DE-JUNKING IS BIGGER THAN 4FOOD

In the context of 4food, de-junking is about bringing fast, fresh, delicious, and nutritious food, made of local produce purchased at fair prices, to people of all ages, lifestyles, and ethnicities. Expressed globally, de-junking is about extracting the additives, pollutants, and inequities from our lives. De-junking does not just happen, but is the result of the brilliance, resilience, and fortitude of people.

Presenting for the first time my admittedly subjective De-Junking Top 6

• De-junking Nukes:
• The "Fukushima 50" - Is the name given to a group of workers at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station who have exposed themselves to radiation to save Japan from apocalypse.
• De-junking Egypt:
• Wael Ghonim - Google’s head of marketing in the Middle East, created a Facebook page calling for the overthrow of President Mubarak. The revolution he started led to Mubarak’s resignation and promises to democratize much of the Middle East.
• Honorable Mention: Mark Zuckerberg for providing the tools.
• De-junking Sight:
• Dr. Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy - This Indian doctor has performed cataract surgery 3.6 million times since 1976, the 30% of his patients that can afford to pay subsidize the rest.
• De-Junking Professional Soccer:
• Anton Hysen - The only openly gay soccer player in the professional sport, plays through crowd abuse and hate mail, but de-junks expectations with every tough tackle.
• De-Junking the Sex Trade:
• Anuradha Koirala - At 9 years old she was forced to have sex with as many as 60 Johns a day as an indentured slave, she has since helped more than 12,000 victims of Nepal's sex trafficking business escape.
• De-junking Information
• Bradley Manning - This United States Army soldier was arrested in Iraq in May 2010 on suspicion of having passed classified information to the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. He now faces the death penalty for providing us with essential information.
• Honorable Mention: Julian Paul Assange for providing the tools.

HOW RANDALL GOT HIS GROOVE BACK

Newmanra launched his own Operation Odyssey Dawn this week and it powered his Multigrain-Turkey-Spinach and Pine Nuts-Avocado-Manchego-Hummus-Sweet Chili-Onion Cali4nication back to #1 on the Buildboard chart, beating out #winning, antyson’s “tribute to his messiness Charlie Sheen”, by 6 (W)holebugers (39 to 33) . #winning has earned $41.50 for the American Diabetes Association to date. In other chart action, Libyan Democracy, a Brioche, Beef, Chipotle Hominy, Kim Chi, Manchego, Lettuce, Pickle, Tomato, Onion Mayonnaise, Organic Ketchup, Sweet Chili burger by davidcarlson entered the chart at #10, riding a wave of anti-Gaddafi sentiment.  Muammar al-Gaddafi is the longest serving non-royal leader on Earth - do I hear regime change anyone?

SEARCHING FOR THE PERFECT RED LENTIL DAL

When creating the recipes for our Veggiescoops, the 4food culinary team set out to find flavors that really captured the diversity and spirit of New York City, and
through our city the world. With our Metro Card passports we traveled to Italy on
Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Jamaica on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and the Fujian
Province on Eldridge Street in Manhattan.

On a trip to India by way of Jackson Heights, Queens, we indulged in the rich savory
flavors of Dal Makhani, a thick stew of black lentils simmered overnight with ginger,garlic, tomato, green chilies, and cumin in a low temperature oven. Warm bowls of this delicious stew are served with a touch of cool cream yogurt swirled in at the end. This and other amazing Indian vegetable stews served as an inspiration for ourown Red Lentil Dal, this month’s feature Veggiescoop.

We start by sautéing onions, garlic, and ginger, cooking them very slowly until they are soft and the ginger is very fragrant. We then add our own blend of garam masala - a fusion of black and white peppercorns, cloves, mace, black cumin, cumin seeds, cinnamon, green cardamom, nutmeg, star anise, and coriander seeds. The finest red lentils are added next, and cooked slowly with fresh chopped tomato until the lentils are tender. To add another layer of depth to these flavors we finish the Dal with a handful of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh limejuice.

The Red Lentil Dal pairs well with our any of our (W)holepatties but my favorite way to enjoy this scoop is alongside Coconut Rice and Lamb Skewers with a side of Tzatziki Sauce and a cool refreshing Mango Chai Tea. You too will discover your favorite combinations.

Tweet them!

Let us know how you Red Lentil Dal!

BOOGIE DOWN KUWAIT

Over the next few years we will open 4food stores and bring our Counter Culture to places like Kuwait, the 5th richest country in the world, with a per capita income of $81,800 (USD), and the South Bronx, the poorest Congressional District in the U.S., with a per capita income of $13,959 (USD) and where 38% of its residents live in poverty. Two vastly different societies, and yet when it comes to nutrition they similarly need de-junking.

