Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Chefs take local produce to a new level — the roof

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bs-fo-rooftop-restaurant-garden-20100622,0,5127931.story


Chefs take local produce to a new level — the roof
Chefs, inspired by local-foods movement, aren't just buying from farmers; they want to be the farmer

High atop Regi's American Bistro in Federal Hill, 55 tomato plants grow in large pots, strategically located along support beams so they don't strain the rowhouse roof.

Looking for a more affordable, dependable source for the tasty heirloom varieties that can fetch $4 to $5 a pound at area farmers' markets, Regi's owner Alan Morstein this spring created a rooftop tomato farmette that he proudly shows off to diners. Regi's chefs Mike Broglio and Ben Troast have grown used to them, traipsing through the prep area to reach the roof.

"We joke that it's the 7:30 tour," Broglio said.

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"We don't have a chef's table," Troast added. "We're going to have a tomato table up there."

First there was farm-to-table dining. Now, "rooftop-to-tabletop," as Morstein calls it.

The same local-foods movement that has revived interest in home gardening is leading more chefs and restaurateurs to grow some of their own ingredients. They've been dealing directly with local farmers in recent years. Now, no longer content to just buy from the farmer, some chefs want to be the farmer.

That urge has given rise to a few restaurant farms, like the 5-acre spread in Howard County that restaurateur Qayum Karzai started three years ago to supply produce to his Helmand, b and Tapas Teatro restaurants. But many of these commercial kitchen gardens are sprouting atop the very restaurants they supply.

Whether in fields or in plastic baby pools on restaurant rooftops, more area restaurateurs and chefs are producing their own heirloom tomatoes, onions, berries, greens, corn — even honey.

They have launched these ventures with the goals of saving money and reaping fresher, more unusual and higher-quality produce. They're also seeking locavore bragging rights. In an era when the provenance of nearly every ingredient is promoted on menus, when house-made charcuterie, house-cured bacon and the like have become de rigueur, why not house-grown produce?

The soup du jour at Jack's Bistro in Canton last week was a gazpacho made with "rooftop onions."

"There's something about when you have 'rooftop onions' [on the menu], and people say, 'Rooftop onions, what does that mean?' " said Christie Smertycha, manager at Jack's. "There's just something wonderful about saying, 'Oh, we grow them on the rooftop of our building.' … There's a real sense of pride."

Morstein is so proud of his tomato plants, which are now taller than the 6-foot restaurateur, that he jokes about buying celebratory cigars when he harvests the first fruit. This, despite the fact that after purchasing seedlings, bags and bags of organic soil, plastic containers, organic squirrel repellant, Astroturf (so the black rooftop wouldn't bake his plants) and tinsel strips (draped on phone lines to deter birds), Morstein has concluded that the tomato venture is not saving him any money. He spends up to an hour a day tending his plants.

"I get up in the morning, and my wife says, 'There goes farmer Al,' " he said. "It's just another thing I want to do."

Most busy restaurateurs and chefs are not looking for anything extra to do, but they are finding time nonetheless for their commercial kitchen gardens.

Jamie Forsythe spent one morning last week fixing a tractor on a 5-acre farm in Howard County. That night, he taught a new cook at a Bolton Hill restaurant how to make cassoulet. In the fields by day, in the kitchen by night, Forsythe isn't moonlighting so much as fusing two jobs into one: farmer-chef. He is manager of Fig Leaf Farm and chef at b restaurant, both owned by restaurateur Karzai.

"Being out there in the daytime and pulling a beet from the ground, knowing that you're going to cook it that night, you feel kind of energized," Forsythe said. "I come back so ready to cook, really just charged up to do it."

James Barrett, chef at the Westin Annapolis, recently installed two beehives he inherited from his father on the roof of the hotel and plans to use the honey in the restaurant. It started as a way to honor his father, a beekeeping hobbyist who died in November. But now the farming bug has bitten him.

"We're talking to two different people about a rooftop garden — or we have a huge courtyard," he said. "If we could put a two-season garden in there, that would be outstanding for what I would have readily available for us to use here. Talk about using fresh, using local — it doesn't get any fresher than that.

"It's just more control I have over the product I want. It's not me going to someone else. It's 'Here's what I want, here's what I'm going to grow.' My wife's looking at me: 'Really? Come on. You're already gone all day.' "

Those long kitchen hours are precisely what led Ted Stelzenmuller, chef-owner of Jack's Bistro, to put in his rooftop garden about a year ago. The kitchen stays open until 1 a.m., and Stelzenmuller could never get up in time to get to morning farmers' markets. So he got a contractor to punch through a skylight in the restaurant's second-floor bathroom and install a ladder, giving him access to the roof. There, in children's pools and other plastic containers, he's growing microgreens, herbs, strawberries and those "rooftop onions."

