Alan Haber on celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement with a new manifesto for the Occupy era

    By Mark | May 15, 2012

    Yesterday, I shared three videos that were shot over the weekend with Alan Haber, the founder of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). In those videos, Alan and I primarily discuss the past. We talk about Ann Arbor in the 50′s, Haber’s initiation into revolutionary politics during the McCarthy era, the founding of SDS, and the drafting of their manifesto – The Port Huron Statement. I have three more videos to share this evening. While Alan and I discuss history to some extent in these, the majority of our conversation revolves around next steps. Specifically, we discuss Alan’s desire to mark the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement by bringing together former members of SDS, as well as activists from the Occupy movement, and others, to draft a new manifesto – one that speaks to the concerns of people today.

    What follow are three short video segments, each of which are preceded by my rough notes on the material covered within.

    VIDEO ONE: The drafting of the Port Huron Statement

    In this video… Alan notes that SDS had been around for three years prior to the drafting of the Port Huron Statement. The process, he says, wasn’t terribly contentious. There was a fellow from the Communist Party youth group who showed up, but they didn’t let him vote. Alan believes there were 43 people. Others, he says, maintain that there were as many as 70. Tom Hayden is working on a book about the drafting of the Port Huron Statment. It should be out shortly… We also talk more about his being fired by the League of Industrial Democracy, for being too soft on Communism, and for pursuing a movement model, instead of a trade union model of organizing. In April of 1961, he was rehired, and began work on the planning of their 1962 convention. It was at a meeting at the Guild House in Ann Arbor, where SDS members had gathered to plan the convention, that someone said, “Let’s make a manifesto.” (Other groups, as Haber notes, were publishing manifestos at the time.) So, they put the word out, in December of 1961, asking people from all of the SDS chapters for their input. Then, later, they compiled all of the suggestions that they had received in a newsletter, which was sent out, along with a request for further feedback. And, in this way, the document began to take shape. Tom Hayden volunteered to assemble all of the material, as he’d wanted to write a manifesto. The final document was completed in June of 1962… The group, according to Haber, had no idea, just ten days prior to leaving for Port Huron, where they’d be meeting to finalize the document. At the last minute, though, the mother of an SDS member, who had ties to the United Auto Workers, offered use of the organization’s camp in Port Huron. Once there, the 43 to 70 attendees divided into groups, and addressed the various segments of the document. Haber was on the section on Communism, which was the most controversial. (His LID handlers wanted them to be more overtly anti-communist.)… When the LID officials saw the final document, they were pissed off, and tried to kill it. Haber and company were essentially biting the hand that fed them. (In addition to not taking a hard line on Communism, they also made the case that unions were deserving of some amount of blame.) And, he got fired again. LID officials had the lock changed on the office in New York. He picked the lock, though, and moved back in… A major theme, as expressed in the document, was the need to force the so-called Dixiecrats out of office. Their goal, according to Haber, was to fix the Democratic party, which they wanted to rebuild around liberal, progressive values. And, they had people in Congess encouraging them. Some in the House and Senate wanted for them to keep pushing for progressive change, in hopes that it would lead to the the removal of obstructionist Dixiecrats, and the passage of Civil Rights legislation. In fact, he was in D.C., discussing the Port Huron Statement with friendly legislators, when he got the call from LID. They wanted him to repudiate the document, which he refused to do. And, as a result, SDS and LID spent the summer in negotiations. (It was during this time that he was able to pick the lock on their office and move back in.) Eventually the LID changed their mind, and let them stick around for a couple of more years. Their office, however, moved from New York to Chicago. (He was making $75 a week at the time.)… We end our conversation by discussing the retrospective on the Port Huron Statement that U-M professor Howard Brick is planning to commemorate the 50th anniverary.

    VIDEO TWO: U-M’s retrospective on the Port Huron Statement, and the need for something more

