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Lofty goals for the once-a-year feeding frenzy
I think it’s fair to say that although consuming a handful of fried potatoes is not as unhealthy for you as, say, eating an entire chocolate cake, the health benefits of either are still seriously lacking. Yet this year at the Taste of Chicago, items such as potato chips and french fries are being touted as "health food." Hmmm.
In an effort to implement a "healthy choice" initiative at this year’s Taste, Mayor Daley’s office asked that every booth provide at least one good-for-you item on its menu. The idea was to get the festival in-line with Chicago’s current ranking as one of America’s Greenest Cities not only by recycling used cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel and encouraging shared/public transportation, but also by supporting healthy eating habits.
However, with countless pizza vendors, italian beef vendors and long-time participants such as "cheezeborger" creators Billy Goat Inn, amending such menus to fit within the guidelines is lending a whole new meaning to the term "health food." Megan McDonald, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, said during the Taste press preview, "if you fry a vegetable, it’s still a vegetable," which explains how booths can still meet the initiative requirement, even if everything on their menu has been doused in lard. Perhaps the term "nutritional" instead of the purely subjective "healthy" would have set a better, more consistent standard?
On the other hand, there are plenty of restaurants that did add some delicious-looking, healthy items to their menus while still staying true to their type of cuisine:

examiner.com