The restaurant-based gardens also offer respite from the kitchen.

"This is a little Zen for me — get out of the kitchen and water or go and walk through and check on everything," said Sarah Thall, chef of Hamilton Tavern, which has tomatoes, eggplant, sweet bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, celery and corn on its rooftop in a garden installed this spring with help from the Hamilton Crop Circle, a neighborhood composting and gardening operation.

"It's really nice on a stressful day to say, 'Ahhh, got to go to the roof and water the herbs,' and then maybe stay up there too long," said Joe Edwardsen, owner of Joe Squared Pizza & Bar on North Avenue. Edwardsen is growing tarragon, thyme, oregano and "a lot of basil" on his rooftop.

"We drop over $3,000 in an average week in produce, so growing the herbs, I think, probably saves $200 to $300 a week, especially with all the pesto we make," Edwardsen said.

It helps that he picked up his big growing tubs and hydroponic equipment for free. "The police threw it out when they were busting the pot-growing operation next door," Edwardsen said.

But it's not just about saving money. The herbs he grows are more flavorful because he doesn't have to wash them as thoroughly as produce from a commercial farm.

"Growing on the roof, you don't have the pest problem," he said. "You don't have to use pesticides. We can keep most things off our plants. You get things from these farms, and you have to have it soaked three times in bins of water before you serve it because you don't know what they've put on it."

With the rooftop herbs, Edwardsen said, "We can give it a quick rinse, and that's about it. So we don't have to soak all those oils off it. ... You want all that flavor."

Restaurant gardening is nothing new to Fernand Tersiguel, who has had a small farm since before he opened Tersiguel's in Ellicott City in 1990 or its predecessor, the now-closed Chez Fernand, in 1975. He farms about half an acre near Diamond Ridge Golf Course in Baltimore County. The biggest crop is potatoes, 14 different kinds of them, six different varieties of fingerlings alone. He harvests about 1,500 to 2,000 pounds over the season. He also has about 35 peach trees and 30 blueberry bushes.

"We're going to have enough potatoes from now until October," Tersiguel said.

But the farm can't grow everything for the restaurant. Tersiguel's son Michel, now chef-owner of Tersiguel's, still has to go to the wholesale market in Jessup two or three times a week.

The harvest is even more modest for most rooftop gardens, though Morstein of Regi's hopes to get 25 to 30 pounds of tomatoes out of every plant. At Joe Squared, Edwardsen put two blueberry bushes on the rooftop last year. The yield has been small but satisfying.

"One Sunday out of the entire year, I have enough blueberries for maybe 15 orders of pancakes," he said. "And they're delicious."

Some rooftop gardening chefs find themselves fantasizing about getting farms the way they used to dream about opening another restaurant.

"I would love to get a plot of land like the Karzais," Edwardsen said. "I think you have to have three restaurants before you can do that."

Gertrude's restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art added a small garden last year and expanded it this year to include 12 varieties of tomatoes, three types of eggplant, herbs, 10 kinds of peppers, heirloom beets and two types of Swiss chard.

But the harvest is hardly enough to supply the busy restaurant with all of its produce.

"There's a tomato in every sandwich," said Jon Carroll, an assistant manager who created the garden as a hobby. So the garden produce gets highlighted in daily specials, like an heirloom-tomato Bloody Mary.

"I would love to get more land," said John Shields, Gertrude's chef-owner. "If we could find a larger plot of land and do a mini-farmette, that's my dream. Do you think the BMA would let me have goats in the sculpture garden?"

laura.vozzella@baltsun.com

Fw: Rural America Solutions Group Co-Chairs Call for Committee Hearingson Federal Power Grab of Clean Water Act

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From: Ag Republican Press <AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:59:17 -0500
To: Hinton, Tamara<Tamara.Hinton@mail.house.gov>
Subject: Rural America Solutions Group Co-Chairs Call for Committee Hearings on Federal Power Grab of Clean Water Act

 

   

ruralamericasolutions2

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              CONTACT:        LucasTamara Hinton (202) 225-0184

Tuesday, June 22, 2010                                       Graves - Alexandra Haynes (202) 225-5821   
                                                                                           HastingsJill Strait (202) 226-2311

                                                                                                                                 

Rural America Solutions Group Co-Chairs Call for Committee Hearings on Federal Power Grab of Clean Water Act

Bill threatens livelihood of farmers, small businesses and rural Americans nationwide

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Co-Chairs of the Rural America Solutions Group Frank Lucas (R-OK), Sam Graves (R-MO) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) sent a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall asking for hearings on H.R. 5088, America's Commitment to Clean Water Act.

