Free Republic

As states begin to ease indoor dining restrictions, the food service industry is having a hard time hiring employees, a difficulty owners blame in part on the disincentivizing effects of supercharged federal unemployment benefits, which are paid to individuals on top of their state benefits. The federal benefit that Congress created in response to the coronavirus pandemic was $600 per week, which amounted to $15 per hour before state benefits were added in. The number of workers eligible for jobless benefits expanded during the pandemic. For the first time, self-employed workers are also able to collect unemployment benefits. House Majority...

Condé Nast's food media brand Epicurious has stopped publishing recipes with beef in them, it announced Monday. "In an effort to encourage more sustainable cooking, we won't be publishing new beef recipes on 'Epicurious,' " the company stated. "Beef won't appear in new 'Epicurious' recipes, articles, or newsletters. It will not show up on our homepage. It will be absent from our Instagram feed," the publication added. However, old beef content already on its website will not be removed, the brand said, and beef recipes may also appear in its recipe galleries which use archival content that is "lightly updated...

Biden’s new climate plan will strip Montana of a vital industry and bankrupt our ranchesSenator Jon Tester (D) wears his agricultural credentials on his sleeve, eagerly relaying to Montana’s farmers and ranchers each campaign how much he supports ag producers, considering he is one. Tester’s family runs an organic farm near Big Sandy, where he pops in to take campaign photos every half-decade or so. But with Biden’s new climate orders in place, the days of Montana’s cattle ranchers being able to conscientiously vote Democrat may soon be over.Montana’s farming and ranching industry accounts for more than 3.6 billion dollars...

It has been two years since customers were first introduced to the Popeyes chicken sandwich. Since then, every other major chain in America has been scrambling to release its own version of the popular menu item—to varying degrees of success. To be clear, most fast food joints have been offering chicken-based sandwiches for decades, but many have stepped up their game since 2019 by focusing on four basic components: thick and juicy breaded chicken breast, pickles, mayo and/or spicy sauce, and a pillowy brioche bun. Judging on those attributes, The Takeout has reviewed the major players’ new chicken sandwiches one...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Toilet paper; now chicken wings? The owners of Nuby’s Steakhouse in Pocahontas, Illinois, and E. L. Flanagan’s in Highland, Illinois, said they haven’t been able to serve chicken wings like usual in their restaurants. The owners said they’ve been dealing with a chicken wing shortage from their suppliers. Owner Connie Richardson said in her 30 years of business she’s never seen this. “We had started stocking up about a month ago a little here and there and we’ll just deal with it – if we run out of boneless, we have the option to do bone-in,” she said. Ketchup shortage?...

Last March, Danny Lee was about to reformat the menu for the spring season at Anju, one of the three restaurants he co-owns in Washington, D.C. It would be the chef's first substantial menu change since the restaurant opened a few months prior. "Then the pandemic hit, and we had to, overnight, reformat our plans and create a menu that could travel well for takeout," he said. A little over a year later, with the restaurant at 25-percent indoor capacity and outdoor seating offered on a small patio, they're finally serving guests in person again, but his menu strategy has...

A pizza company in Northern Kentucky is helping to bring joy to people who may be going through a difficult time. Poseidon's Pizza Company posted on Facebook Monday saying if you or anyone you know is "going through a hard time" in life to send them a private message. The pizza company said it wants to help those struggling by providing them a free dinner. "If you struggle to find your next meal, We WILL help you out. If you’re grieving a lost family member or friend, we WILL help you out. Just gave birth to a beautiful baby and...

Long Beach is now short two big grocery stores. Ralph's and Food 4 Less have shut their doors, unable to sustain the city council's order that they raise worker "hero pay" by $4 an hour, pretty much forever.According to the Epoch Times:Grocery chain Kroger said it closed down two California stores Saturday after the Long Beach City Council approved a COVID-19-related "hero pay" ordinance that increased wages by $4 per hour.The move was announced earlier this year, but the Ralph's and Food 4 Less—both operated by Kroger—were shut down on April 17, employees told local media outlets."As a result of...

