NYC: 4Food - Opens Sept 7

Fast food is awful for us, dreadful for the environment, and one of modernity’s most gruesome addictions. Yet in a culture of constantly shrinking time budgets and an ever-increasing marketability of convenience, it’s increasingly difficult to reconcile our moral and nutritional ideals with our fast-paced workaholism. But it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation, at least not if it’s up to 4food — an innovative restaurant concept aiming to de-junk fast food for the digital age.

On September 7, fast food hopes to fast forward to the Jetsons era when the doors of 4food open on East 40th St. and Madison in NYC. The new restaurant concept, founded by former music exec and Urban Box Office CEO Adam Kidron and Michael Shuman, banks its success on hyper-connectivity and healthfulness.

Customers place their orders through iPads—or online, before they even walk through the doors. The food promises to be healthier, "dejunked" versions of basic fast food staples, (no hydrogenated fats, no artificial sweetners, nothing fried), and the restaurant itself boasts environmentally friendly practices too, like recycling and in-store composting.
But the big fun is in the customization. Menu items can be tailored infinitely to customers' choice. The restaurant's signature product, the donut shaped W(hole)burger (available in beef, turkey, lamb, salmon, pork, veggie or egg), features a gap in the middle that can be filled with a "Veggiescoop" of eaters' choice. Once a customer comes up with his special mix, he can name and save his creation and even broadcast it through Facebook or Twitter. Others will then be able to order that recipe, and for every one that does, the inventor will receive a $.25 4Food credit while his burger rises in the ranks of an actual in-store scoreboard.


Here's their Credo:

   1.      De-junked fast food is made of quality, natural ingredients and customizable to your taste and nutrition goals.
   2.      Our foods don't contain any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats or oils.
   3.      No artificial sweeteners. No preservatives. No artificial flavor enhancers.
   4.      None of our food is fried.
   5.      If it's soy, it's not Monsanto*—wherever possible we purchase whole ingredients that have neither been genetically engineered nor modified.
   6.      Our chefs use simple and straightforward cooking techniques to prepare and cook your food to order.
   7.      Our cows, pigs, and sheep are humanely raised while grazing and eating vegetarian diets.
   8.      Our poultry and fish are fed heritage foods with no artificial growth hormones or antibiotics.
   9.      You know (because we tell you) where all of our ingredients come from.
  10.      We provide personalized nutrition facts, advice, and menu recommendations every day in—store, at www.4food.com, and printed on every receipt.
  11.      We charge reasonable prices, when the rights of farm workers to earn a living wage, the integrity of our food preparation, and the quality of our ingredients are taken into account.
  12.      Your purchases provide real world job training to individuals transitioning back into the work force—to earn more than minimum wage.
  13.      We compost in-store and recycle. We employ sunscreen systems, LED lighting, and purchase renewable energy credits from alternative energy generators. We're committed to increasing our use of sustainable power as we grow.
  14.      We incentivize you to market your custom W(hole)burgers™ online, so that we don't have to. The money we save on marketing enables us to purchase better quality ingredients and keep our prices down.

OPENING DAY: September 07, New York City 40th and Madison

Thanks to: http://creativity-online.com/work/4food-4food/20993, http://4food.com, http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/08/18/4food/

Posted via email from PrePosterous...or Not