 

This bill greatly expands the scope of the Clean Water Act by removing the word "navigable" from its current definition.  As a result, every body of water – from farmers' irrigation canals, to streams, small ponds and backyard muddle-puddles – could suddenly be subjected to sweeping new federal regulations and permitting.  This vast expansion of government authority would threaten jobs, increase costs for farmers and small businesses, and impact local water storage and delivery systems.

 

Letter excerpts:

 

"Although the bill has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, this far-reaching legislation would have a great impact on Western irrigation projects, farming and ranching operations, mining and small businesses that are within the jurisdiction of the Committees of which you are Chairs and we Ranking Members. At a time when creating and protecting jobs should be our top priority, we need to gain a full understanding of the effects that this bill will have on the economies of rural communities and the nation as a whole."

 

***

 

"We understand that a commitment was made last year to hold hearings on new legislation aimed at increasing federal water regulations. Unfortunately, no hearings have been scheduled on H.R. 5088…In fact, according to the Bureau of National Affairs, a Democrat majority staff member has explicitly stated "no hearings would be held." This is disconcerting and we hope it is not indicative of how this bill will be considered and debated in this body."

 

***

 

"The American people deserve more openness and transparency in our government. We stand ready to work with you to ensure that the voice of the people is heard on this legislation."

 

Click here to read the full text of letter.

 

# # #

 

 

 

Fw: New Discovery Resolves Century Old Scientific Mystery

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From: "Goldstein, Karla" <KGoldstein@danforthcenter.org>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:38:05 -0500
To: Jerald Schnoor (Business Fax)<IMCEARFAX-Jerald+20Schnoor+40_FN=+28040+29319+29+20335-5660@danforthcenter.org>; Schoonmaker (Business Fax)<IMCEARFAX-Schoonmaker+40_FN=1+20+28040+29919+29+20549-0090@danforthcenter.org>
Subject: New Discovery Resolves Century Old Scientific Mystery

For more information, contact:

Karla Goldstein, (314) 587-1231    kgoldstein@danforthcenter.org

For Immediate Release

 

New Discovery Resolves Century Old Scientific Mystery

Results to be published in prominent journal

 

ST. LOUIS, MO June 22, 2010—Researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, UC Davis, and Imperial College London have addressed a longstanding mystery which has confused scientists for more than a century.  Their discovery will be published in the June 21, 2010 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0910558107

 

The research team demonstrated that cucurbits - a plant family including melons, gourds, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkin - actually have two functionally distinct phloem systems as opposed to one.  Phloem is the living tissue that distributes nutrients to various parts of the plant as needed.  This discovery is against a popular notion in plant biology under the "structure and function" framework that a similar structure usually indicates similar function and raises questions regarding conclusions made in the past, as the vast majority of research in phloem transport studies use cucurbits as model species and utilize the old dogma as an assumed known.

 

In vascular plants, phloem systems distribute nutrients, including trillions of tons of sugars produced in leaves each year, to all parts of the plant as needed.  These sugars are stored in seeds, wood, and fruits that are critically important in the sustenance of ecosystems and for utilization and consumption by humankind. Sampling phloem sap for research has been difficult because of its small size and very rapid sealing system. Cucurbitaceae have been long been used as model species for studying phloem transport because of the ease of sampling large quantity of phloem exudates by simply incising the stem, petioles and fruits.

 

Ever since the first extensive study of phloem transport in cucurbits in the 1930s by AS Crafts, a puzzling question remained until recently: why are the contents of phloem exudates in cucurbits so different from what was predicted.  According to the current understanding of phloem transport, up to 600 grams per liter of sugar should exist in the phloem exudates of cucurbits in order to sustain their fast fruit growth. The well-known phloem structural proteins (designated as PP1 and PP2 in pumpkin) that are supposed to block extensive bleeding from phloem tissue after wounding do not seem to work in cucurbits, whereas rapid sealing mechanisms block phloem bleeding instantaneously in other plant species, thus preventing sap sampling.

 

The commonly sampled cucurbit phloem exudates are actually from the extrafascicular phloem system, which is peripheral to the usual fascicular phloem (sugar transporting phloem located in vascular tissue) that is blocked immediately upon wounding.  Phloem exudates in the past have been mistakenly assigned to originate from both systems, and particularly to the fascicular system. The conclusions for this work are supported by tracer experiments and the analysis of the metabolome and proteome contents of the two-phloem systems. RFO sugars were detected in abundance fascicular phloem, and the previously proposed phloem structural proteins PP1 and PP2 were totally missing from the fascicular phloem tissues.