• According to Forbes, Kuwait ranks 8 on a 2007 list of fattest countries (74.2% of its citizens are obese), and diabetes has reached an epidemic level, affecting 26% of population.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the South Bronx is the fattest congressional district in New York State and one of the fattest in the U.S. (68% of its residents are obese), and diabetes has reached an epidemic level, affecting 18% of residents.

In Kuwait prosperity and prohibition have made eating a leisure activity, and substitution of the traditional, fish-rich, Mediterranean diet with ours has made that unhealthy. In the South Bronx poverty has resulted in food insecurity (37% percent of residents went hungry in 2009 - the highest rate the U.S.), which leads people to snatch the biggest portions of the cheapest foods they can find, which can be lethal, given the distortions of subsidies that have made High Fructose Corn Syrup sweetened sodas cheaper than bottled water, and inconceivably cruel industrial livestock production methods that have made the fast food patty so cheap.

On the Buildboard Chart:

THE KING IS DEAD LONG LIVE CHARLIE SHEEN!

In a week that saw increased sales across the chart, Newmanra did what he had been promising to do for the past month, and as a result his Multigrain-Turkey-Spinach & Pine Nuts-Avocado-Manchego-Hummus-Sweet Chili Cali4nication destroyed Aharris’s Caliburger by 17 burgers (a 35 to 18 margin), sending the best selling (W)holeburger of all time (572 sold to date) tumbling down the chart to #4. At #2 this week is Rodgersmg‘s little MGR Lamb, followed at #3 by #winning burger, antyson’s “tribute to his messiness Charlie Sheen”. #winning burger is the fastest breaking new (W)holeburger of all time, with 19 sold in the first week generating $9.50 for the American Diabetes Association. Given what Charlie knows about 4nication, and what Ashley knows about the power of social media, our advice to Randall is - “watch your back!“ Honorable mentions this week are Mindvomit’s deliriously named, Brioche-bun, Beef-patty, Mac and Cheese-scoop, Maple Glazed Butternut Squash, Horseradish Cream, Mayo, Sweet Chili, Burger on a Magic Carpet Ride in your Mouth, which flies in at #13, and my own Brioche-Egg-Mofongo-Pancetta-Fontina-Sweet Chili-Vidalia Onion Bachata Dreams, which picks its way back into the chart for the first time since mid-January, at #15. Since I spent the week inventing new (W)holeburgers, the only reason I can find for the renewed interest in my Bachata Dreams breakfast classic is the presence of Aventura’s simmering, bluesy, El Perdedor on the in-store playlist, and as well that it is delicious!

Hello 4foodies –

It has been five weeks since I joined the company, as head of operations, and I am as excited as ever about the future of 4food. In this short time, I have had the chance to peel back the layers of what makes this concept special and in this issue of the newsletter I want to pose the following question:

Isn’t it time we changed the way we eat?

What does this sentence mean to you? For me, it means:

• Knowing from where my food comes
• How it was prepared
• Sharing it with the people who are important to me

My love affair with food began when I was young. I was raised on a working farm, in Washington State, with cattle, horses, chickens, rabbits – I think you get the picture.

On this farm, we also had a large garden. I remember the late days of summer, when I would:

• Pull an onion bulb out of the ground, rinse off the soil and bite into it like an apple
• Snap a pea pod off the vine and shuck the tender green peas straight into my mouth
• Pull a gangly orange carrot out of the soil and bite into its sweet stock

In those days, knowing where my food came from couldn’t have been simpler. The food couldn’t have been fresher. It isn’t as easy these days to trace our food back to its origin. Nearly all of the food at your average quick serve restaurant is packed with preservatives, flavorings, and stabilizers mutating the taste profile along the way.

At 4food, every item on our menu is prepared from scratch. Nothing is processed. Our scoops begin with fresh vegetables and herbs and are free from engineered preservatives. Our livestock are grass-fed and humanely raised, as certified by the humane society, while our ingredients are free from genetically engineered organisms (GMOs). Vinny and his team, in the restaurant’s kitchen, work tirelessly to ensure we serve only the freshest items to you, our guests.

As the head of operations at 4food, I am committed to ensuring that we remain transparent and share with you the origins of each of our ingredients and how we construct each menu item.

So again I ask, isn’t time we changed the way we eat?

Our number one goal is to De-junk the world, a burger at a time.

