The Double Benefit
January 18th, 2011 // 9:00 am @ admin
I’ve now written 29 books with a mechanical pencil. I’ve never typed and I’m almost 77 years old. The mere sight of a computer made me cringe. So . . . now I’m here typing with two fingers, my eyes glued to the keyboard and out of my socks about how it feels to communicate with you, whoever you are, and knowing that you really are reading this is, as another generation has put it . . . awesome!
All this to say that my good friend Daniel Livengood (yes this really is his splendid name) who is my webmaster et al, tells me that I need to give you some more understanding of how the Double Benefit actually works.
Let me give you a little personal background first.
Back in 1960 I went on TV for the first time in New Zealand, the show migrated to Australia and Canada and finally to the US and worldwide in 1969 as the Galloping Gourmet which possibly (who really knows with ratings!?) was the world’s most watched one person on one subject show in TV history.
On this, please let me know of whoever might be that person/show . . . I’d be happy to know for sure and perfectly willing to take a lesser placing because, frankly, I get more doubtful that numbers are of any real value in determining both passion and purpose.
My passion has always been to pass on ways to prepare great food for people to enjoy. At first I had a rather one track understanding of what great food was. For me it was a neck-up standard. If it looked good, smelt good, tasted good . . . it was great food.
What happened after someone else swallowed it was theirs to digest. If someone found it did harm, caused weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and some cancers . . . well, I would have obviously regretted it, but honestly I didn’t give it another (or even a first) thought.
Until my wife, Treena has a stroke and a heart attack. Now that, my friend, can change a man’s entire career. It did mine!
Her needs led to my understanding of the Double Benefit. It began, quite reasonably, with the first benefit that is normally selfish. Psychology 101 tells us that we humans naturally pursue pleasure and avoid pain. We had certainly pursued pleasure by eating very high on the hog but now we were experiencing the painful consequences of that natural indulgence.
It was very clear that we needed to make some pretty radical changes in our day to day consumption. Part of these changes involved what I now call the shift-list of favorite foods. We simply reviewed our consumption of high fat, high sodium, and high refined carbohydrate (usually white and always manufactured).
We reduced the volume of our consumption of risky ‘high’ foods by about 50%. Example: 10 oz meat and meat products (bacon, sausage, etc.); were reduced to 5 oz (raw weight).
This meant that our portions sizes were dramatically less and we needed more vegetables to fill up the plate. These we found from our Food Preference Sheet (FPS). We knew what we preferred, so we used more of them to replace the meat.
Now you can see why we called it the shift-list. We shifted a good deal of saturated fat and replaced it with more personally enjoyed vegetables.
We had, in fact pursued pleasure and avoided pain; so this became a natural personal first benefit. It was then that the second benefit arrived. I noticed that we were saving money on our very strict food budget (we were serving others by faith at that time and had no income and very little savings, but that’s another story!)
Our family was four, with three adults and one teenager. Our meat costs had dropped by about $20 a week, just over 70 cents per day. I found that we spent about 35 cents of that savings on vegetables which gave us a net savings of 35 cents each.
IMPORTANT FACT HERE! It’s vital, in my opinion, to get to own this saving personally so that one can reap the second benefit personally. Multiply the 35 cents per day back out to one month and its $10.50, multiply that by our 4 person family and it became $42 a month or just over $500 a year.
Now please remember, we had already received the first benefit; our much lowered risk factor on what we consumed by habit that was harming us. We’d replaced it with what was good for us (each of us need about 9 to 11 servings of plant food every day.)
We now had, in addition, a small cash savings. In a real way it was ‘new’ money and we could easily have spent it on upgrading our old TV set or paying off more of the mortgage, but we chose to enter into the idea of the second benefit.
This is where our daily lifestyle truly changed direction to follow in our previous spiritual pathway. You must have heard of the so-called Golden Rule, “do unto others what you would have them do unto you.” This isn’t natural behavior; it’s super-natural and motivated by being fully aware of those with whom we share our immediate space, our neighbors.
We had a revelation as we pondered how we might spend our recent savings. We chose (as a family, each with a daily 35 cents to spend) to invest in the least of the little ones; a child in Ethiopia named Sadik and another child in the slums of Brazil called Elisangela.
Our annual family food budget savings of $500 exactly met their personal ‘wellness’ for food, medical care and basic education (we currently support the work of Childcare Worldwide).
We have kept to this lifestyle change since 1982, so that one change has, over 38 years meant about $8,000 (our family reduced to two a few years later.)
We were so pleased with the results that we went looking deliberately for other habits that might either harm or hinder us in “loving our neighbors as ourselves.”
So this was the very raw beginning of our journey, one that we can now share with you. PLEASE understand us, this must be a very personal decision and whatever YOU choose to do on your shift-list is your business alone. Don’t ever make your choice a rule for someone else. Whatever they choose to do with their lives and lifestyles is their business not yours.
