Free Republic

You can stop wasting your hard earned money at Democrat Party HQ...uh I mean Whole Paychecks...whoops Whole Foods Market. The following was reported in the Investor's Business Daily: "Organic food is no healthier than ordinary food, a large U.K. study found. Despite a small number of differences in nutrition between organic and conventionally produce food, no evidence of any extra health health benefit was found, London researchers said. The result was the same for studies of meat, dairy, and eggs." IBD 7/30/09 Seems that slapping an organic sticker on something these days is a license to steal. Thankfully I never...

Beneath the attention of major media coverage, the boycott of Israeli products has arrived in America. Its first (reported target) over this past weekend was the couscous at Trader Joe's. The Atlantic's (Jeffrey Goldberg comments:) "My recommendation: Head to Trader Joe's and buy anything made or grown in Israel. I hear the Israeli couscous goes well with grilled scapegoat, by the way." Rabbi Isaac Jeret of Congregation Ner Tamid in Los Angeles elaborates in an email to friends: As many of you know, one of the most difficult challenges for the State of Israel during its recent war in Gaza...

I received this message from a colleague alerting me to the fact that Trader Joe's, a well-known market for imported foods and wines, is now under pressure to stop selling products made in Israel (like Israeli cous cous, for example). This effort is being launched by South Bay Mobilization, a leftist, activist anti-Israel bunch in San Jose, California. In addition to its letter to Trader Joe's asking them not to sell Israeli products, this bunch is asking its members to actually go into local Trader Joe's stores on June 20, which if you did not know, is "World Refugee Day"...

George Torres' future looked pretty bleak: The supermarket mogul had been stripped of his riches by government prosecutors, convicted in a massive racketeering case and was awaiting a potential life sentence in federal prison. But in a stunning reversal of fortune Tuesday, the government released its grip on Torres' assets, a judge tossed out the most serious convictions against him, and he was ordered set free -- at least for now. The turnaround came after prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles turned over tape-recorded conversations that contained information that was potentially beneficial to Torres' defense regarding at...

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - As Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opens about 150 new or expanded stores in the U.S. in 2009, the company expects to hire about 22,000 people for new positions. Those positions include plenty of cashiers and stock clerks, but the world’s largest retailer will also be adding store managers, pharmacists and personnel workers. Wal-Mart is holding its annual shareholders meeting on Friday, and employees from its stores around the world are spending the week in Bentonville at company headquarters. Unlike many retailers, Wal-Mart has managed to keep sales growing since the recession began in late 2007, helped greatly by...

TULSA, Okla. — One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store. An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container. The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who said this type of spider kills more people than any other.

Paper grocery bags are bad. Plastic grocery bags are evil. To "save" the planet and not be labeled as a delinquent, you must use reusable canvas or cloth grocery bags. It would appear that soon there will not be a choice of what you use. You will use the reusable grocery bag or not be shopping!

Commodity prices are down, but the bad news for consumers is that U.S. farmers are responding by cutting back their planting and production, reducing the chances of lower prices reaching the supermarket. Clay T. Mitchell of Buckingham, Iowa, said he will reduce his corn acreage 26% when the planting season starts in mid-April. The 930 acres of corn that the 35-year-old farmer plans to grow would be his smallest effort ever, even though corn has long been his most profitable crop. He is planting more soybeans, which don't need expensive nitrogen fertilizer. "Farming is very strange right now," said Mr....

Consumers have cut back sharply on food spending, shunning restaurants, opting for generic products over brand names, trading in lattes for home-brewed coffee and shopping for bargains. That is hurting sales and profits at many food processors, grocery chains and restaurants. First, consumers have been trading down to lower-priced items. Second, he thinks many households dug into their pantries for staples rather than going to the store, a trend that can't continue indefinitely. "You can't contract at this rate for long," he said. "It's just shocking." Cindy Greco, a 45-year-old Chicago resident, said she's shopping more at Costco Wholesale Corp....

INDIANAPOLIS -- A grocery store employee who shot and killed a robber when he pointed a gun at a woman with a child will not be charged in the shooting. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Tuesday that Miguel Mondragon, 29, was justified in shooting Christopher Barreto, 23, during a robbery at the store Sunday night. Police responded to a holdup alarm just after 8 p.m. at El Michoacana Supermarket at 6240 W. 34th St. and found Barreto shot and critically injured. He was transported to Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses told police that Barreto had ordered...

