#Grocery stores Closing in Record Numbers Grocery store finding it hard to compete with big box discount stores Craig Chancellor tried everything he could,
but last November he finally closed the Turkey General store, leaving the small Texas Panhandle town without a grocery.
and relocated a small cafe he owned into the store, he couldnt make it work. He paid more for salaries
The grocery industry and government dont keep statistics on rural store closures, but experts said a long-running trend seems to be speed picking up.
A survey by Kansas State university backed up that belief, finding that more than 38 percent of the 213 groceries in Kansas towns of less than 2, 500 closed between 2006 and 2009.
It isnt just a store that goes when groceries close said David Proctor, who studies rural communities at Kansas State.
-based Center for Rural affairs. oeif you start to lose something key like a grocery store, people arent likely to move there
if they dont have access to food, she said. But Lois Wright Morton, who studies rural communities at Iowa State university, said one reason local markets fail is
and they often cant get food distributors to deliver relatively small orders. He said he couldnt get anyone to deliver bread
so he had to either meet a distributor in a nearby town or buy bread at Sams Club in Lubbock or Amarillo the two largest cities in West Texas. Closures of stores such as his,
The 640-some residents of Minneola, Kan. now have to drive about 40 miles roundtrip for food since its store closed.
The towns mayor, Carol Sibley, shops for three relatives in their 90s and watches with worry as some elderly residents shuffle across a busy highway to pick up provisions at the only remaining food seller a gas station
and go after groceries, said Sibley whose town boasts of amenities such as a hospital, a nursing home, a bank, a newspaper and a pharmacy.
The U s. Department of agriculture calls areas with little access to affordable and nutritious groceries oefood deserts.
Thirteen percent of the nations more than 3, 100 counties qualified as food deserts 10 years ago, with most of them in a band of rural areas stretching from Montana to North dakota and then south to West Texas,
The federal government is trying to ease the situation with the Healthy food Financing Initiative. The departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and human services have proposed spending $400 million a year to bring grocery stores
and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities to eliminate food deserts within seven years.
It isnt clear yet how the money will be split between urban and rural areas. Nonprofit groups and motivated residents also have stepped in to help.
, a town of 132 where the grocery store closed 10 years ago, community leaders got a $75,
and train high school students who will run a grocery as a nonprofit. One quarter of the population is over 65 and half the school districts kids are on free or reduced lunch.
Once it opens, the towns elderly and poor will have easier access to healthier foods. Now, its 35 miles to the nearest town with a grocery store. oefor them to be able to make that kind of round-trip drive for groceries
and having reliable transportation is difficult at best, Starkweather said. oeand you throw in a few Nebraska winters
and it gets more difficult. In Ohatchee, Ala. a $99, 000 USDA grant helped the town of about 1,
200 refurbish and reopen its grocery store, which closed a few years ago. But the mayor said residents must support it
if they want the store to remain open. oewe really need our grocery here. It was a main revenue stream,
shopped in neighboring towns for about a year after their grocery closed. But a local couple who received a low-cost federal loan started construction on a new store to open this fall. oepeople in this community understand that if they dont shop locally,
and believes the closing has made them realize the importance of a town grocery. oeits like everything else,
The grocery industry and government dont keep statistics on rural store closures, but experts said a long-running trend seems to be speed picking up.
A survey by Kansas State university backed up that belief, finding that more than 38 percent of the 213 groceries in Kansas towns of less than 2
but last November he finally closed the Turkey General store, leaving the small Texas Panhandle town without a grocery.
and relocated a small cafe he owned into the store, he couldnt make it work. He paid more for salaries
Researchers said Chancellors story is being repeated across the country as rural stores struggle to survive amid competition from distant supercenters and relatively high operating costs The grocery industry and government dont keep statistics on rural store closures,
A survey by Kansas State university backed up that belief, finding that more than 38 percent of the 213 groceries in Kansas towns of less than 2, 500 closed between 2006 and 2009.
when groceries close, said David Proctor, who studies rural communities at Kansas State. Such closures rob towns of their vitality, with the loss of gathering places and sales tax revenue to fund local governments.