    I ask Haber about the retrospective event being planned at U-M for the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement, and whether he still believes, as he’s stated to me previously, that, while an academic retrospective is nice, what he’d prefer to have is an event that’s revolutionary prospective. He indicates that Brick, since he and I have last spoken, has agreed to make the event more forward looking. The event was going to be called, “Port Huron at 50.” Now it’s going to be, “The New Insurgency: The Port Huron Statement Then and Now.” So, there will be opportunities to look forward. We still need something else, though, says Haber. We need a multi-day working session, on the actual anniversary of the Port Huron gathering, during which people can explore the relevant questions of the day. (Brick’s event won’t be until October – several months after the actual anniversary.) The findings of this group, accord to Haber, could then be further refined by the attendees of the event at U-M in October… Speaking of changes made by Brick, Haber also notes that the professor has reconfigured panels, making one strictly about the women of SDS. At this point in the conversation, Haber and I talk about the role of women in the early days of SDS. While Haber concedes that the language of the Port Huron Statement was sexist, as was everything else written at the time, he believes that the women of SDS contributed a great deal, even though all of their words flowed though the pen of Tom Haden. He doesn’t deny, however, that sometimes they had a difficult time having their voices heard. He notes that, at an SDS meeting in Champaign, in 1965, the woman, at one point, went off to meet by themselves. This, he says, was happening elsewhere, as well. He notes that the women of SNCC were also coming to the realization that the political is personal, and that women’s rights were worth fighting for as well.

    VIDEO THREE: The drafting of an new manifesto

    Haber intends to send the word out to everyone who have been invited to the U-M event, asking for their contributions to this new manifesto, just has he did 50 years ago, when he sent work to the SDS branches, asking for their input… He first floated this idea two years ago, at a SNCC meeting in Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, things have been slow to get off the the ground. But, Haber doesn’t seem concerned. As he points out, ten days before they gathered to work on the Port Huron Statement, they didn’t know who would be coming, or where they would be convening. And, as he says, he’s flexible. Even if only twelve people show up, he says, and they don’t develop an entire manifesto, at least they’ll be moving things forward. The best case scenario, however, is that a manifesto is completed, and it’s taken to the big upcoming Occupy event in Philadelphia, and shared with the participants… As for where we meet, Haber is agreeable to exploring options in both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. (He’s looking into securing space at both EMU and Hathaway’s Hideaway in Ann Arbor.) Now, he plans to start getting the word out to the Grey Panthers, the folks at WCAT, members of the newly reformed SDS, the various Occupy groups, and anyone else who might have constructive ideas as to how we might move forward… He also says that he may dust off the work that he did years ago, as part of his campaign for the Union Party… We discuss the fact that, 50 years ago, he had legislative support, but now, given the state of politics in the United States, it’s likely that wouldn’t. He acknowledges that this initiative will have to be outside of the system. The Democratic party, in his opinion, needs to be left in favor of an independent movement… We discuss the fact that, thanks to the Supreme Court, a single-payer health care system may be a possibility once again… Finally, we talk about how, in the 60′s, people didn’t have a plan concerning the transition of power. They thought about revolution, but they didn’t envision what the transition would look like if/when it happened. That, he says, is what’s appealing about his “Union” plan. He’d worked out not only the vision, but a plan as to how we’d transition from here to there. And he thinks that might be a useful conversation to have…

    Those of you who are interested in helping Alan realize his vision of creating a new manifesto, can reach him at: megiddo@umich.edu. A public meeting will be taking place tonight (Tuesday), and I’m sure that he’d love to have representatives from SDS, Occupy Ypsilanti, Occupy U-M, Occupy Patriarchy, local progressive community groups, WCAT, and organized labor, among others.

    Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, History, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

    Resurrecting “Beer with Bloggers”… May 31, 7:00 to 9:00, at the Corner Brewery

    By Mark | May 14, 2012

    A long time ago, in the early days of blogging, back before most of you were born, I used to host events designed to lure painfully-akward bloggers out of their parents’ basements, so that they might drink beer and attempt to mate with their readers. This reoccurring event was called Beer with Bloggers, and, from what I can recall, it was popular. For some reason, though, I stopped doing them… Well, I’ve recently been corresponding with a wildly successful blogger by they name of Chris Savage, and he’s been trying to get me to dust the concept off, and, once again, walk among the anonymous folks out there, like you, who so terrify me. (Chris is the man behind Eclectablog. If his name sounds familiar, it’s probably because Rachel Maddow is constantly talking about him.) So, in a few weeks, Chris and I, and some other bloggers, will be at the Corner Brewery, drinking beer, answering your questions, and, when the opportunity arises, stealing your ideas. As of right now, we’ve only put the word out to a few folks, but it looks like we’ll be joined by they likes of Ben from Damn Arbor, Anne from The Savage Feast, and Christine from Blogging for Michigan, to name a few. (While they haven’t confirmed, I’ve also been talking with Juan Cole, from Informed Comment, and Hillary Cherry from the Hamtramck Star.) So, if you’ve got a complaint that you’d like to submit to one of us in person, here’s the chance you’ve been waiting for.

