Where is the Beef?

I have been told that if you want to have a great meal that is both nutritious and fulfilling, you have to begin knowing how to cook the main course. All main courses of beef, fish, shell fish and pork are not all the same.  Regardless of how each is prepared; baked, roasted, barbecued, sauteed, smoked, deep fried, boiled or eaten raw, there are additional steps and ingredients required to bring out its rich favors.  To further enhance our dining pleasure, the main course requires a variety of vegetables, starches, seasonings and sauces that surely complement our dining experience.    

In 1984, the Wendy’s chain of hamburger restaurants began using a “Where is the Beef?” slogan strategy that would help distinguish it from its competitors of McDonalds and Burger King.  The focus was to call attention to the larger beef patty in Wendy’s sandwiches over these competitors.  As a result this slogan campaign proved to be quite successful and has reemerged in various ways through songs, political speeches and ads.  Since then it also became an all-purpose catch-phrase that is used to question the substance of an idea, event and even a product. 

This idea and notion about where is the “substance” is truly being tested during this political season of 2016.  The political chefs in the “kitchen” are making it hard for us to read their menus, count calories and to see the cost per item.  If the samples or our first bites are a “forerunner” of what’s to come, our future diets of getting things done for the good of the people will be hard to digest.  And before anyone buys an item, I strongly suggest that you take a seat, add up the cost and determine what menu will not give you indigestion. 


As this political season moves forward through uncharted territory, negative rhetoric and questionable racial undertones, the stakes no less are very high.  Regardless of the outcomes of this election season, let us not lose sight of what continues to occur in our neighborhoods each and every day.  These problems have not gone away and the issues are as real as they can get.  So, with the table being set, the menu is still a work in progress, let us not become disillusioned about who will win or lose... let’s see if we are at the table or on the menu.