Stop Hiding the Healthy!

Disclaimer: Any St. Louis-ans reading this post should be aware that I will herein refer to the eating establishment in question as Panera, and NOT as Saint Louis Bread Company.  Yes, I know that it's the same thing.  Yes, I know that you think I should remain loyal to our hometown by calling it Bread Co.  Let it go.  And yes, Jessica, I am talking to you.

I met with some church members at Panera yesterday morning to discuss some details of our upcoming Vacation Bible School program, also known as the most intense event of the children's ministry year.  We met for breakfast, and being five months into an intentional healthy-eating endeavor I decided to look up the nutritional information of the menu beforehand to find the healthiest options.

Obviously, fluffy buttery pastries abound behind Panera's glass-shielded counter (which, let's face it, is one of the principal draws of Panera).  But the general core of my healthy-eating plan is low-carb and low-fat, so I wanted to steer clear of the fluffy buttery pastries.  Bagels weren't much better.  But then, in my research, I stumbled upon something called the power breakfast bowl - two eggs, steak, fresh tomato, and fresh avocado.

Say what?

I am no stranger to the world of Panera, but I'd never heard of a power breakfast bowl.  That was weird enough, but what was weirder was that there were apparently multiple kinds of power breakfast bowls.  And there were power lunch bowls.  In the otherwise carb-explosive setting of Panera, these protein-rich and veggie-filled options were something I had never seen on the menu.

And that's because...they're not there.

The power breakfast bowl is literally nowhere on the menu board.  You could read the whole thing and never find it listed, because it doesn't exist.  So unless you stumble upon it through intentional research to find healthy options, you don't know that those choices are available.

Apparently what I had found was the "hidden menu" that Panera unveiled at the beginning of the year.  This is a collection of low-carb, gluten-free options that Panera offers, but doesn't advertise on their menu because they don't want to take up space for what they consider a "niche market."  And, apparently the secrecy of the menu is supposed to be a fun draw for Panera "insiders" and "regulars" to benefit from, and therefore feel special because they are "in the know."

I think that is utter and complete nonsense.

It's no secret that the United States has a healthy eating problem, in that we Americans aren't very good at it.  And I'm sure that there are manifold reasons why that is.  But it seems to me that "hidden menus" like this aren't exactly helping.  If I hadn't made it a point to research the nutrition info beforehand, I would have assumed that the fluffy buttery pastries and carb-tastic bagels were the only options to choose from.  And then I would have missed the opportunity to make a healthier choice.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really think that's fair.

I'm not saying that it should be up to restaurants to make people be healthy.  Obviously, personal responsibility is the main component when it comes to healthy eating.  But if restaurants didn't purposefully hide healthy options, maybe people would make wiser choices.  You can't make a wise decision if you're not informed, and when you go to a restaurant, it's only natural to assume that the menu is the menu.  Even though I'd read enough to know that this healthier option supposedly existed, I wasn't sure the cashier was going to know what I was talking about and feared that I would sound stupid for making up non-menu items.

I've heard of other restaurants having hidden menus - mostly restaurants of the burger joint variety.  I guess hidden menus can be fun incentives for teenagers who want crazy 5-tiered burgers or chili-cheese covered fries.  But why do yo have to go and hide the healthy stuff?  Does it really take that much room on a menu board to add five additional items?  The healthy-eating niche market is bound to stay as a niche-market if you don't make those options easily to locate.  Who knows, maybe someone will order it just because it sounds good, and the "niche market" argument will prove pointless anyway.

I mean heck, if you're gonna hide something, why don't you hide that delicious chocolate pastry that will take up half of my daily fat and carb intake?  It might do Americans' health a favor.