    And, I should add, this event is open to all bloggers, no matter what they might cover, or where they might be from. So, if you know of someone with a blog, please feel free to pass along this information, and encourage them to come, and invite their readers. (Anyone is welcome to use the graphic above, if they’d like to, or create one of their own, promoting the event.)

    Blogging is a super-isolating pastime, and, I think I speak for all of the bloggers who will be attending, when I say that it’s good, on occasion, to be reminded of the fact that we have readers who, even though they may not leave comments, appreciate what we do. So, if you can come out, please do. We’d love to meet you.

    And, speaking of folks who don’t leave comments, I should add that lurkers are welcome, as are trolls.

    See you on the 31st.

    Posted in Ann Arbor, Mark's Life, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

      Alan Haber on the origins of SDS, similarities to the Occupy movement, Ann Arbor at the height of McCarthyism, and why he never built that second bomb

      By Mark | May 14, 2012

      I spent yesterday morning with my friend Jeff, at the home of Alan Haber, the first president of Students for Democratic Society (SDS). We talked about Ann Arbor at the height of McCarthyism, the circumstances which gave rise to SDS, the drafting of the Port Huron Statement 50 years ago, and the opportunity that may exist today to bridge the gap between the SDS and Occupy. Following are several videos, each of which is preceded by my rambling, stream of consciousness notes concerning what’s covered.

      VIDEO ONE: Ann Arbor in the 1950s, McCarthyism, and the creation of the U-M Political Issues Club

      Haber talks of moving to Ann Arbor from East Lansing at six weeks old, entering U-M in 1954, and turning to activism his freshman year, in the wake of U-M’s firing of three faculty members (Chandler Davis, Mark Nickerson, and Clement Markert) who refused to cooperate with the House Unamerican Activities Committee. As he states, “McCarthyism ruled” at the time, and the left was underground. At the behest of older students, he formed a political discussion group on campus, called the Political Issues Club (PIC). (Philosophy professor Arnold Kaufman was the group’s faculty advisor. He taught the course “Communism, Fascism and Democracy,” and was the person responsible, according to Haber, for SDS’s promotion of “participatory democracy” as a central tenent.) PIC would eventually evolved into the U-M chapter of SDS in 1959. [note: We also chat about a far right professor from that period who I happen to have studied with, by the name of Stephen Tonsor.] The PIC’s offices were next to those of the Inter-Cooperative Council, and that’s where, according to Haber, he learned how to operate a mimeograph machine, and build a sustainable organization. Surprisingly, Haber mentions that he wasn’t harassed by University officials. They left him alone, he says, as he was local, and his father was a well respected Economics professor at the University. He says that he had, “lots of cover.” Haber’s father, who would eventually become the Dean of LSA at U-M, worked in the FDR White House, and helped draft the Social Security Act. (Haber’s father also, as the Director of Welfare in Michigan, in the mid-30′s, made the decision to provide welfare payments to the families of the individuals involved in the historic Flint Sit-Down Strike, allowing the strike to continue, when it otherwise would have been starved out of existence.) Haber’s father, while supportive of his son’s activities, felt as though change could be made within the system, and encouraged his son to work within the existing power structure… At this point, the discussion turns to militance, the effectiveness of violence, and his eventual turn away from SDS, due to what he perceived as the organization’s lack of strategic long-term planning. By ’69, he said, “the movement was not interested in long-term thinking.” They weren’t interested in community development, poverty, and education, he said. They wanted immediate action. And that’s when he decided to become a woodworker, forming a collective called The Splinter Group in Berkley, California.