 

The research was conducted by Danforth Center scientists, Drs. Baichen Zhang and Leslie Hicks.  "This new discovery will catalyze an exciting start to a new era in phloem transport research using cucurbits as model species, particularly in combination with the recently released cucumber genome information," said Hicks, director of the Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry Facility at the Danforth Plant Science Center.

 

About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center 

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the   St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science.  Please visit www.danforthcenter.org for additional information. 

 

 

Karla R. Goldstein

Vice President of Public and Government Affairs

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

 (314) 587-1231, direct line

(314) 406-4287, mobile

Follow us on twitter

Connect with me on LinkedIn

www.danforthcenter.org

 

Improving the Human Condition through Plant Science

 

 

 

 

Fw: CSPI to Sue McDonald’s if it Continues Using Toys to Market Junk Food to Children

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From: News from CSPI <cspinews@cspinet.org>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:01:45 -0500
To: News from CSPI<cspinews@cspinet.org>
Subject: CSPI to Sue McDonald's if it Continues Usin g Toys to Market Junk Food to Children




For Release: 1:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 22, 2010                      
Contact:
 Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316


CSPI to Sue McDonald's if it Continues Using Toys to Market Junk Food to Children

Using Toys to Promote "Happy Meals" Is Unfair, Deceptive & Illegal, Group Says, Citing State Laws


WASHINGTON—Tell it to the judge, Ronald:  A nutrition watchdog group will sue McDonald's if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals.  According to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, using toys to lure small children into McDonald's is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws.  CSPI today served McDonald's a notice of its intent to sue, fulfilling a legal requirement of several states in which CSPI might bring the lawsuit.

        "McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children," said CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner.  "McDonald's use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children's developmental immaturity—all this to induce children to prefer foods that may harm their health.  It's a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction."  

        McDonald's is currently offering children toys related to Dreamworks' latest Shrek movie. (CSPI's action is unrelated to the recent recall of McDonald's Shrek drinking glasses contaminated with the toxic heavy metal cadmium.)  While Shrek may appear on packaging for low-fat milk and Apple Dippers, when children or parents order Happy Meals they are given French fries 93 percent of the time, according to a CSPI study.      

        In 2007, McDonald's made a pledge to an industry-funded self-regulatory group not to advertise to children meals that have more than 600 calories and no more than certain percentages of fat and sugar.  Thus, the brief glimpses of actual food in McDonald's youth-directed advertising, show Apple Dippers and low-fat milk as part of either a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal or a Hamburger Happy Meal.  But toys, a powerful temptation for kids, are included with all Happy Meals, regardless of nutrition.  

Of the 24 possible Happy Meal combinations that McDonald's describes on its web site, all exceed 430 calories (430 is one-third of the 1,300- calorie recommended daily intake for children 4 to 8 years old). A Happy Meal of a cheeseburger, French fries, and Sprite has half a day's calories and saturated fat (640 and 7 grams, respectively), about 940 milligrams of sodium, and about two days' worth of sugar (35 grams).  And even that meal might have come with a toy related to Star Wars, iCarly, How to Train Your Dragon, Night at the Museum, or, of course, Shrek.  Getting children accustomed to eating burgers, fries, and soda puts them at greater risk of developing obesity, diabetes, or other diet-related diseases over the course of their lifetimes, according to CSPI.

"But regardless of the nutritional quality of what's being sold, the practice of tempting kids with toys is inherently deceptive," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.  "I'm sure that industry's defenders will blame parents for not saying 'no' to their children.  Parents do bear much of the responsibility, but multi-billion-dollar corporations make parents' job nearly impossible by giving away toys and bombarding kids with slick advertising."

"We know from scientific research that young children—and even older ones—do not have the ability to understand how marketing has been designed to influence them," said Kathryn Montgomery, professor of communication at American University and an expert on media and children.  "In the era of digital marketing, these vulnerabilities are magnified even further. McDonald's use of these techniques raises troubling questions, for health professionals, parents, and policy makers."

        The practice of using toy promotions to promote fast-food to children is under scrutiny elsewhere, too.  In May, the Santa Clara County, Calif., Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance preventing McDonald's and other restaurants from including toys or other kid-oriented incentives with the purchase of unhealthy meals.  And the Federal Trade Commission may have something to say about toy promotions when it releases a set of voluntary standards for food marketers later this year.  According to a 2008 report from the FTC, food companies spend more than $350 million on toy giveaways each year.  

"McDonald's makes my job as a parent more difficult," said Sheila Nesbitt, 36, a project manager from Champlin, MN, and a parent of a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.  "They market cheap toys that appeal to kids and it works.  My kids always want to go to McDonald's because of the toys.  I try my best to educate my kids about healthy eating but it's hard when I am competing against the allure of a new Shrek toy."