So, let’s continue to talk this over and share the joy that comes from such a journey. There’s no end of neighbors out there for us to love together.
Captn Blynd
2 years ago
Thank you Mr. Kerr. I have both heard and spoken this piece of common sense before. You have expressed this simple idea in a sincere and personal manner. Bravo. May you live long and continue your good work.
Cap
Todd Michaels
2 years ago
Mr. Kerr,
We’re lovin’ your blog! As always…your passion continues to excite and motivate us. Take care!
Todd & Lisa
Mark
2 years ago
Chef, You have been a insperation for many many years to me. I remember watching you when I was young. Seeing you have so much fun made me want to pursue cooking. It took 48 years but Im doing it now. Im now in my second year of culinary school
Diana
2 years ago
Thank you for sharing with us. It is an inspiration and encouragement to live carefully, putting our treasures where our heart is. . .
AND thank you for providing inspiration, despite your unfamiliarity with working on a computer, by creating your first blog at age 77!!
Well done.
A fan for the past forty+ years.
Bill Oppmann
2 years ago
Mr. Kerr, years ago there was only 2 cooking shows on TV in my area. Yours and Julia Child. You were, by far the much more entertaining of the 2. I really wish you were back on the TV. You would blow away most of the cooking shows on today. The only show I watch these days is America’s Test Kitchen. Thanks again for all the great shows, not to mention the education…
Sherry Powell
2 years ago
Mr. Kerr,
You brought us many hours of laughter and good times we tried to duplicate in our grandma’s kitchen.
I even adapted your accent, which I truly loved to hear and tried to use it in my kitchen experiments. I still do it on occasion.
I was just a kid when I started watching your show but I never forgot you.
Thank you for adding the spice of laughter to our daily recipe of life.
Great to see you here on the internet.
Sherry Powell
wendy
2 years ago
Sherry, I’m delighted that you enjoyed the programs mand would love to gave been a fly on the wall with your accent attempts, I trust they were better than my lame efforts at American! Continue to laugh it’s great medicine.
Benedicere! Graham
ReeRee
2 years ago
Dear Mr. Kerr,
I remember watching your show with my mother when I was about 12 years old (circa 1970). We only had 3 channels at the time, no cable, no reality shows and she never missed you. You were right up there with her passion for Tom Jones! Even I at 12 was mesmerized by your humor while cooking and drinking your glass of wine. Years later I was engaged to a man who never missed your show either and he made me your Chicken Gismonda (we called it Gizmondo) which I thought was about the best thing I had ever eaten. To this day I make this dish your way and to raves. No one I know has ever heard of it, even my Italian friends, so I feel like its mine and your “little secret” – hahaha. I am making it tonight which prompted me to search for you to see what you’re up to. I was delighted to read the blog above and am going to try to create my own “switch list.” Thank you for sharing your personal journey. You sound blessed in many ways and clearly have made a wonderful mark in this world. You are right as well that Laughing is great medicine. My kids call me The Queen of the Land of Laugh-Alot and I try to earn that title whenever I can. Here’s to you, Treena and your family. May you thrive and prosper. Ciao’ Bella!
P.S. Here is the link to your recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-gismonda-recipe/index.html
wendy
2 years ago
ReeRee, Thanks for the update, especially for the Chicken Gismonda. I’m not suprised that your pals didn’t know since it was an invention for a friend, using her favorite foods. It’s strange that you should be Lady Laugh-a-lot because I’m described as Sir Talk-a-Lot. People like me depend upon people like you! Keep feeling happy because now it’s the world that needs to hear and to begin to smile again! Graham
Joan & Jim Barlow
2 years ago
We had such a delightful time at the class tonight at Christiansons. Thank you so much for your changed heart and earnest endeavor to change peoples minds about the crazy american packaged diet. Veggie growing started with zuchinni and pumpkins and yellow squash, then on to lettuce and kale and tomatoes. This year it is blue basil and several different lettuce varietals and carrots. Can’t wait. Garden box is getting planted tomorrow, seedlings have lived in my dining room for months as I don’t have a green house yet. Birthday in August, honey-do list, or however I can beg steal or borrow some help to get it done. Then I can winter over or even get peppers and tomatoes to grow into fall. Too bad we can’t freeze lettuce. Thanks again for your great message. Get the “green bus” dream going!
wendy
2 years ago
What fabulous encouragers you are. Let’s be a tiny garden city on a hill that CANNOT be hidden! Thanks again! Graham
Roger
1 year ago
Hi Graham,
). What a buzz to see you alive and kicking, passionate as ever. Keep up the good work! From a 50-odd year viewer, Auckland, NZ.