-based Center for Rural affairs. oeif you start to lose something key like a grocery store, people arent likely to move there
if they dont have access to food, she said. But Lois Wright Morton, who studies rural communities at Iowa State university, said one reason local markets fail is
and they often cant get food distributors to deliver relatively small orders. He said he couldnt get anyone to deliver bread
so he had to either meet a distributor in a nearby town or buy bread at Sams Club in Lubbock or Amarillo the two largest cities in West Texas. Closures of stores such as his,
The 640-some residents of Minneola, Kan. now have to drive about 40 miles roundtrip for food since its store closed.
The towns mayor, Carol Sibley, shops for three relatives in their 90s and watches with worry as some elderly residents shuffle across a busy highway to pick up provisions at the only remaining food seller a gas station
and go after groceries, said Sibley whose town boasts of amenities such as a hospital, a nursing home, a bank, a newspaper and a pharmacy.
The U s. Department of agriculture calls areas with little access to affordable and nutritious groceries oefood deserts.
Thirteen percent of the nations more than 3, 100 counties qualified as food deserts 10 years ago, with most of them in a band of rural areas stretching from Montana to North dakota and then south to West Texas,
The federal government is trying to ease the situation with the Healthy food Financing Initiative. The departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and human services have proposed spending $400 million a year to bring grocery stores
and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities to eliminate food deserts within seven years.
It isnt clear yet how the money will be split between urban and rural areas. Nonprofit groups and motivated residents also have stepped in to help.
, a town of 132 where the grocery store closed 10 years ago, community leaders got a $75,
and train high school students who will run a grocery as a nonprofit. One quarter of the population is over 65 and half the school districts kids are on free or reduced lunch.
Once it opens, the towns elderly and poor will have easier access to healthier foods. Now, its 35 miles to the nearest town with a grocery store. oefor them to be able to make that kind of round-trip drive for groceries
and having reliable transportation is difficult at best, Starkweather said. oeand you throw in a few Nebraska winters
and it gets more difficult. In Ohatchee, Ala. a $99, 000 USDA grant helped the town of about 1,
200 refurbish and reopen its grocery store, which closed a few years ago. But the mayor said residents must support it
if they want the store to remain open. oewe really need our grocery here. It was a main revenue stream,
shopped in neighboring towns for about a year after their grocery closed. But a local couple who received a low-cost federal loan started construction on a new store to open this fall. oepeople in this community understand that if they dont shop locally,
and believes the closing has made them realize the importance of a town grocery. oeits like everything else,
#Relaxation Drinks Big Business in the Beverage Industry Relaxation drinks For years, college students and C-suite executives alike have managed to stay perky through parties
the drinks may have worked a little too well. The nation is wired so that it looks as if consumers are now thirsting for anti-energy drinks. oerelaxation shots like Snoozeberry
and ichill and soporific beverages with names like Unwind, Dream Water, Koma Unwind Chillaxation and Drank are aiming to take away the very buzz their caffeinated predecessors were designed to deliver.
There are already more than 350 kinds of relaxation drinks on the market according to Agata Kaczanowska, an analyst with the research company IBISWORLD.
Instead of slogans like Jolts oeall the sugar and twice the caffeine, these new drinks proffer serenity with maxims like Unwinds oetired of being wired?
and Dranks oeslow your roll. Though thats not all they are promising. Drank claims it can help prevent jet lag.
A drink called Blue Cow says it can improve concentration, relieve anxiety and irritability from fatigue,
These would-be wonder drinks are coming soon to more grocery, big-box and convenience stores across the land.
In the beverage industry they are known as oerelaxation drinks and they are a big business.
The drinks often contain melatonin, valerian root and rose hips. But relaxation drinks are regulated not by the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Wahida Karmally, director of nutrition for the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia University Medical center, said that
while melatonin is prescribed sometimes for jet lag, it affects other hormones. For instance, it can interfere with normal sexual development in children
Not all relaxation drinks contain melatonin or valerian though. Blue Cow, for instance, does not. Some brands have a lot of sugar;
others have none. Yet even an ingredient as seemingly benign as rose hips, which contain Vitamin c,
The beverage makers say on their Web sites that the levels they recommend are safe. Doctors say there is no way to know,
wearing a cream-colored smock made of hemp. oepeople have this misconception that you just jump into it
like one not long ago when the Farmacy learned that its line of pot-infused beverages could not be sold nearby in Denver.