      VIDEO TWO: On bomb-building, and the launching of SDS

      By the end of the 60′s it was lunacy, according to Haber. No one knew how to act. People felt as though they had to do something. They couldn’t just sit by and do nothing, with the insanity of the Vietnam war becoming more and more apparent. Some people got militant… Haber, when he first went to college, studied chemistry. And, at some point, he experimented with bomb-making. He went to Barton Hills golf corse, at midnight, one night, and set off a pipe bomb in an oak tree. (He was testing a 20-minute fuse that he’d developed.) According to Haber, he looked at the tree, which he’d blown to pieces, and decided that it wasn’t a direction in which he was willing to go. He says that he was moved by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and their focus on “Soul power.” We also discuss armed self-defense. He says that he had guns, but sent them off to Cuba or somewhere, when he decided that he didn’t want to have them anymore. Violence has no role, in his opinion. I ask if MLK would have been as successful without Malcolm X,who preached armed self-defense, and he reminds me that Malcolm never blew anything up, and that, later in life, the two were actually converging… We discuss the black bloc. He acknowledges the need to ventilate rage, but feels that it’s dysfunctional in a tactical sense. We need to make friends, he says, and you can’t do that when you break a window, and someone else has to come in and clean it up. On the other hand, he says, he appreciates Derrick Jensen. “Revolution without executions,” he says, is his philosophy… We discuss the Weather Underground. He says some of it appeals to his “Yippie sensibilities.” We discuss Abbie Hoffman, and the necessity of humor. It’s good to shame our opponents. Mooning them is part of the game, he says. We need to get the spectators to smile. “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” He says he’s got a cup that says that in the other room, and we laugh… Was SDS successful? Were there missed opportunities? Are there lessons that could be applied toward the Occupy movement? “We didn’t study enough,” he says. We could have done better, Haber says of SDS, but we’re in the cultural memory of the world, and that’s no small task. We got “participatory democracy” into the vernacular. And we modeled standing up to the machine… It would have happened anyhow, though, he says… We then talk about his getting fired from League for Industrial Democracy (LID). LID had hired him to be their Student Field Secretary, after he’d worked successfully with them to pull off an event in Ann Arbor on discrimination in the North. The event brought together labor, church groups, SNCC, SDS and others in 1960… LID wanted to incorporate the Political Issues Club into their student group – the Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID). Haber says, however, that he and others didn’t like the idea. Instead, SDS was born, with LID as the primary sponsor. He dropped out of school and went to New York, when he worked for LID. At the same time, he was elected as the first president of SDS. “I worked for the boss, and I was president of the people.” LID ended up firing him twice. They didn’t like that he opened SDS up to everyone, including the Stalinists, and wasn’t terribly interested in collecting dues. Their model, he says, was one of a traditional trade union, whereas he was more interested in mobilizing community. This led to conflicts. He got fired, but stayed in his office, refusing to leave… “If there were dues, I’d eat,” he said. (He’d open the organization’s mail, while he was living in the office.)

      VIDEO THREE: Manifestos, speaker bans at U-M, etc…

      I ask how palpable the feeling was on U-M’s campus in the late-50′s that they were living in a time of historic change. Most people, he said, were oblivious to it, just living their lives. There were some, though, in the class of ’59, who came to college “ready to go.” They gravitated toward the PIC and the conference on discrimination in the North that he was planning… At this same time, he ran for Student Government Council at U-M, with a platform that, among other things, challenged the University’s ban on unapproved speakers. (Speakers had to be pre-approved by a committee.) He had tried to get Paul Robeson to sing on campus, for instance, and the University wouldn’t approve it. Finally, he got Robeson a show at a Baptist church in Detroit. In the process of trying to get him a venue in Ann Arbor, Haber received a letter on Nazi stationary, warning him about bringing a “nigger commie” into the City. It was signed by the German American Bund of Ann Arbor… We discuss the New SDS, which launched in 2006, and the young people of today. Is there reason to be optimistic? Is there empathy among today’s students? EMU is more receptive, he says. The median family income of U-M students is $180,000, he notes. “These are rich kids.” But, consciousness is wider now. Even if people are robot-like, just in college to climb the corporate ladder, they know what’s going on. They know that the cherry crops are dying, and polar bears are drowning. If there was a chance for a change, they’d go for it. We’re connected and diverse, and that presents an opportunity. There’s a “capacity of consciousness” but, until there’s a vision, people will follow the “existing opportunity structure”… I ask about Occupy, noting that, unlike SDS, the movement doesn’t have visible leaders, and, thus far, has resisted codifying their beliefs. Haber corrects me. SDS took three years to get to the point where they could draft the Port Huron Statement, he says. Their second year, they had a conference, and the third year they were putting pen to paper. “Occupy is in its infancy.” They’re having a meeting in Philadelphia at the end of June, though. They could be following the same trajectory. And, we could do the same thing here, in Ypsi/Arbor. We could start asking the questions. What do we believe? What’s the new paradigm that’s arising? We have global communications now, and, for the first time ever, four generations of activists, working together. There is a lot of opportunity…

      There’s more, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. These videos are taking several hours each to download… Here’s a teaser, though. Tomorrow we’ll discuss the possibility of a local gathering to draft a manifesto for our generation, in the spirit of the Port Huron Statement.

      Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

      Help me pick the movie that I will fall asleep in front of tonight!

      By Mark | May 10, 2012

      Two movies came in from Netflix today. Which should I choose?

      Posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

      Hut-K Chaats… nutrilicious Indian food

      By Mark | May 10, 2012

      One of my favorite local restaurants is an Indian street food place on Packard, between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, called K-Hut Chaats. Following is my interview with Dr. Swaroop Bhojani, the visionary healthy food evangelist behind the small, family-run operation… If you’ve never been, I’d encourage you to stop in, say hello, and try a few things. Swaroop, who, when he’s not cooking, is a cancer researcher at U-M, is extremely passionate about the food, and its power to heal, and his enthusiasm is infectious. I don’t know that it really comes across in the interview, but, having spoken with Swaroop on a few occasions, my impression is that he didn’t open the restaurant because he thought that it would make him rich. He spent his money opening it, I think, because he felt as though he had to at least try, in his own way, to change the status quo, create positive change, and influence the local dialogue on health and diet. And I respect the hell out of that.



      MARK: Some time ago, as I understand it, you became interested in the health consequences associated with typical American and Indian diets. And, being a researcher by training, you began to employ the scientific method, looking for way to solve the problem…

      SWAROOP: I have been cooking for nearly 21 years. About three years ago, though, I started monitoring, very closely, what goes into my cooking (such as oils, processed sugar, and processed grains), and what my family eats (what percent of our diet consists of fresh greens, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc). This all began when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. It was around this time that I started reading more on food and nutrition, and, the more I read, the more it made logical sense to me that food is directly linked to many health conditions. I am a convert now to the chiastic adage created by the father of western medicine, Hippocrates, who said, “let food be thy medicine and thy medicine your food”.

      What struck me more than anything else were the trends in obesity, especially in kids. It’s scary that kids in this generation may be more sick than their parents, suffering from type II diabetes, and cardiovascular problems, which could be easily averted by the application of simple rules in eating (whole grains or seeds, some greens, vegetables and fruits, and less meat). What amazes me is that, while the data is all around us, most of us are very “reactive” — until we are malaised by an action that we’ve taken, we do not think about its effect/outcome. That is one reason why prevention has not taken off well, either in people’s thinking, or with regard to government funding.

      Childhood obesity, in the US, is on a dramatic rise. Over the past two or three decades, there has been a 300% increase in adolescents who suffer from obesity, which is a major risk factor for a number of conditions, such as high cholesterol, hypertension, orthopedic problems, depression, and type II diabetes. Look at the numbers: one-in-three kids in the United States is overweight or obese, and one-in-five children have at least one of the conditions listed above. Once again, ours may be the first generation where kids will have lesser life expectancy than their parents. We need to think about this very seriously.

      Also, look at obesity in adults. 64% of our population is overweight/obese, and lifestyle diseases (such as cardiovascular problems and diabetes) are a major “killer”. These diseases kill nearly half a million people every year – more people than tobacco – and millions suffer (33.5% percent American have high blood pressure, and 25.8 million people are diabetic). And, the most intriguing part of this is that these sufferings and deaths are “easily” preventable with simple solutions.

      MARK: What made you think that you might be able to address the problem? I mean, seeing the problem is one thing, but something made you think, “I might be able to fix this,” right? What made you think that you might be able to solve this riddle that people have been struggling with for so long… how to get people to change their behavior and eat good, nutritious food that won’t kill them?

      SWAROOP: My own experience. I am type II diabetic who was obese, and is still borderline overweight. I have controlled my diabetes by changing to a whole grain and natural food diet. I don’t believe that I can “fix” the problem, though. Each person has to find his or her own solution to fix it. What I can do is to provide a platform where people can have an access to whole grain-based, and nutrionally-dense food. The second thing that I can do, based on my own experience, is to train and educate. On this front, I will be delivering lectures to kids and their parents at Ann Arbor Public Schools beginning next year. The understanding that humans are biological machines that need “good fuel”, just like any other manmade machine, is lacking. In my thinking, this is partly due to the fact that biological machines do not instantly fail when improper “fuel/lubricants” are ingested. Since there are no immediate adverse reactions to high-calorie, low-nutrition diets, these actions are perpetuated.