I just saw you on Rachel Rae’s show (accidentally, short break from work and happened to turn the TV on
PS: Coming to the World Cup?
Alan
1 year ago
Graham,
What a kick to see you on growingagreenerworld.com! So glad to see you’re still out there and making the shift to healthy foods. Most grateful because I was glad to discover and new way to make eggs from a carton taste so good! You used to live down the street from my childhood home in Dallas—yours was the only one with a decent landscaping. My mother loved your show back then and I used to occasionally watch it with her. My mother-in-law relished your steak tartare. My wife is equally excited to discover you’re still out there merrily sharing your delicious recipes.
don
1 year ago
as with many others i just wanted to thank you for your inspiration. as a kid i watched your show as often as i could ( lol looked forward to every sick day ) it was through your shows i developed my love of cooking .
Sunday at the Giacomettis
12 months ago
I remember watching your show as a very young girl watching and laughing with my mother. My mother spoke very little English however understood every word you said! That is the thing about “The kitchen” and the “Magic of TV, ” it has an international language all it’s own.
Thank you for continuing to share your lovely thoughts and kind wisdom.
I look forward to it from my kitchen in Tupelo, MS.
You are the reason I teach Cooking here in the Southern United States. I am a transplanted Italian girl, from New York, living in Tupelo, MS.. Oh, the laughs we have had in the kitchen and the wonderful, good, wholesome food that continues to come out of it. I love the fabulous memories it “Stirs’ up. Cheers!
Barbara Giacometti
Sunday at the Giacomettis
Peg
11 months ago
Hey Graham! I have adored you for 40+ years and I think I own all of your books. The one culinary fact I took into my young marriage 34 years ago is “if you can’t drink it, you can’t cook with it”! I’ve passed that brilliance (and yes, YOU got full cred) onto our 2 children, who’ve both become quite good home chefs.
So glad you’ve finally joined the rest of us dinos on the internet.
Hugs and a long-overdue thank you! Peg in NY
Deborah Earle
11 months ago
Hello, Mr. Kerr! Just stumbled onto your blog and thought I’d tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your shows over the years.
My parents, who are from Barbados, are two former subjects of the Crown themselves.They emmigrated to the U.S. in the 50s and 60s. Dad was in the Air Force. When my older sister and I were very small, we awaited his completion of his first tour of duty in Vietnam at his parent’s house in New York, and “The Galloping Gourmet” was one of the shows Mom remembers best from that era.
We later began watching the shows you did in the early 90s, and you gave me some ideas on how to enhance certain dishes I made.
I enjoy your lively sense of humor, your energy and enthusiasm, and your wonderfully beaming smile very much.
I know you and your wife have been through a lot over the years, and I wish you both continued success, and Godspeed.
Claire
11 months ago
Hello Graham
I also was just a small child when I first saw you on TV way back in NZ (now in the Middle East) – great to read your blog and – I always enjoyed your humour!
Love your caring message!
God bless
Claire
wendy
11 months ago
Deborah, Thank you for the note( if we can still call an e-mail by such an ‘old fashioned’ title?
As an ex air force man myself I can understand the moves and even how a regular TV show can sometimes be a consolation. You can imagine how grateful I am to know that some of the very real changes that have taken place in our lives ( often quite traumatic) have been of value to someone else.
Thanks for letting me know…and for the “Godspeed”
Benedicere! Graham.
Dave
4 months ago
Always watched GG but lost track of you 40 years ago. Glad to know you are still cooking. I still have a Bash and Chop, well worn.
wendy
4 months ago
Dave, Glad to hear the Bash n’ Chop is still operational! It came into being because Treena ( the shows producer and my wife of many years) insisted that I must keep my head up and ” look the viewer right in the eye”. I protested that “I have to look down when I pick something up”! ” Well then…….Invent something”. She replied.
That’s the story behind you Bash n’ Chop that started out in 1968 as my “Scooper Scraper”!
Patrick
4 months ago
Dear Mr. Kerr,
My wife is of the opinion that my intake of vegan and/or vegetarian frozen dinners cannot be beneficial to a healthy diet, and suggests I eat more fresh produce, etc. It’s difficult to find the time to prepare a “proper meal”, much less find the time to sit and eat one. Do you have a book out on quick and easy veggie meals for the kitchen impaired males of this world? TIA.
Patrick
wendy
4 months ago
Patrick, I think I have the perfect answer (for once)! The book you need is “Growing at the Speed of Life”. It’s on Amazon or we can sell it to you…autographed (the one thing they can’t do). It covers 60 plants that you can grow and then cook in many different simple ways.
By the way, your wife is right and frankly, if you don’t find the time now, you may simply lose it later on. Men who eat more plants live up to 9 years longer!
Benedicere!
Graham