whom you ask is larger than the number of Starbucks and liquor stores combined. During a recent visit, it was clear that for every marijuana seller
The best of Boulders dispensaries display their product in the sort of glass cases found in jewelry stores or high-end bakeries.
known as oebudtenders, like to think of themselves as sommeliers, although the names of the strains for sale will never be confused with chardonnay:
Bubble gum, Sour Kush, Gods Gift, Grand Daddy Purp and Blue Skunk. oethis will throw you for a loop,
says Michael Bellingham, owner of the Boulder Medical Marijuana Dispensary, who is holding a jar of Jack the Ripper,
and they remain lets just run with it rue to share their names. One dispensary employee swears that his hippie parents christened him Onefree
If smoking doesnt appeal, there are lots of pot edibles, like cookies, fudge, butter, candy bars, muffins, coffee and ice cream. oewe had a milkshake night here a few weeks ago,
says Lauren Meisels of the Greenest Green. oethe place was packed. The marijuana merchants in Colorado, like trailblazers in any business, had to make a lot of basic decisions
The Greenest Green looks like a bar in Amsterdam, with a chalkboard announcing the days offerings in colors reminiscent of Starburst Fruit Chews,
with an espresso bar and a separate room for a massage therapist. Another, Dr. Reefer its the name of the dispensary and the trade name of the owner is proudly ramshackle,
since a restaurant moved off the premises. oethis used to be a hot dog place called Whats Up Dog
the federal alcohol ban carved out an exemption for medicinal use, and doctors nationwide suddenly discovered they could bolster their incomes by writing liquor prescriptions.
Pharmacies, which filled those prescriptions, and were one of the few places whiskey could be bought legally,
raked it in. Through the 1920s, the number of Walgreens stores soared from 20 to nearly 400.
Prohibition also enriched adventurous sorts at every level of booze production and consumption, from grape farmers and distillers to the owners of speakeasies.
At least that is the hope of Matt Cook the senior director of enforcement at the states Department of Revenue and the man behind Colorados pot regulation system. oeive been coming up with regulations for different industries for 30 years,
and one in Denver. oei used to manage Whole Foods stores on the East Coast,
Because in the food industry, you know what the standards are. Ms. Respeto exudes a kind of soccer-mom normality,
But when was the last time your pharmacy had a milkshake night? Selling oedosage controlled scoops of chocolate peanut butter ice cream?
Judging from three days of visits to a dozen places, the sweet spot of the dispensary demographic seems to be 20-to 30-year-olds, all of whom,
oeand have a glass of wine. Via New york times Night with a Futurist: The Future of Marijuana Uncovering the Opportunities July 12, 2010 Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati F
US watchdog the Food and Drug Administration is currently considering whether the GM Atlantic salmon, called Aquadvantage, is safe to eat.
At the moment only GM CROPS like corn or soy are available for human consumption. Also the Daily telegraph revealed recently that most animal products available in supermarkets
like meat, eggs or dairy, are fed from livestock GM. But despite the creation of a GM mouse as early as the 1980s, the idea of eating modified animals does not appeal to the public.
Aquabounty, the Massachusetts company behind the GM salmon, say the fish will be sterile and therefore poses no risk to the wild.
The Aquadvantage would also be a much more energy efficient way to produce a nutritional food source,
Another project at the University of Guelph in Canada is developing a pig bred to digest food more effectively.
There is no such thing as a free salmon lunch and we will pay the price,
A Food Standards Agency survey to find out what the public think of the new technology is currently stalling after two leading academics resigned in protest at the government bodys pro-GM stance.
While the endangered animal would have lived for about three months on a liquid diet before switching to bamboo and fruit,
Taking over U s. Brands Mexico city-based Bimbo bought the U s. baked-goods operations of Weston Foods taking over 22 industrial bakeries and 4, 000 distribution routes.
From Thomas English muffins to Borden milk, Saks Fifth avenue department stores to The New york times newspaper, Mexican investors have taken advantage of low interest rates
A slice of the pie Newcomers include Grupo Lala, Mexicos largest dairy company, based in GÃ mez Palacios in the northern state of Durango.
which controls the Borden brand and 18 regional dairies selling milk under the names Flav-O-Rich, Dairy Fresh, Velda Farms, Sintons, Cream O Weber, Goldenrod
Grupo Bimbo, Latin americas largest baked-goods company has expanded also its U s. operations. In 2009, Mexico city-based Bimbo bought the U s. baked-goods operations of Weston Foods for $2. 4 billion, taking over 22 industrial bakeries and 4, 000 distribution routes.
