December 2009
18 posts
Midnight in the food-stamp economy
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Retailers once wary of food stamp clients now see them as cash cow. The number of stores accepting EBTs (electronic benefit cards, the contemporary version of food stamps) has jumped 17 percent in the last 2 years. OTher interesting facts: 85% of food stamp benefits are spent at grocery and warehouse stores and uber-discount Family Dollar Stores are installing refrigerators to handle perishable...
USDA looks at new rating for foods →
I’m not sure having a single numerical rating system for foods’ nutritional values is a step forward, so hopefully the $20 million USDA is putting out for programs to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption will go beyond the Hy-Vee rating system profiled here. (I wonder if widely advertising the fact that 75% of our salt intake comes from processed food would help matters.)
Poverty shortens healthy years →
Being poor is worse for your health than being fat or being a smoker, according to this American Journal of Public Health study. The bottom 1/3 income bracket of the US loses 8.2 years of perfect health—compared to 6.6 years for smokers and 4.2 years for the obese.
true story:
slaughterhouse workers were part of the inspiration for henry ford’s moving assembly line. this is the most interesting fact learned on a tour of the river rouge factory in dearborn.
Federal supermarket resolution →
Very exciting: Congressional reps introduce supermarket/food-access legislation, modeled after Pennsylvania’s fairly successful Fresh Food Financing Initiative.
Not so fair trade →
The many problems with fair trade, via The Guardian—and an intelligent summary of the piece on Slate’s Daily Bread/Big Money.
Philly's food desert gets a supermarket →
Nice, quick piece on new supermarket, funded in part by Pennsuylvania’s landmark Fresh Food Initiative—and a farmer making inroads in a neighborhood that’s been unable to attract a supermarket of its own.
Told you so: Whole Foods Republicans →
An erudite explanation of why lifestyle choices are actually not sufficient substitutes for political and social movement.
Also: I am not convinced that “the white working class shrinking and the educated ‘creative class’ growing” to such an extent that we can say that America is becoming better-educated. Specific classes of Americans are becoming more educated; the...
Groceries: Marketing Strategy - Ideas - Dwell →
Fascinating piece on the future of groceries frmo Dwell—though I’d recommend that Dara O’Rourke try thinking about how many families making under $35,000 a year—the US’ fastest-growing market segment—are likely to be walking around with “supercomputers in their pocket.” Just because I, and all the other urban, hyper-educated folks I am friends with,...
Good Food: Who Can Afford It? →
No surprise to hear that eating sustainably is expensive—probably too much so for most folks—but nice to see the Atlantic’s food channel making the point. Price is probably the biggest reason that sustainable food gets flagged as elitist, of course—particularly because higher food prices seem to be about the only solution being proffered, usually by university professors...
Do I hear $4? SOLD, a case of lunchables to the... →
Grocery auctions? This is a new one for me, but since there is one in Michigan, I think I might have to go to one.
Note that the critique in this piece—that such venues might not be particularly adept at keeping food fresh—is somewhat self-serving, as it comes from a supermarket industry pundit. (Yes, there are such things.) That said, he could well be right.
Exc. brief thoughts on Food Stamps (NYT Room for... →
How do I love thee, Adam Drenowski:
The problem is that the fiscal policies of the last two decades have created a permanent underclass that has become obese and diabetic. The only way out of this is to promote jobs, education and yes, health reform. Larger portions of broccoli are not going to do it on their own.
Or perhaps it was Tom Laskawy, of Grist.org:
Why, then, the furor over...
Long-Term Food Policy comes to NYC →
Food as infrastructure—this is the first time I’ve seen a public official engage with one of the biggest, ungainliest problems encounted when trying to fix food access, particularly in urban areas. So it’s notable that infrastructure is the first prong Speaker Quinn is emphasizing this new effort. I’m particularly impressed with this common-sense example:
Here’s an...
transition to vampire complete...
just slept from sunup to sundown. yikes, third shift.
Farm link to Detroit, Fair Food Network gets a leg... →
USDA money will link Michigan farmers with Detroit shoppers, under a new agreement with the Fair Food Network, according to FFN and the Detroit News. FFN, the reincarnation of the Fair Food Foundation (which lost its funds via Bernia Madoff), will use a $40,000 grant from USDA’s Rural Development arm to:
develop a comprehensive communications and social marketing plan to reach out to and...
The Cost of Wasted Food →
A little self-righteous, but it reminded me of the weeks I spent sorting peaches in California.My job was to toss out bushel upon bushel of peaches smaller than baseballs or those having any hint of green; the same summer, the New York Times was published a piece on green peach salad.
tonight, i:
moved roughly 600-800 lbs of flour and sugar, in 5 lb increments. learned that a co-worker in apparel is slated for a colonoscopy. was asked if i had seen “the evil” yet of my workplace by a cashier. was told by a once-suicidal DandD player in dairy that is am “very cute.” ah, third shift is so awesome.