Canandaigua, NY--Local shoppers have been watching their grocery bills increase for months, but some relief is on the way. In anticipation of lower fuel and production costs, Wegmans has cut prices on hundreds of items, with reductions ranging from 10 to 30 percent. Signs will go up today and over the weekend pointing customers to the lower-cost items, said spokeswoman Jo Natale. In a message posted on the company Web site, owners Danny and Colleen Wegman said the price cuts were made in anticipation of Wegmans’ costs falling in the future. They said they don’t mind making a little less...

I was coming through the grocery line today when I encountered a female, middle-aged African American cashier sporting three (3) Obama political buttons on her smock. I paid for my items and promptly called Safeway's Pleasanton, CA headquarters and asked for the Public Relations office where I spoke to the Director. I asked her if Safeway, Inc. was officially endorsing Barack Obama as one of their cashiers clearly was showing political partisanship in the workplace. She said, "No, we have a strict dress code of no athletic, political or religious insignia". She asked for the store address and assured me...

The plastic grocery bag is fighting for its crinkly life.From the city of San Francisco to Los Angeles County, more than a dozen local governments around the state have proposed or passed plastic-bag restrictions, ranging from recycling mandates to outright bans.Now, a proposal in the Legislature would put a 25-cent fee on all disposable bags – paper or plastic – given out at drug and grocery store check stands starting Jan. 1, 2010. It has won key support from the grocery and retail industries and faces its next legislative step today. Those in favor of the fee, led by Assemblyman...

Companies throughout the food chain are changing the way they do business in response to soaring grain costs, and consumers are likely to bear the brunt in the form of rising food prices. Farmers are making the broadest cuts to their livestock herds in decades, meaning meat at the supermarket will likely cost more in coming years. Middlemen are trying to shorten the duration of supply contracts to 90 days from one year so they can pass on higher costs more quickly. And food brands are shrinking the contents of their packages, from ice-cream cartons to beverage containers. ...In another...

The construction of a new Whole Foods grocery store at Hilldale Mall may be in jeopardy. On Tuesday, Whole Foods reported a 30 percent drop in the company's profit for the third quarter, and announced it will reduce the number of stores expected to open in fiscal year 2009 from 21 to 15.The company, which is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol WFMI, reported its earnings late Tuesday. The stock was trading around $20 recently, a 13 percent plunge."The challenging economic environment appears to be negatively impacting our sales," John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods, said in...

The council plans to ban plastic carryout bags in the city's stores by 2010, unless the state imposes a 25-cent fee on those who request them.

(edit)   Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin proposed a 20-cent "green fee" Wednesday on all disposable bags to encourage customers to carry their milk and eggs home in their own bags. Forget the canvas sacks at home? Shoppers at grocery, convenience and drug stores will pay the price starting Jan. 1, if the City Council approves. A family buying six bags of groceries a week would spend $62.40 a year in bag fees. The city will issue one free reusable shopping bag to each household."The answer to the question 'Paper or plastic?' should be 'Neither,' " Nickels...

Supermaket chain Tesco has announced that a range of its own-brand products will carry labels showing the size of the goods' carbon footprints. Tesco said it would label 20 items, including light bulbs and potatoes, during a two-year trial of the scheme, which is operated by the Carbon Trust. Shoppers will be able to see how much carbon is emitted over the life of a product - from manufacture to disposal. The store said it was introducing the labels in response to consumer demand. "Customers tell us that it is very important to them," said David North, Tesco's community and...

Families are having to spend almost £800 more on their annual grocery bills as the highest rate of food inflation for a generation drives up supermarket prices, research suggested yesterday. The cost of a basket of 24 basic items such as tea bags, milk, cornflakes and pasta sauce at the three biggest stores has risen by 15 per cent over the past year.   Compare prices of 24 grocery items A kilo of Tesco garden peas has increased from £1.10 to £1.79; a dozen medium free-range eggs from Sainsbury's has climbed from £1.75 to £2.58; and a bag of fusilli...

I'm not as worried about gas prices as I am wheat prices. I can ride the bus if gas gets too expensive but I can't eat my neighbors bread. If we keep taking all the corn in the country and using it for our little ethanol transportation experiment we have less corn to feed cows and less land to plant in wheat. Fewer cows get slaughtered but their are also fewer amber waves of grain to behold. The cow problem solves itself over time because we just sell the ones we have sooner at a lower price and don't breed...