In all the Mexican company has 35 bakeries in the USA turning out national brands such as Entenmanns pastries, Boboli pizza crusts and Thomas English muffins to regional brands such as Brownberry
bread and Mrs. Bairds snack cakes. About 43%of Bimbos 2009 sales were in the USA.
New investment in the USA by Mexican companies rose from $3. 6 billion in 2005 to nearly $8 billion in 2008
Adding foreign flavor Some Mexican companies have benefited from the spread of Hispanic culture in the USA.
Gruma, which claims to be the worlds largest maker of tortillas, wraps and corn flour, makes 47%of its sales in the USA and Europe,
thanks to the growing popularity of Mexican food. The company has 25 bakeries and flour mills in Texas, California, Indiana and Kentucky.
It is a major supplier to restaurants and fast-food chains. The Gonzã¡lez Barrera family, which controls Gruma,
owns one of Mexicos largest banks, Banorte, which bought Texas-based Inter National bank in 2009. oetheyre not going to the USA) just to sell to Latinos anymore,
says Juan Enciso, an economics professor with the Institute for Advanced and Continuing Studies in Monterrey.
filling a desperate need in a burgeoning movement to bring people closer to their food.
where the butcher and federal meat inspector are waiting. When the job is done, the team heads out to the next farm.
filling a desperate need in a burgeoning movement to bring people closer to their food.
and investing in projects to bring locally grown meat and produce to consumers. oethere is unbelievable consumer interest in local agriculture that we havent seen in decades,
Know Your Food program, designed to revive the processing, marketing and distribution networks that once made small farming viable
and do huge volumes of food and thats part of American agriculture and thats good, Merrigan said. oebut there are a lot of people who want to do alternative markets,
The agency is promoting small meat producers in part by funding and approving more mobile slaughter units,
A cultural shift Most people in this country are not likely to eat meat processed in a mobile slaughterhouse,
impact on the environment and quality and safety of meat. Consumers are increasingly demanding grass-fed beef,
pork and lamb raised on local pastures by farmers who can vouch for the animals diet and treatment.
The USDA estimates that the market for locally grown food will be about $7 billion by 2012, up steeply from $4 billion in 2002.
But there is a bottleneck in the system: a lack of slaughterhouses that can work with small farmers.
Thats difficult for a small farmer raising animals in pastures, where weather and other variables can affect their growth and readiness for slaughter.
meat cannot be sold. The USDA approved the first mobile slaughter unit for Lopez Island in 2002
or Food Lion or from some anonymous slaughterhouse that stuffed it full of antibiotics so it wouldnt get sick,
and figure out a way to get the meat to them. At roughly $250, 000, a basic slaughtermobile costs about one-fourth of a permanent facility and is likely to face less opposition from the community. oeno one wants to live next to a slaughterhouse
and wrapping before the meat can be sold. oemobile slaughter units are a bit of a quick fix,
T&e Meats, is so busy they are turning away business. oeyou still need to cut up the meat,
you need saws, grinders, stuffers, vacuum packers, smokehouses, curing areas, drying units and all of these things that take a lot of space,
Cloud said. oei just dont see how were going to rebuild the local community-based system using mobile units.
Merrigan agrees. oethis is just one strategy, she said. When Kathryn Thomas wanted to turn her sheep into lamb chops,
where the butcher and federal meat inspector are waiting. When the job is done, the team heads out to the next farm.
and investing in projects to bring locally grown meat and produce to consumers. oethere is unbelievable consumer interest in local agriculture that we havent seen in decades,
Know Your Food program, designed to revive the processing, marketing and distribution networks that once made small farming viable
and do huge volumes of food and thats part of American agriculture and thats good, Merrigan said. oebut there are a lot of people who want to do alternative markets,
The agency is promoting small meat producers in part by funding and approving more mobile slaughter units,
A cultural shift Most people in this country are not likely to eat meat processed in a mobile slaughterhouse
impact on the environment and quality and safety of meat. Consumers are increasingly demanding grass-fed beef,
pork and lamb raised on local pastures by farmers who can vouch for the animals diet and treatment.
