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A San Francisco supervisor wants to require grocery stores to provide six months of notice before closing a location A San Francisco lawmaker introduced a proposal that would require grocery stores in the city to provide six months of notice before closing a store and to explore a replacement supermarket at the vacated location. Dean Preston, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, introduced what he calls the Grocery Protection Act – which is based on a proposal the board approved in 1984 that was vetoed by then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Preston's proposal would require grocery store...

When in doubt, blame businesses for closing their doors instead of the crime that has made it unsustainable for them to operate. San Francisco might even do you one better: force the businesses to stay open anyway. One of the 11 members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is floating reviving a vetoed 1984 law that would force grocery stores to stay open against their will. Supervisor Dean Preston calls it a “good idea” because of the risk of “food insecurity” that comes with grocery stores closing. The law in question would require stores to give a whopping six-month notice...

Amazon is phasing out its checkout-less grocery stores with “Just Walk Out” technology, first reported by The Information Tuesday. The company’s senior vice president of grocery stores says they’re moving away from Just Walk Out, which relied on cameras and sensors to track what people were leaving the store with. Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling...

(1/31/24 story) On the heels of Safeway's decision to keep its Fillmore grocery store open until January 2025, one San Francisco supervisor wants to regulate grocery store closures in the city to ensure local communities are not blindsided. Why it matters: The proposal is an effort to ensure food security throughout the city and is a direct response to Safeway's announcement and subsequent reversal of its decision to close its Fillmore supermarket, the only full-service grocery store in the neighborhood, in March. What's happening: Supervisor Dean Preston plans to officially introduce an ordinance, dubbed the Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, that...

Luther, fear not, the era of government-run grocery stores may not be as dead and buried as it seems. The city of Chicago — already doing such a terrific job on handling crime, poverty, homelessness, and unemployment — is exploring the possibility of establishing municipally owned grocery stores. City officials contend that a city-run grocery store would be better because they wouldn’t have to worry about making money. And Mayor Brandon Johnson is enthusiastically embracing the idea... ... Now, no doubt Chicago’s city-run grocery stores would have the same service, efficiency, and quality that Chicago residents have come to expect...

"Sultans Of Swing" by Dire Straits is almost the perfect song. NOTES FROM THE SUPERMARKET Buying produce at the supermarket can be a dicey thing. You never really know how fresh it really it or where it has been. I like to buy blackberries to swirl in my yogurt, blueberries too. In both cases, the package tells you to rinse the berries before eating. But does rinsing really clean them? How do you know all the germ came off by rinsing? The fruit looks no different than before you rinsed, except wetter. Maybe all the water really did was splatter...

I used to enjoy grocery check-out time. Not anymore. For years, I'd put my groceries on the conveyor belt, a friendly cashier would say hello, we'd have a quick chit-chat, and she'd ring up my items. A bagger would then deftly slide my food into bags, and—when I was really stocking up—would even push the second cart out to the car so I didn't have to make two trips. Couple of jokes, couple of new acquaintances, fresh fish, beef, cheese, butter, eggs, a few other things, and that was it. All very easy—even enjoyable. But now, as with so many...

All across the United Kingdom, teenagers concerned about the environment are doing "milk pours." The new trend involves going into grocery stores, picking up cartons of cow-produced milk, and pouring out their contents, according to the animal rights group Animal Rebellion. Videos that have popped up on social media show teens pouring milk onto the floor, over sales counters, and elsewhere in the store. Milk prices are displayed in a supermarket in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2022, as Americans brace for summer sticker shock as inflation continues to grow.

A new study examines how Americans acquired food at various points during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those activities changed over time as case numbers fluctuated and vaccines became available. "In addition to food acquisition and the restaurant and grocery industry, this also tells us how people behave in a time of crisis. It helps us prepare for the next crisis," said Melissa Ocepek, a professor of information sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign whose work looks at the intersection of information and culture with a strong emphasis on food. Ocepek worked with Brenna Ellison, a former Illinois professor...

As food inflation worsens, a sense of desperation is seizing the minds of the American people, and some of them are lashing out in acts of violence against workers at grocery stores and other food retail locations. America is now seeing a shocking rise in retail location violence that seems destined to only get worse. Joe Biden’s catastrophic economic and energy policies have led to a 400% increase in the price of fertilizer, a 100% increase in the price of diesel fuel, supply chain disruptions and food production shortfalls. Even infant formula has been in a supply chain crisis, and...

