more inspired in the kitchen.  Waters explained how this took so much of the burden off of her as the owner and executive chef of the restaurant since her chefs were more inspired and creative when they came into work.  Oh yeah, and she pays them a full time wage.  I believe this to be so true.  It is my belief that we could do more 'work' in less time or we could hire more people and stagger hours to ensure that this 'work' gets done.  Obama are you going to mention this in your employment speech next week?  Cheers to you Alice, especially because you have accomplished a shorter work week in one of the craziest industries out there!   Now I've got to figure out how we can do this in education.

Happy Labor Day weekend, my friends!

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