The USDA estimates that the market for locally grown food will be about $7 billion by 2012
up steeply from $4 billion in 2002. But there is a bottleneck in the system: a lack of slaughterhouses that can work with small farmers.
Thats difficult for a small farmer raising animals in pastures, where weather and other variables can affect their growth and readiness for slaughter.
meat cannot be sold. The USDA approved the first mobile slaughter unit for Lopez Island in 2002
or Food Lion or from some anonymous slaughterhouse that stuffed it full of antibiotics so it wouldnt get sick,
and figure out a way to get the meat to them. At roughly $250, 000, a basic slaughtermobile costs about one-fourth of a permanent facility and is likely to face less opposition from the community. oeno one wants to live next to a slaughterhouse
and wrapping before the meat can be sold. oemobile slaughter units are a bit of a quick fix,
T&e Meats, is so busy they are turning away business. oeyou still need to cut up the meat,
you need saws, grinders, stuffers, vacuum packers, smokehouses, curing areas, drying units and all of these things that take a lot of space,
Cloud said. oei just dont see how were going to rebuild the local community-based system using mobile units.
Merrigan agrees. oethis is just one strategy, she said. Via Lyndsey Layton, Washington post Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati y
which can efficiently ferment pentose sugars, as found in agricultural waste and hardwoods. Researchers writing in Biomed Centrals open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels describe the creation of the new S. cerevisiae strain, TMB3130,
and final biomass concentration on sugar media composed of two pentoses, xylose and arabinose. Marie Gorwa-Grauslund, from Lund University
Normal bakers yeast cannot ferment pentose sugars at all. By inserting the required genes from other fungi
and bacteria it is possible to make a relatively inefficient transgenic strain that can ferment pentose sugars.
and arabinose sugars in order to select a stable population most capable of metabolising the pentose feedstock.
and upgrade non-food material, especially dedicated energy crops and agricultural residues such as straw, bagasse, stover and corn hulls.
The only way to fix a gloomburn is to rub a mixture of apple pie and sunshine on the inside of your mind.
In the future, the square fruit in the grocery store will be found next to the square vegetables and the square poultry sections...
If only the shape of their trucks could make their beer taste better...After three days in the meth lab, Whiskers was well past the red zone on the gnarly meter...
Excursion is the souls relaxation and banquet...Multicolor Wavesfive, six kinds of color mountains look like multicolor waves, so magnificent...
In front of the hut, the mother is cooking maize porridge over an open fire, while the two daughters sit in the dust, peeling mangoes.
receives three meals a day and sleeps in his own bed. The football school, which is called oemaison Bleu (Blue House) because of its blue walls,
is a dream factory. Those players who have made it this far stand a chance of becoming professionals in Spain, England,
But unscrupulous traffickers also have their fingers in the pie. Africans are drawn to Europe because they believe that everything there exists in abundance:
or students, are running through an obstacle course of yellow plastic cones, keeping the ball close to their feet.
as well as a restaurant with a rooftop terrace. In two or three years, when the first Mali graduates are of age,
#Reverse Engineering Mcdonalds French fries Scrutinizing Mcdonalds French fries J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of The Food Lab (over at Serious Eats) likes a challenge,
hold the cooking. oeexcuse me? I know shes already said no in her head, but I press on just the same:
like straight out of the fryer fresh, so I figured Id just get some frozen,
The study from Lund University s Faculty of engineering punctures the controversial argument against biofuels made from food crops, such as ethanol from grain,
Arguments such as that the biofuels use up more resources during food production, and force land reclamation for food in other countries instead,
have been shown by the new study to be false. oeaccording to our results, there is nothing to suggest that biofuels produced from Swedish-grown crops under present circumstances would lead to indirect soil effects,
if we sharply increase biofuel production from food crops very quickly, said BÃ rjesson. oethere is a limit,
and eat the leaves of the sassafras or spicebush. Adults consume a variety of nectars,
including those from azalea, Japanese honeysuckle, milkweed, and thistle flowers. Via Daily mail Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati a
In the future, the scientists plan to incorporate the silk genes into alfalfa plants, which they say could produce even larger quantities of silk.
They explain that not only is alfalfa widely distributed it also has a high (20-25%)protein content,
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