DC tomorrow

A 6 a.m. departure will land me in DC in fairly good time tomorrow, and with a little luck I'll get to the United offices before noon. May not be a real full day of blogging tomorrow, but tomorrow night I should have a report on the latest on the farm bill.

The fight for the middle class

Luis posts about a video about the crunch on the middle class in America. Luis and Big Apple have really driven the discussion board to high readership and growing membership. From the descriptor:
Distinguished law scholar Elizabeth Warren teaches contract law, bankruptcy, and commercial law at Harvard Law School. She is an outspoken critic of America's credit economy, which she has linked to the continuing rise in bankruptcy among the middle-class. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Council Lectures" [6/2007]
Some eye opening insights about the two income household. Here is the video that Luis linked to:

Only irradiation?

Is all the expense of Good Agricultural Practices, marketing agreement controls and obsessing over the introduction of pathogens on raw agricultural commodities so much wasted motion? Of course not - but consider this April 11 story from "The Daily Green" citing USDA research on the primacy of irradiation in controlling pathogens:


But according to new research, described today at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, washing alone just isn't enough. But irradiation is.
The Los Angeles Times quoted Brendan Niemira, a microbiologist at the USDA's Eastern Regional Research Center in Pennsylvania who led the research: "Irradiation kills E. coli where chlorine doesn't. We used pretty aggressive levels of chlorine and found they weren't very effective at all. But when you have E. coli inside a leaf, and you irradiate it, the E. coli dies."
Irradiation exposes food to a source of electron beams, creating positive and negative charges. It disrupts the genetic material of living cells, inactivating parasites and destroying pathogens and insects in food, including E. coli and Salmonella, as described in a press release from the American Chemical Society.
Although some hamburger meat, poultry and spices are irradiated to kill bacteria in the U.S, producers are not allowed to irradiate fruits and vegetables for food safety.
The practice has its critics. Foods cannot be certified organic if they are irradiated. The LA Times article said food safety researchers are concerned that high doses of irradiation will not only kill pathogens but also cause cell damage.
For the research, E. coli bacteria was pushed into the leaves of spinach and lettuce with a vacuum process. The leaves were then treated with either a three-minute water wash, a three-minute chemical treatment or irradiation. The study showed that washing with plain water was not effective at reducing the levels of the pathogen on either spinach or lettuce. The chemical treatment, a sodium hypochlorite solution, did not result in significant reductions of E. coli cells in spinach leaves, and ionizing radiation significantly reduced the pathogens in both the spinach and the lettuce leaves.
There was no mention of methods to try and prevent the contamination in the first place.

"Foolishly premature"

Critics have come to bury Fresh & Easy, not to praise it. But this story from The San Diego Business Journal cites one source who says, "not so fast, my friend."

From the story:


Retail consultant George Whalin says that he is baffled by the negative press Tesco has received in recent weeks.
“It’s not a little premature — it’s foolishly premature to sit back and judge this company’s success or failure based on five months of operations,” said Whalin.
“Maybe the fact that they’re a British company is why we’ve decided to pile on them, but it makes no sense to me,” he said.
Whalin says Tesco is doing what any smart company should do.
While some critics say that Fresh & Easy could quell rumors by releasing sales figures, Whalin says the retailer’s decision not to reveal sales is a no-brainer.

A mother's advice about CSR

From the Corporate Social Responsibility blog at McDonald's. Reminiscent of "everything we needed to know we learned in kindergarten, I guess....

A Mother's Perspective Part II

By Kathleen Bannan, Senior Manager Corporate Social Responsibility, McDonald's
Roughly one year ago, I posted "part one" of what is now officially becoming a series for me, or rather, an annual event, as it would seem "A Mother's Perspective" comes but once a year.
I have submitted my thoughts on McDonald's & CSR frequently since last April, yet not quite through that "maternal" lens. But I think it's time to take another look at the topic.
As it happens, I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the similarities between the advice/guidance I give my children (pictured here with me on a recent snowy afternoon in Chicago) and the expectations we have of ourselves here at McDonald's.
It brings to mind that book...."Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."
The same attributes that lead to happiness and fulfillment on the personal front are at the core of what it means to be a socially responsible, and in turn financially successful, company.
Let me offer a few examples:
It's not what you say. It's what you do.
Lead with actions, not words.
Take responsibility for your actions & be accountable for your lack thereof.
Consider the consequences of your actions before, and after, you act.
Stay committed to continuously improving yourself.
You never learn anything by talking. Listen, and you will learn.
Be a leader, rather than a follower.
And there are so many more - simple truths that retain their wisdom over time. These are all things my husband and I tell our children over, and over, again. As a socially responsible company, we at McDonald's strive to adhere to these same attributes.
CSR is complicated. Just the term itself is sometimes fraught with confusion. And defining success in this area is tricky. And yet, when it really comes down to it, we can all still refer those simple sentiments - or motherly advice- we have been hearing since childhood.
-Kathleen