Article in Men's Health about Big Pizza and Big Agriculture. It's really interesting!

[shireen]

If you like delivery pizza from the big chains like Dominos, you really need to read this article. It's a real eye-opener!

THE DOMINO'S EFFECT

A few weeks after Domino's Pizza CEO J. Patrick Doyle traveled to New Delhi for the opening of the company's 9,000th franchise, he unveiled the next phase in the master strategy for global pizza domination. The company will establish a foothold of restaurants in Malaysia while doubling the number of U.K. locations by 2017. "We're in 65 countries right now," says Doyle. "We're not seeing many places where it doesn't make sense for Domino's pizza to go."

Pizza is the world's most popular food, and that enormous appetite is fueling what has recently become a transnational melee for market share and profits among four players: Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and Little Caesars. On the face of it, this intense competition for the dough we spend on dough sounds like a good thing. We eventually bite into better-tasting pizza that's made faster and sold cheaper. "Pizza is as economical to buy now as it was back in the '80s, if not more so," says Jennifer Litz, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com, an online trade publication for the industry.

But what if that large pie delivered to your doorstep costs more than you think? A number of economists, sociologists, and food scholars claim that the $36 billion-a-year success of Big Pizza has ominous undertones and implications that reach far beyond weighty matters like deciding between extra cheese and anchovies. They argue that the unrelenting push for ever-cheaper pizza ingredients is hurting the planet and driving small and medium-size farms out of business. Some of these farmers feel they have no choice but to move to the megacities sprouting across the globe. Once relocated to urban slums, many find themselves among the estimated 1.1 billion people earning less than $1 a day, an amount that makes it hard to survive, let alone afford Domino's recent special offer of $5.99 a pie for two medium pizzas. Of the farmers that decide to stay put, some opt for a quicker death, at their own hand.

"We are faced with two possible futures," says sociologist Harriet Friedmann, Ph.D., a professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto. "One is a diversity of crops, of cultures, and of cuisines that can inhabit ecosystems sustainably and produce healthy food for urban centers. The other is long-distance food from nowhere, monocultural systems that aren't sustainable, and simplified diets, especially for the poor. Global pizza typifies the second option."

More at http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/dominos-effect

[slackmaster]

1. Good read. K&R.

:kick:

[H2O Man]

2. My home-made pizza

is better than anything that you can buy. I don't understand buying things like pizza.

[riderinthestorm]

20. I dunno, H2OMan, those of us who live in and near Chicago have the best deep dish anywhere

not sure anyone can top it. While we also make a lot of homemade pizza in my house, Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza is always better than anything I've ever made.

[H2O Man]

38. I've been to Chicago

several times, and agree that you can buy a heck of a good pizza there. People take it serious there. But I've never had anyone try my home-made pizza, and say that they have ever tasted anything that compares. So, the next time you are in upstate New York, I'll get my apron on, heat the 200-year old Dutch oven, and get my pizza stone out.

I love to cook. My wife is better at preparing sea food. But other than that, I do almost all the cooking. My grandfather was a heck of a cook, and he left me his tools of the trade. Breads, soups, salads, pies, etc, etc. Pizza is my favorite.

[tech9413]

32. I'm pretty much the same as you, I can make a very good pie

for less than an order out pie. If you've ever lived in the NY Metro area, almost any local pizzeria can deliver a superb pie, much better than any of the chains. Even with a price twice that of the chains budget deals, it's worth going to a local shop if you want good pizza and don't have the time to do your own.
I moved back to W PA in 2002 and my best find was a local shop that was less than 2 miles from my apt and made great pies for $10-15 depending on toppings. I had to move in with my elderly parents a few years ago and now the only local shop charges at least $10 more but aren't as good. Since I have the time, I now prefer to make my own.

[H2O Man]

39. I've been in

NYC and LA (and Chicago, as noted above), and there are absolutely great products from serious pizzaria. They serve a pizza that makes the chain store products as unacceptable as a freezer by-product.

Meals are an area where people seem intent upon instant gratification. And it plays a real role in the break-down of the family unit -- extended on down. Too many people only take the time to really cook as a social activity on holidays. That's a shame. Life is more meaningful when every day involves a "thanksgiving." Of course, our economic system has made it difficult, even impossible, for people to have the time for this type of activity. But I believe that the day is coming when that dynamic is reversed.

[ejpoeta]

3. i tend to try to make my own pizza most of the time. i prefer it, but

there are times when we order pizza... but we pay $35 for pizza, wings and a 2 liter of pop. i could make a lot of pizza for that amount of money.

[shireen]

5. home-made is always better but

when it comes to ordering pizza, it's about convenience. I wish i had time to make more home-cooked meals. When I try to do it, I end up wasting more food, like i didn't have time to get to those mushrooms before it went bad, or i was too tired to stir-fry the Swiss chard, or ... sometimes, it's just more economical to buy prepared foods that don't go to waste.

