Dietspan

Yes, Loyalty Cards Save You Money; that, as you might guess, makes the case for store loyalty cards being a great thing.

The author, Stephanie Nelson, brushes aside any privacy considerations, saying basically that since you buy your groceries in plain view, what's the problem with the store keeping track of what you buy? She says "Supermarkets do not share their databases with other parties without permission," a statement I take some exception to, because generally your information can be shared unless you expressly state that it can't, so I'd be surprised if grocery store chains weren't sharing their information. Sounds like a major profit center to me; I wish she would've backed up this statement a bit more.

Anyway, even if you put privacy concerns to the side and think it's nice to have a coupon for a free can of Fancy Feast spit out of the machine when you buy some cat food, my problem with the store loyalty card is something different.

As far as I'm concerned, grocery stores force you to sign up for store loyalty cards and carry them with you, and they give you the same savings they used to give you without the cards.

For example, the spaghetti sauce that is 79 cents off with store loyalty card used to just be "on sale." There is no "on sale" anymore if you don't have that stupid card in your hand. And if you forget that card, you are being penalized, because what used to be "on sale" is now "on sale" only to those with the card, so you actually pay a premium for those items if you don't have a card or if you forget yours.

In reality, calling them loyalty cards is a joke, because I don't have any more loyalty to one store because of them. It's not like I'm getting a free set of dinnerware for every $1000 I spend, for the "loyalty" I'm showing to the store. No. No extras for me giving my loyalty.

In fact, the only point of the card is to hold me hostage, in the sense that I don't get the "savings" unless I'm willing to let them track my every purchase and willing to take on the extra hassle of carrying the card on my keychain or shoving it into my overflowing wallet. And, since every supermarket now has the same stupid card program, you can't escape them by showing your loyalty to a store that would actually deserve it by not forcing you to carry a card — they no longer exist.

Attention grocers: get rid of the cards and just put stuff "on sale" again. Then you'll get my loyalty.

By:  Justin McHenry                        Source

Poisonous or dangerous food is considered a special delicacy by some cultures in several parts of the world. In most cases, a nice feast may turn into a deadly game of Russian roulette.

Would you take the risks of eating these deadly delicacies?

By:  Gerard                        Source

2008 Is the International Year of the Potato. The potato has been consumed in the Andes for about 8,000 years. Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe.

Today potatoes are grown on an estimated 75,000 square miles of farmland, from China’’s Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java’’s equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine. In terms of sheer quantity harvested, the humble potato tuber is the world’’s No. 4 food crop, with production in 2006 of almost 347 million tons.

(via escape)

By:  Gerard                        Source

With approximately 15,000 acres of cranberry bogs, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry-producing state. (Wisconsin is the first.) I recently spent an afternoon driving around southeastern Mass. looking at cranberry bogs and learning about cranberry farming.

Cranberries typically grow in wetland areas, thriving on the sandy, acidic soils and high-organic matter that are typically found in such ecosystems. They exist in harsh conditions such as those in bogs and other wetlands because they can withstand harsh winds and ice, and they are immune to many bacteria and diseases common in overly wet areas.

The cranberry is one of only three native American crops that are commercially produced. (The other two are Concord grape & blueberry). Indians first used cranberries as a food source, for dye, and for its healing properties. It wasn’t long before European settlers caught on to the benefits of cranberries, and they were first successfully cultivated in the early 1800s.

(To learn more about the natural history of cranberries, read my first cranberry entry.)

The first commercial cranberry beds were constructed in wetlands, but now they are usually built in areas with a shallow water table. An unflooded cranberry bed looks like a low field surrounded on all sides by a dirt berm. The topsoil is scraped off and used to build the berm, which serves as a dike. The topsoil is replaced with 4-8 inches of clean sand, which is shaped to have a slight hill in the center to promote drainage. The beds are installed with irrigation equipment and planted with cuttings from established plants.

A lot of people think that cranberry beds are constantly underwater but that isn’t so. Beds are irrigated regularly, but are only flooded twice — in the fall to facilitate easier harvest, and in the winter to protect them from freezing. Though it might sound counterintuitive, ice actually helps protect the plants. Sand is spread on the top of frozen bogs to protect them from frost damage and for pest control; when the ice melts, the sand settles to the bottom of the bog and helps replenish the sandy bottom.

Late September and October are peak cranberry harvesting months. When the berries are ripe, the beds are flooded and mechanical harvesters remove the berries from the plants. The ripe berries float in the water and are raked into a corner of the bed, where they are mechanically pumped from the bed. Because they’re harvested in water, helicopters are often used to transport the crop to a separate area for sorting.

I’m not through with cranberries. Stay tuned, a post on the environmental aspects of cranberry production is coming up.

By:  Caroline Brown                        Source

Due to the total lack of food manufacturer transparency, the only real way to track what goes into your mouth is by watching what the food regulation agencies are talking about. In my reading of the recent news from miscellaneous agencies around the world, I couldn't help this prevailing thought - 'What the heck are they thinking?!'

Strange Things in the Food Supply

The good news is - they are finally going to start tracking cloned livestock. Although the U.S. FDA seems to think cloned livestock is safe, I'm still just a little nervous about the prospect of cloning in our food supply.

By:  Miche                        Source

It's cooking day. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and if I want anytime with my family, then I have to start the cooking today. On the stove, as I write this, is a Dutch oven with bubbling beef stew, the meat has been simmering since last evening and the gravy is thicker than the mud outside my home. On another burner I have lasagna sauce simmering and on the third burner cocktail meatballs absorb the flavors of the sauce.

The beef stew is for today and smells wonderful. I have been having lasagna for Christmas Eve in between church services since I was weaned off baby food; my mom started the tradition and I carry it on for my family. The meatballs are one of many appetizers that will be served on Christmas day - a table filled with warm and cold finger foods that will satisfy the guests throughout the day.

Traditions. Things we do, almost without thinking. They've worked in the past and will continue to do so going forward.

Have you heard the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

As steeped in tradition as my life is, I have to confess that I am not in agreement with that statement. That is why this year I have added an ingredient to my meatballs - the sauce usually made with a bottle of grape jelly and a bottle of chili sauce, this year I've added 2 tablespoons of Grey Poupon mustard.

The lasagna is different this year because I'm trying no-boil noodles. A way to make the same dish yet hopefully better because it removes one of my least favorite steps (dealing with super hot, boiled noodles).

I am taking something that isn't broken and yet striving to fix it. My belief is, if something isn't broken - is there a way to make it better? Fast? More economical? I'm using a new combination spice in my beef stew this year and the smell is outstanding - I don't know how I'll wait until the dinner hour to sample.

What in your business, your life, is the same that perhaps could be improved? Your marketing message? Your employee commission structure? Your process for giving and receiving internal communication?

What ain't broke that could be made better?

Deborah Chaddock Brown

Writer, Cook, Bottle washer, Fixing the unbroken

By:  Deborah Brown                        Source

I can”t even begin to imagine how many forks these 11-inch melamine plates are going to break. Assuming that picture-perfect food is served on them (that takes me right out of the kitchen), how is anyone supposed to be able to differentiate between what can actually be speared with a fork and what is only part of the realistic image printed on the plate?

The salad and English breakfast (are those curly fries?) plates are sold separately in packs of 6 for £29 (about $60).

Via Nerd Approved.

By:  Sarah                        Source