        "McDonald's marketing has the effect of conscripting America's children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to pester their parents to bring them to McDonald's," wrote Gardner in a notice letter to McDonald's vice chairman, CEO, and president Jim Skinner, and McDonald's USA president Jan Fields.

        CSPI's notice letter says that McDonald's toy-related promotions violate state consumer protection laws in Massachusetts, Texas, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and California.  CSPI's letter gives McDonald's 30 days to agree to stop the practice before a suit is filed.

        CSPI's litigation unit has taken on food marketing to children before.  In 2006, CSPI notified Kellogg that it would be sued for marketing sugary cereals and other junk food directly to children.  After negotiating for more than a year, CSPI and Kellogg reached a historic settlement agreement that set nutrition standards for the foods the company may advertise on media with young audiences.   Since then, Kellogg only advertises to young audiences if a serving of the food has no more than 200 calories, zero grams of trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat, no more than 230 milligrams of sodium, and no more than 12 grams of sugar.

        In previous fast-food litigation, CSPI sued KFC for using partially hydrogenated oil, which made KFC's chicken very high in trans fat.  CSPI dropped that lawsuit when the company agreed to phase out partially hydrogenated oils.  KFC chicken is now trans-fat-free.

        This is the first time that CSPI has planned to take McDonald's to court.        

###


The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition, food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies.  CSPI is supported by the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants.  

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Fw: NEWS: New Research Helps Restaurateurs Optimize OperationalPerformance

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From: Nat'l Restaurant Assn Media <media@restaurant.org>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:17:57 -0500
To: Nat'l Restaurant Assn Media<media@restaurant.org>
Subject: NEWS: New Research Helps Restaurateurs Optimize Operational Performance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 22, 2010

CONTACT:  Annika Stensson (202) 973-3677 astensson@restaurant.org or Tourang Nazari (571) 882-6252 tnazari@deloitte.com

National Restaurant Association on Twitter and Facebook.

 
New Research Helps Restaurateurs Optimize Operational Performance
2010 edition of Restaurant Industry Operations Report contains detailed data on typical operating costs and line items


(Washington, D.C.) New research that could help restaurant operators review and improve the financial performance of their establishment is now available in the 2010 edition of the Restaurant Industry Operations Report. The new report by the National Restaurant Association and Deloitte allows restaurateurs to compare their operations to similar ones to better manage budgets, food costs, utilities, labor costs and other items.


"The restaurant industry is on track to post sales of $580 billion this year, and the outlook for the industry is becoming increasingly positive," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the research and knowledge group for the National Restaurant Association. "Understanding how a restaurant is performing and allocating its budget in comparison with establishments of a similar business profile could help operators capitalize on the improving economic conditions and aid profitability over time."   


"Deloitte is pleased to continue its long-standing relationship with the National Restaurant Association," said Steve Steinhauser, director, Restaurant Industry Practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP.  "Over the past two decades, we've seen a tremendous evolution of the industry, with restaurateurs facing multiple challenges and increasing competition.  The Restaurant Industry Operations Report can help restaurateurs develop insights about food, labor, and operating costs, among others factors, to benefit their business."


The Restaurant Industry Operations Report provides information on typical restaurant operations, including costs, such as food/beverage and labor, which each account for about one-third of total sales. The pretax profit margin of a restaurant typically ranges between 2 and 6 percent.


The report includes detailed data on operating costs and line items as amounts per seat, or ratios to total sales, by restaurant type, region, sales volume, menu theme and other parameters. It contains data on sales, gross profits, operating expenses in various categories, seat turnover, employees per seat, pre-tax income and more. The survey data is presented as medians and upper and lower quartiles unless otherwise noted.


The report includes specific financial information on limited service restaurants, and fullservice restaurants by average per-person check (under $15, $15 to $24.99, and $25 and over).


The information in the Restaurant Industry Operations Report is not intended to be used as a universal standard for individual restaurants, but as a management tool to help compare a restaurant's performance with that of similar establishments.


To order the 2010 edition of the Restaurant Industry Operations Report, visit the Association's online store at www.restaurant.org/store, or call (800) 482-9122. The report is available to National Restaurant Association members for $60, and to non-members for $125.


As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.
                                                                                ###
 
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 945,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. Together with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to lead America's restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence, and participation, enhancing the quality of life for all we serve. For more information, visit our Web site at www.restaurant.org.
 
View this news release online: 
http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease/?ID=1971
 
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More news and information from the National Restaurant Association: http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom  
 
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