BTW, how do you make your pizza sauce? What kinds of cheese do you use? :hi:

[ejpoeta]

9. i buy canned mushrooms. i use them when i make my sauce.

but i am a stay at home mom. if i worked all day every day i wouldn't want to be making pizza dough and sauce. it's like when i make cinnamon rolls. i will make them on saturday and put them in the fridge to make sunday morning. but it takes a lot of pre planning. sometimes people just don't have that time. that's why i don't fault parents who end up at the drive through. the fact that they have to work so hard just to get by makes it harder to do things like make home cooked dinners. except for the crockpot. the crockpot is your friend! i love that thing.

[HopeHoops]

6. I have a cast-iron pizza pan - flat, not deep dish. Damn does that make a killer pie.

It has a slightly up-turned lip, but otherwise is flat. I make a fresh whole-wheat crust and coat it in olive oil (the crust). There's nothing on the planet I've ever tasted like that and the crust is simple.

I know, I know - you want the recipe. Nyah, nyah - you can't have it. Actually, I would be happy to share it, but I don't know exactly where it is at the moment. It was a simple whole wheat bread recipe that I adapted by increasing the yeast by about 30%. That's pretty much all it took. I imagine any similar recipe would work, as long as it is simple. Some of them are so complicated as to be comical.

[shireen]

8. sounds so good!

Can you freeze the dough with the toppings, and just pop it in the oven when you want to eat?
What kinds of toppings do you use?

[HopeHoops]

18. Maybe, but it never lasts that long. We're vegetarian, so I'm a little more creative...

Portobello (sp?) mushrooms are a standard, but I love Vidalia onion, red pepper, zucchini, eggplant, asparagus, artichoke hearts, black olives, feta cheese, fresh parmisan, fresh tomato, spinach, shredded carrot, and, well, hell, all sorts of stuff.

[ejpoeta]

11. pizza dough, heck any bread has so few ingredients!!

my recipe is water, yeast, b. sugar olive oil salt and flour. that's it. i would love to make whole wheat but i don't buy the wheat flour that much. come to think of it i think i need to get some. love making biscuits part wheat.

[charlie]

17. Extra yeast makes the difference?

Thanks, I'll definitely try that. My wife is pre-diabetic and once in a while I'll make something verboten that she misses terribly, like pizza, but with ingredients as healthy as I can make them. They turn out alright, but the crusts have been awful, and I've tried dozens of whole wheat recipes. If more yeast makes them better, it'd be great.

[HopeHoops]

19. It holds up better on a cast iron pan. That's not really the case on your standard pizza pan.

[riderinthestorm]

21. I second that about the cast iron. I also have the cast iron pizza pan

and a pizza stone. The cast iron just cooks the dough better. I almost always have a crust that's too "hard" with the pizza stone while the cast iron makes it just right.

[charlie]

22. Okay. Cast iron, more yeast

I'll do that, then. Whatever it takes, the crusts have been that bad. Thanks again.

[TuxedoKat]

26. And if you like garlic

adding some chopped garlic to the crust is good too.

[charlie]

27. We both do

Studded onto the crust or mixed in?

Sounds pretty good either way.

[TuxedoKat]

30. The way I've eaten it...

it was mixed in. I didn't make it though so I don't know how much you'd add to the dough for one pie. With garlic, a little seems to go a long way so I'd probably start with one clove or half of one, minced really fine, depending on the size of the clove. :)

[charlie]

34. I'm one of those

for whom "too much garlic" is probably somewhere north of a pound of the stuff. IOW, it almost can't happen. I do love garlic.

In the mix, will do. Garlic bread pizza... awesome. Thanks!

[TuxedoKat]

35. You're welcome...

I've only ever been to one restaurant that made their crust that way; I'm surprised more don't because it is the best crust I've ever had. I've never made homemade pizza myself but reading these responses had encouraged me to try it.

[hedgehog]

28. Try King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour - at least in

brad recipes, it's a good match for regular white flour. It's whole wheat, but ground from a different type than the standard.

[charlie]

33. King Arthur

Y'know, I've seen that stuff suggested elsewhere, but I've never tried it. I will now, especially if it has some of the texture characteristic of white flour. The stiff denseness of whole wheat pizza crust is one of those things I'm trying to lose.

This is great, thank you.

[Igel]

36. Extra yeast is usually a kludge for not letting the dough rise.

If you let the dough sit and rise you get one flavor; if you add yeast to get the same effect quickly you get a different flavor. Most of the pizza places I've been around have the dough made up and chilled for anywhere from 12-24 hours. Some of that is convenience; some is just letting the dough age.

If you leave out the salt, no amount of salt in the cheese or sauce will cover up the bad taste of the crust.

It's also really, really important to knead the heck out of the dough. Then after it rises punch the dough down and roll it out (or do the fling-and-stretch thing; I use a rolling pin.) The kneading doesn't affect the taste, but the texture. Letting it rise and sit affects taste and texture.