De-junking Always,

Jonathan

It’s March and the madness has already begun. In a week in which England fought their way to an unlikely tie with India in World Cup Cricket, only to lose to Ireland, newmanra’s Multigrain-Turkey-Spinach & Pine Nuts-Avocado-Manchego-Hummus-Sweet Chili Cali4nication again tied aharris’s Brioche-Beef-Avocado & Chili Mango-Avocado-Manchego-Dijon Mustard-Lettuce-Tomato monster hit Caliburger, which is by far the best-selling (w)holeburger of all time with 554 sold and $168.50 earned. Has aharris ever paid 4food? Perhaps the even bigger news is that this is no-longer an all Cali race - making an enormous move from #6 to #3 and ending up only three purchases behind the Cali twins is ericakeller23’s Erica, the first real veggie contender and the one to watch as Rodgersmg’s MGR Lamb fades to #4. In other chart action Mapohlman’s fine porker, the MultiGrain-Italian Sausage-Chipotle Hominy-Roasted Shiitake Mushrooom-Mozzarella-Guacamole-Dijon Mustard-Pickle Here Piggy Piggy snorts into the chart at #13, and antyson’s Brioche-Beef-Mac and Cheese-Pancetta Bacon-Cheddar-BBQ-Tomato #winning burger, a rather touching tribute to “his messiness” Charlie Sheen, wobbles into #14 - for every one of these sold in March we will contribute $0.50 to the American Diabetes Association.

Buildboard:

1. Cali4nication (tie w/ Caliburger)
2. Caliburger
3. Erica
4. MGR Lamb
5. Bed Intruder
6. The Crispy Aardvark
7. The Dark Knight
8. The Low Cal Sal
9. Office Marriage
10. The Sweet Jerk

DE-JUNKING IS GREATER THAN 4FOOD

The movement to de-junk our planet has gained momentum in the past few weeks. Though we are thrilled by it and humbled by the brave people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and closer to home Wisconsin who have in many cases put up their lives to stake progress, the parallel we draw between de-junking fast food and de-junking government is that progress is seldom perfect.

In a similar way that the regimes that followed ex-President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak's reign in Egypt include relics of those nations past, our own de-junked products are works in progress.

Our expectation is that your vigilance, expressed in person or on Facebook and Twitter or as a cry for Yelp, will enable us to stay true to our mission as the crowds that have re-formed in Tunisia's Government Square or Cairo's Tahrir Square are protecting the gains that those societies have made.

The revolution that social media has wrought is one where information is leveraged through connectivity and recommendation to deliver responsive governance - finally for the people, by the people.

This is why we are responsive to those occasional negative tweets and why we are working hard to push our products, services, and technologies forward so you will promote our de-junked products to your friends.

On the Buildboard Chart:

It's all Cali this week with Newmanra’s Multigrain-Turkey-Spinach & Pine Nuts-Avocado-Manchego-Hummus-Sweet Chili Cali4nication climbing from #3 to #2, with Aharris’s Brioche-Beef-Avocado & Chili Mango-Avocado-Manchego-Dijon Mustard-Lettuce-Tomato Caliburger now firmly in its sights (only 3 burgers away). David G’s Multigrain-Turkey-Brussel Sprouts-Avocado-Mozzarella-Jerk Sauce-Sweet Chili-Lettuce-Tomato Sweet Jerk nibbles into the chart at #10, followed by Khahlidra's late breaking Valentine's Day build, the Brioche-Beef-Mushroom & Onions-Gruyere-Mayo-Dijon Mustard-Lettuce-Tomato Undercover Lover. Some of you may know Khahlidra as our General Manager, the bigger question is the identity of her Undercover Lover? Next at #12 is Lamb of God, a Pressed Rice-Lamb-Avocado & Chili Mango-Avocado-Gruyere-Horseradish Cream-Sweet Chili-Lettuce by Pvanessche, one of our most loyal customers that looks like it may have four legs to go with its inspired name - Roger are you scared yet?

Finally, to celebrate the Oscar success of the King's Speech we are running an exciting British Monarch contest - name your burger after a British Monarch (dead or alive) and do your marketing thing - the best selling King-burger (by Saturday March 12th) will win $25 in 4food cash!

Chart for 2/20-27

1.Caliburger

2. Cali4nication

3. MGR Lamb

4. The Crispy Aardvark

5. Bed Intruder

6. Erica

7. Office Marriage

8. The Dark Knight

9. Lo Cal Sal

10. The Sweet Jerk

Honorable Mentions:

- Undercover Lover

- Lamb of God

- Araksya

- Ginger Flash’s Meaty Mouthful

- Mac Daddy