Friday, January 19, 2007
Local Burger, a downtown Lawrence restaurant, will be featured in a new Sundance Channel series for its commitment to providing organic meals that are healthy and fast. The Sundance Channel finished filming Thursday on location and will air the episode in February.
The network’s upcoming series, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” focuses on people that are concerned with health and the environment.
“Local Burger fits into this focus because we serve local foods. When you do that, you decrease fuel usage and support the local economy. People don’t realize that they feel bad after eating other foods because of the additives or loss of nutritional value. Our food is clean, no hormones or pesticides,” said Hilary Brown, owner of Local Burger, 714 Vermont St.
Brian Johnson, a freelance audio mixer from Denver, and Shawn Wright, a freelance camera assitant from Kansas City, take a break at Local Burger to chow down on organic Hamburgers. The Sundance Channel is filming a spot at Local Burger for its new series-"Big Ideas for a Small Planet."
Local Burger buys naturally raised meat and vegetables from local farms, most of which are located in a 20-mile radius of Lawrence. Homespun Hill Farm in Baldwin City sells grass-finished beef and lamb to Local Burger. Grass-finished cattle take 24 to 26 months to become fully grown and are raised solely on grass, which is high in vitamin E and Omega-3 fatty acids. This is double the time it takes for commercially raised cattle. Typically, cattle from commercial providers are fed soy and corn, which are high in fat and additives.
“It’s a niche market, but it’s a growing market. It may not ever become mainstream, but many people with health concerns come to change their diet. They want something lower in fat and lower in cholesterol,” said Debbie Yarnell, owner of Homespun Hill Farm.
Thursday Local Burger started filming another project, “Localize Me.” It is a spin-off of the Morgan Spurlock documentary, “Super Size Me.” The documentary will follow the journey of unhealthy and overweight 29-year-old Lawrence resident Daniel Fisher. He will eat all of his meals at Local Burger for 30 days to see if his health changes.
“I go out to eat everyday out of convenience. I hardly ever make my own food. Now I am 300 pounds, and I want to see that come down,” Fisher said. “At the end of the day, I’m tired. I want to have more energy.”
Two Lawrence doctors, David Dunlap of First Med Physicians Assistant and Farhang Khosh of Natural Medical Care, examined Fisher before he started the project and will monitor his health throughout the project.
“We hope to see big changes. It’s a lower fat diet, so his cholesterol should go down. It’s a lower calorie diet, so his weight should go down. It’s a lower salt diet, so his blood pressure should go down,” Dunlap said. “He will also have better energy in general and more fuel to get him going through the day.”
Brown opened Local Burger in Sept. 2005 after living a life of multiple food intolerances and allergies. She was surprised at the impact a change in diet could have on a person’s health.
“I wanted to do something that was accessible for everyone, not just a fancy restaurant, but a restaurant for the whole marketplace, from a construction worker to a vegetarian,” Brown said.
Kansan staff writer Danae DeShazer can be contacted at ddeshazer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Jyl Unruh
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