A bit of olive oil helps. Not too much. It's a dough conditioner.

You can't rush the dough. You can use a bread machine or mix-master to help with the kneading. But you still have to let the stuff sit.

You can play around with things like whole-wheat or added bran. I add ground flax seed. It affects the texture (and taste), but with a bit of experimentation it's manageable. Adding a bit of extra wheat gluten can overcome the effects of the bran.

[charlie]

37. I knead until my arms ache

Pretty vigorously, usually 15 minutes or so of squashing and stretching. Also, I start in the morning for evening pizza, so it gets 6-10 hours rest. And the best results have been middling, more often worse. No matter the recipe, no matter the ingredients, it's bland, slightly acrid, with lousy body.

Maybe it's just that whole wheat crust will never suit my taste. I dunno. I once bought a premade Boboli crust and thought it was awful, much, much worse than their white flour crusts.

I've never added wheat gluten, though. Could be what I need. I'm certainly willing to try.

Thanks for the good advice, I appreciate it!

[HopeHoops]

4. Dominos and Pizza Hut (my term for it is prohibited on DU) are RW companies from hell.

Papa John's is exactly the opposite and Little Caesars at least used to be. I can't speak for the latter right now due to lack of current knowledge. Sure, they all have to work with the economics of the business, but $5.99/medium isn't anything I've seen advertised recently. It wouldn't shock me if your report on Dominos is correct - they're corrupt from the crust down. Pizza Hut is a Mellon/Scaife company (presumably owned by YUM! now), as well as Taco Hell, Long Dong Silver's, and Kentucky Fried Fingers. Nothing evil coming from them would surprise me.

The point is good, and as much as I would agree with the premise with respect to the RW companies, Men's Health is just the Cosmopolitan of "guy rags" so I wouldn't put too much faith in the quality of the reporting or research. As for $5.99/pie, that's almost certainly coupled with "along with 2 liters of Coke products" or something similar.

[charlie]

7. Little Caesar's Hot-n-ready

is a medium pepperoni for $5. No other purchase required. I don't know if they make money or if it's a loss-leader enticement, but they've been selling them for years.

[HopeHoops]

12. That's what SHE said.

:evilgrin: - I can just NEVER resist an opportunity to use that line.

[ejpoeta]

13. we used to get little ceaser's in arizona. they were good there but here... yech.

the only one around closed down a long time ago. unless there are some in the city.

[HopeHoops]

15. The actual "food" is basically just puffy bread with a little bit of stuff on it.

I never really found it to be more than an emergency meal.

[shireen]

10. i thought the article was pretty well-written.

If you spot any factual errors, please let me know.

BTW, I found it because Farm Forward posted it on their facebook page. If they liked it enough to post it, perhaps it's credible.

[HopeHoops]

14. I wasn't questioning the article's merit on that basis, but rather the lumping of all together.

There are seed and farm chemical companies that aren't as evil as Monsanto, and defense contractors that aren't as evil as Halliburton. Perhaps the ideals of Papa John's founder have been compromised by the realities of the marketplace, but it is a bit of a stretch to lump him in with the likes of Pizza Hut and Dominos!

[riderinthestorm]

16. This is the same story repeated for every major fast food chain from McDonalds to Dominos.

Buy local. Buy fresh. Make your own.

These large chains operate on the same principles as places like WalMart in my opinion. They are not good for our ecology, our planet, human beings.

[truebrit71]

24. +1000

.

[truebrit71]

23. I never eat that shit..tastes like cardboard and grease...prefer my local pizzeria..

...really good pie...

[flvegan]

25. What makes this even more sad

is that depending on what toppings one requests, and the style of crust the pie has, pizza isn't that horrible a food choice (when compared to other "fast food").

I make my own, period. It is a good amount of work, but at no time shall any tomato sauce from a can/jug/jar/vat cross these lips. Homemade or no thanks.

[MadHound]

29. God, I stopped eating that crap long ago,

Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, it all tastes like crap. I stick with my local shop, Shakespeare's. I've found very few pizza's that are better that theirs.

[HuckleB]

31. Local is almost always better tasting.

As for the health of any of it, I won't touch that topic.

I know that Escape From New York Pizza (in Portland, OR) treats their employees much better than any chain. I don't know enough about the other local places we visit (Bella Faccia, Blind Onion, Old Town, Pizzicato, Rocco's, and Hot Lips), in terms of employee treatment, but I am willing to bet it's better than the chains, overall. I do know that many of them do purchase at least some of their products from local farms, which seems like a good idea.

[old mark]

40. Domino's is terrible pizza, and Pizza Hut is even worse...it is sad that most cultures they are

invading have nothing real to compare it with.

We have several GREAT local pizzarias nearby, and I cannot recall the last time I ate a chain-made pizza but certainly not in this century.

mark