What will be the results of a Pelosi/Biden government? Many think there will be inflation. Milton Friedman taught us that “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it cannot occur without a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.” The $2Trillion Covid relief plus the !5% minimum wage plus the forgiveness of college loans all pump money into the economy. Those actions are the very definition of monetary phenomena. The Bureau of Economic Analysis keeps us informed on the inflation rate but fails in one respect. The inflation information provided leaves...

The Lenten season requires you to suspend your disbelief. Not sure about a skinny 33-something dude turning down a loaf of bread after fasting in the wilderness for 40 days? It’s Lent, baby! Get over it! Planning to give up sugar for six weeks? Sure, okay—Lent! A little shaky on hand-washing practices at your parish’s weekly fish fry? Shove it, man—it’s Lent, and anything’s possible! But to a lapsed Protestant like myself, nothing feels quite so Lenten as the annual parade of the fast fish sandwiches. I’m referring to the two-month-ish period during which nearly every major fast food chain...

Improved Team Member Experience: The beloved elements of the typical Cantina with an open-kitchen and alcoholic drinks paired with the digital design elements of the Times Square Cantina simplify and modernize the consumer experience, which in turn, optimizes and redeploys the role of the team member within the restaurant experience.

A California woman who weighs just over 130lbs has amassed a massive TikTok following because of her stellar eating challenges where she eats mass amounts of food in impressive times. Raina Huang, 27, is currently in the midst of a several-week long tour across Utah and Idaho, with plans to finish the series of food challenges in Las Vegas. As of Wednesday, she had already completed more than a dozen. The competitive eater made a stop at Lucy's Pizza in Idaho Falls, devouring an 18-inch, four topping pizza and a 40-ounce drink in just 8.03minutes.

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Shoppers had better start budgeting more for their grocery bills, according to the latest consumer price index, which shows prices are increasing — and they’re likely to keep going up. The monthly consumer price index, released Tuesday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed a 0.6 percent increase in March, the largest one-month increase in nearly a decade. Over the past year, prices have increased 2.6 percent overall. Gas skyrocketed up 9.1 percent last month. Since February, fruits and vegetables have risen nearly 2 percent and the index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs have risen 0.4 percent, according...

In honor of Pride Month 2021, which is June, Kellogg’s and GLAAD have come together to introduce a new cereal. The Together With Pride variety aims to celebrate everyone having a seat at the table and show support to the LGBTQ+ community. Kellogg’s first partnered with GLAAD in 2019 to create the All Together Cereal. The pride-fueled box was filled with six cereals...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

April showers bring May flowers, but only if your garden is properly set up first. It’s finally warm enough to get the garden going again, which also means trips back and forth to the home goods and stores for plants, trellises and bulbs and blooms. For those who want to see if their thumbs are green but don’t have much green space outdoors, check out our options for indoor gardening with grow lamps or fully-equipped herb gardens that can thrive right on your kitchen counter. For the traditional gardeners itching to pull on their gloves and get to digging, we...

As one of America's top cereal grains, corn is sprinkled into our food system in sneaky ways. Corn has been processed into a sweetener, an oil, a flour, and is used as one of the main feeds for livestock. But if you eat corn by itself, it's still a healthy vegetable, right? While corn is continually portrayed as a healthy food to eat, there are some sneaky upsides and downsides to know if you eat corn regularly. Here's what you need to know about what happens to your body when you eat corn, and for even more healthy tips, be...

Owner stayed open in defiance of lockdown rules... A video out of Vancouver shows diners chanting “get out!” as health officials try to shut down a restaurant that opened in violation of COVID-19 lockdown laws. The clip shows a pair of health officials talking to Corduroy Restaurant owner Rebecca Matthews as she tells the bureaucrats they are trespassing before asking them to leave. At first, the health officials refuse to leave but their behavior soon changes when the rest of the diners begin to chant “get out!”.. As the pair begin to exit, customers in the background can be seen...