[584] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Detroit Free Press Article
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Laura Dilley )
Wed May 24 09:55:37 1995
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 24 May 95 09:54:06
From: elsiedee@MIT.EDU (Laura Dilley )
------- Forwarded Message
The following article appeared in the Detroit Free Press of May 23, 1995,
in
the Body & Mind section:
"Good for you
"Chef helps Ford workers switch gears at lunch
"Today's cars run on lean, clean-burning fuel. Can we say the same of car
executives?
"You can at one company cafeteria. Vegetarian entrees are a hit at Ford
World Headquarters.
" 'Hey, we had to get away from this constant chicken breast thing,' quips
chef Scott Sundermeyer, taking a good-natured swipe at the evolution of the
business lunch. From the old days of two martini lunches and thick steaks,
auto industry movers and shakers have downsized considerably. Chicken
entrees are the lighter, though too-predictable norm on many Ford menus.
"Sundermeyer, 29, is tooling up for more change. He's executive chef at
Ford
World Headquarters, the famous Glass House in Dearborn. While still
needing
to accommodate the meat-and-potatoes crowd, Sundermeyer says he is
responding
to the lighter tastes of more cosmopolitan employees.
"On one day last week he had just whipped up 'Tex-Mex beans and rice, with
a
couple different peppers in there, chili powder, cumin and garlic, and navy
and kidney beans for protein.' The result? A nice alternative--and with
far
lower cholesterol per gallon--to the same day's HeartSmart Pork Loin, a
recipe from the files of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
"Sundermeyer says interest in vegetarian entrees has grown slowly but
steadily, in part because Ford aggressively recruits engineers from around
the globe.
" ' We want to diversify our staffs, so we have people from China,
Pakistan,
all over Asia, and their meat consumption is almost nothing,' he says.
"In addition, more employees are ordering meatless meals, for health or
philosophical reasons, says Sundermeyer. One secretary left him a box
jammed
with vegetarian cookbooks. Sundermeyer did some cramming, then enlisted
his
assistant cooks in vegetarian cooking classes.
"These days, he's cooking vegetarian meals at home, too, and is partial to
eggplant Parmesan. ' You prepare it right, it's delectable,' he says.
"Once in a while, even a fine chef turns out an Edsel. When that happens,
Sundermeyer turns the disaster over to his omnivorous pooch.
"Who never demands a rebate.
"By Bill Laitner
Free Press Health & Fitness Writer"
------- End of Forwarded Message