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Joe Biden made sure to remind Americans that Big Government is meeting the “needs” of the public, and that his administration is in full control over the food supply. Pretending that the economy is in a state of recovery, the Biden administration ignores the growing problems of rapid inflation and food rationing. Reading from his weekly propaganda script, Joe Biden touted that grocery stores were “well-stocked with turkey” and “everything else” that Americans “need.” He made the announcement at the same time Publix announced a long list of food item shortages across 1,280 stores. “For all...

President Joe Biden tweeted Wednesday that supermarket shelves are well stocked across the country while grocers ration food. “For all those concerns a few weeks ago that there would not be ample food available for Thanksgiving, families can rest easy today,” Biden claimed. “Grocery stores are well-stocked with turkey and everything else you need,” the president added. Meanwhile, Publix Supermarkets, a Florida-based grocer, warned customers this week to expect food shortages in all 1,280 stores across the southeast.

The accused gunman in Monday’s mass shooting in Boulder was “laughing” as he murdered 10 people and terrorized shoppers inside a King Soopers grocery store, police and a witness said. “We could hear a man chuckling,” shopper Angelina Romero-Chavez recalled hearing as she hid from the gunman while shots rang out around her. “Gunshots were close. We believe it was him chuckling,” the 23-year-old told the Denver Post. Police also radioed: “This guy is laughing at us,” according to records reviewed by the Denver Post

Supermarket supply chains are "starting to fail" because the "pingdemic" is sending thousands of workers into self-isolation, food industry leaders warned on Wednesday night. Shop shelves in some areas were empty of basic supplies, while petrol stations ran out of fuel as the NHS Test and Trace app threatened to bring parts of the economy to a standstill. MPs and industry leaders urged the Government to ease the growing crisis by including supermarket staff, lorry drivers and other frontline workers on a list of those exempted from automatic self-isolation when 'pinged' by the app as a contact of someone with...

A dozen grocery stores around the state have been forced to close for two weeks because of a public health order issued by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham at a time when the state’s residents are suffering from record high unemployment and food insecurity, critics say.The order requires businesses with four or more rapid responses of COVID-19 cases reported within in a 14-day period to close for two weeks.More than 25 essential businesses were shut down as of Monday afternoon, including a number of grocery stores and major retailers.The closures include two Walmarts in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe, an...

Dozens of retailers and farms have been named in a class-action lawsuit that alleges they engaged in price-gouging by marking up the price of eggs sold in California. Costco, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Kroger were just a few of the retailers accused of “the despicable and illegal practice of price-gouging of essential groceries” amid the ongoing coronavirus health crisis, according to court filings obtained by Bloomberg Law. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that plaintiffs noticed “grossly inflated” prices at retailers after Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom issued a declaration of emergency...

New York (CNN Business) Dozens of grocery store workers have died from the coronavirus, despite masks, temperature checks and capacity restrictions to keep them safe. So far, supermarkets have resisted the most draconian policy: banning customers from coming inside. However, some worker experts, union leaders and small grocery owners believe it has become too dangerous to let customers browse aisles, coming into close range with workers. Grocery stores are still flooded with customers, and experts say it's time for large chains to go "dark" to the public and convert to curbside pickup and home delivery for food and other essential...

A Maryland county is proposing assigning days that people are allowed to go to grocery and convenience stores based on what letter their last name begins with. Calvert County’s voluntary plan would limit people’s shopping to once every five days. The Hill reports that under the plan, A-C last names can shop on dates ending with 0 and 5, D-G names shop on dates ending with 1 and 6, H-L names go on dates ending with 2 and 7, M-R names can shop on dates ending with 3 and 8, and last names starting with S-Z shop on dates ending...

... Granting grocery store workers a temporary designation of first responder or emergency personnel would "ensure these frontline workers have priority access to personal protection equipment like masks and gloves," the statement reads. The groups say this is not just about employees – it's about protecting the customers they serve and our nation's food supply in general. First responders like health care workers are lacking the necessary PPE, so government officials have been working to ensure the equipment gets to those who need it the most and that supplies on conserved. ...

White House Official: Americans Should Avoid Grocery Shopping for 2 Weeks A member of the White House’s CCP virus task force is warning against going out to buy groceries or medication as the pandemic is expected to reach its apex in the next two weeks. “The next two weeks are extraordinarily important,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said on April 4. “This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe,” she warned. More than 9,500 deaths...