      MARK: Tell us about the grain cake that you’ve invented. What makes it special?

      SWAROOP: I remember, while growing up, I was told to eat from different food groups in order to get better nutrition. At Hut-K, I made a flat bread we call Back2Roots, with 15 different kind of whole grains (all in grain form, except for the wheat and the African millet flour). It is unique in a number of ways. It provides all of the essential amino acids that we need in our diet, and it is high in fiber/complex carbohydrates. It is also rich in minerals and vitamins coming from the different grains. Plus, it has good natural fats, that from blended almonds, walnuts, peanuts and coconuts. And, we use natural ingredients, such as greens, herbs, spices and vegetables, to make it a very delectable culinary experience.

      
MARK: Would it be safe to say that the storefront on Packard was a test? What I mean by that is, you’d created these products in your home, you’d tried them out on your family, you’d seen positive health improvements in your own life, and now you wanted to see if you could convince others to go on this journey with you, right? Well, what have you learned? Has the test been a success?

      SWAROOP: Yes, it is my laboratory for creating food, and my “guinea pigs” have been my kids, wife and friends.

      There two advantages to these kinds of food. When there are grains, carbohydrates are in complex form, and the their digestion is slow. So, there is no “insulin shock” with this kind of food, and, also, there is no “post food lethargy”. This is the perfect food for lunch at work, as one tends to remain as active after eating it, as in “pre-lunch state”. So, there is no loss of productivity due to food.

      The reaction from customers has been mixed — many customers are very excited about the food when I talk to them about the healthy ingredients (how I have swapped sugars for fresh and dried fruits, substituted baking for frying when possible, and how I stealthily add raw fresh greens), while there are some who don’t care… My getting off medication as a result of eating this food and exercising is motivational for many, and may, I imagine, influence a change in their eating habits. Further, through my food, I can make a dent in thinking process of those who do not hear my lectures, which are coming soon…

      MARK: Indian street food, at least locally, seems to be taking off as a segment of the restaurant market. Nehee’s in Canton is always packed, and now they’ve expanded into two other spin-out ventures. The food is delicious, but it’s not exactly healthy. Your products, while delicious, are a bit more complicated… I don’t know how else to say it… The flavors are complex. They don’t offer immediate gratification in the same way. Is that fair to say? Assuming you agree, how do you convince people to put in the work? How do you go about educating their palates?

      SWAROOP: This is a difficult question for me. Neehee’s is nice to place to go and eat, and I do want to compare their food with mine.

      I do not agree that there is no gratification in my food. The taste has been my priority and is also the first step in our food development process. I have done my homework on this and if you look at our chaats, they are probably the best you can find. In the core chaat category, you will NOT find a better panipuri, dahi sev puri or papdi chaat. This is my challenge to you. And with our food, bonus is nutrition; high nutrition per calorie.

      MARK: I didn’t say that there was no gratification. I enjoy your food very much. It’s delicious. I was just saying that some other street food, that is deep fried, full of fat, and heavily processed, may have more of an immediate appeal to someone accustomed to fast food. I was curious as to how you’d win those people over.

      SWAROOP: It is difficult to educate customer’s palate in the restaurant industry, partly because one eats at the restaurant once in a while. Most of the times, either you like it or not. Thus my topmost priority was taste. Once I got that right, I started to play around addition of greens, vegetables, fruits and dry fruits.
      

      MARK: Given what you’ve learned so far, what’s next? Might we expect a cook book? Will you be packaging your bread, and selling it through other stores? Could there be another restaurant launched in India?

      SWAROOP: Yes there is a book cooking in my mind. I have drafted chapters and categories. This is my free time fun. My current priority is to develop an education and training platform for kids wherein I can make a dent in the “state of health of our future generation”.

      Regarding packaging, a number of investors have approached me, but I am still testing. I am currently trying this with my friends and family living close by (hand delivered) and far away (by shipping). The “Back II Roots” roti is an ideal “working breakfast” food. The ancient grain roti is made from 15 whole grains and is full of complex carbohydrates. Thus it is digested slowly which aids body to keep on going for many hours without a “refill”. Probably, by the end of this year, if everything go right for us, there will be “Hut-K Nutrilicious” frozen food.

      There were two initial queries coming from India for starting Hut-K there but nothing in immediate future.

      

      In addition to the location at 3200 Packard, Hut-K also has a presence at Mark’s Carts in Ann Arbor.

      Posted in Ann Arbor, Food, Health, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

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