The Michigan Department of Community Health reported today that is has 34 confirmed cases and they include nine students at Michigan State and five cases at the Lenawee County Jail. Five cases each were reported in Wayne and Macomb, Washtenaw has four cases, Kent has three and Oakland and Genesee counties have one each.
For example, when a single commodity that requires labeling under the law is combined with at least one other covered commodity it is then considered a processed food item and is exempt from country of origin labeling requirements. Let's look at two popular products: Fruit salads with different melons and green salads mixes with iceberg lettuce, Boston and romaine lettuce. They get a pass. No COOL needed. So much for the ability to track the source of E. Coli-tainted lettuce.
Talking with one eastern U.S.vegetable shipper today, she remarked that first of the month business is quieter than usual. What's more, she's heard the same from shippers all over the country. With more bad news from Wall Street today - durable orders were down more than expected and new unemployment claims were higher than the Street expected - consumers may be trading down more than a notch or two. Instead of trading down from imported asparagus to broccoli, John and Jane Q. Public may skip right to the pbj sandwich.
As with everything, psychology is key. Someone has to help us look past the gloom and see the silver lining. Waiting.....still waiting.......
In the anticipatory buildup to the Sarah Palin/Joe Biden debate tonight, a latent reality as to the way men & women sometimes view each other has unknowingly been uncovered.
When CBS anchor Katie Couric grilled Palin on Supreme Court justices & decisions and Palin stumbled with her answers, either end of the political media spectrum reacted as one would expect. The liberals lambasted her as a know-nothing bimbo while the Republicans simply called it a non-event, adding that Couric was a shrew for shaping the questioning in a 60-Minutes-like manner. I imagine the truth is somewhere in between, and that in itself is skewed by whether it's coming from a male or female viewpoint.
But it got me thinking, again. When I entered the produce business in the late 1970's, I was amazed at the mass integration of females into the industry. Oh boy, they were vacuuming carpets, answering phones, restocking supply cabinets, even aspiring all the way up to data entry! My goodness, it was a regular Dolly Parton 9-to-5 empowerment.
Seriously, though, it was still the Dark Ages. Pioneers like Frieda Caplan were just beginning to be known as a major force instead of a novelty. My generation, in our twenties, was still single or just getting married and, sadly, light years away from understanding the workings of the female mind. And our fathers, steeped in fedora-hatted produce tradition, could not even conceive of a woman on the sales desk. It just wasn't done.
Fast forward thirty years. Any stigma previously attached to women salespeople has gone by the wayside. Just like us menfolk, there are women sharpshooters, ones with compassion, liars, smooth talkers & even a few pottymouths. It's not a 50-50 split numbers-wise yet, but it's not the good ol' boys network of the frontier days anymore.
I definitely like it this way, but for those of us married to women who are seemingly three steps ahead at times, the art of negotiation takes on a whole new meaning, and I'm hoping I do better at the office than I do at home.
Wonnacott said his stores' "sales densities are building well" and have average weekly sales of $11 per square foot. "Our best stores are now running at more than $25 per square foot," he said.
Grocery analysts and Britain's Tesco PLC, Fresh and Easy's parent company, say a typical U.S. grocery store averages $9 to $10 in weekly sales per square foot during the first year of operations.
"I would say they are hitting the target," said Jim Hertel, managing partner at Willard Bishop, a food-retailing consulting firm in Chicago that has studied the small grocery trend in Phoenix.
Tesco also reiterated that its fresh food focused strategy and private label products have been well received by customers. Sales of fresh food and Fresh & Easy branded goods represent 60% and 72% of total sales respectively
One thing that did come out from the report is that Tesco owes a lot of people, including the Pundit, an apology.
TK: Being a dominant world retailer means never having to say you are sorry, so naysayers may never get their apology even if they were more right than wrong about Fresh & Easy.
Another COOL comment, this time arguing from the perspective of small producers in the Midwest. Cut out some reference to meat issues.
September 30, 2008
Country of Origin Labeling Program
Room 2607-S
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
USDA
STOP 0254
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250-0254
FROM: The Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
RE: Comments on the Agricultural Marketing Service interim final rules on Mandatory County of Origin Labeling of Beef, Pork, Chicken, Goat Meat, Perishable Agricultural Commodities, Peanuts, Pecans, Ginseng, and Macadamia Nuts published at 73 Fed. Reg. 45106-45149 (August 1, 2008).
The Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment (CFFE) is an action-oriented coalition that supports family farms, clean air and clean water, and works to stop government and agribusiness policies and practices that are detrimental to America’s family farmers, our rural communities, our public health, and our environment.CFFE and its member groups help family farmers and rural residents organize against corporations that use intimidation and the power of their capital to control communities and local governments. We want family farms, corporate-backed not factory farms, producing our food.
CFFE is made up of three statewide membership-based organizations: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Land Stewardship Project (MN), and MissouriRuralCrisis Center.CFFE also has individual members from across the country.
Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will allow consumers to know where their meat comes from, and would therefore give American family farmers an advantage in the market.COOL could also be used as a tool for independent producers to educate consumers about the importance of keeping family farmers on the land.CFFE strongly supports full and immediate implementation of COOL that closes unnecessary loopholes and protects and supports independent family farmers.
Exemptions to Labeling Requirements are Too Broad
There is also no justification for exempting as a “processed food item” covered commodities simply because they are mixed with other covered commodities. Broadly exempting all mixed vegetables and mixed fruits from the labeling requirements is excessive. Consumers will be angered by the fact that they will be able to identify the country of origin of a package of frozen strawberries and of a package of frozen blueberries, but they will not be able to determine the country of origin of a package of frozen mixed strawberries and blueberries. Consumers will expect that if frozen peas must be labeled and frozen carrots must be labeled, that a frozen mixture of peas and carrots would also be labeled.
The regulatory definition of “processed food item” should be changed to ensure that for meat products to be exempt from the labeling requirements they must be cooked, cured, smoked, or restructured and combined with another substantive food product. The revised regulatory definition should make clear that preservatives and spices are not substantive food items. In addition, the phrase “or that has been combined with at least one other covered commodity” should be eliminated from the regulatory definition to ensure that simply combining two covered commodities does not exempt them from labeling requirements.
Ensure Producer Record Requirements are Not Burdensome
The 2008 Farm Bill amendments to the country of origin labeling legislation demonstrate Congress’s intent to ensure that producers of covered commodities are not unreasonably burdened by demands from the buyers to produce records proving the country of origin of their commodities. For example, the law expressly accepts producer affidavits and animal health records as being sufficient to substantiate any country of origin claim in an audit. 7 U.S.C. Section 1638a(d)(2)(A). To ensure that buyers of covered commodities do not make unreasonable requests for information from producers that could be construed as unfair, unreasonably burdensome, or an effort to place undue pressure on the producer, the regulations should be amended to state clearly that “any burden on producers to produce evidence of country of origin of their commodities should be kept to the minimum necessary to substantiate the claim, recognizing animal health records or an affidavit from a person with first hand knowledge of the origin of the specific commodity involved in the transaction is sufficient for audit purposes.”
Remove No Private Right of Action Language
In its prefatory comments to the interim final regulations the agency states that allowing a private right of action to enforce the provisions of this legislation would frustrate the agency’s ability to enforce the law and, therefore, private parties should not be allowed to bring legal actions to enforce country of origin labeling requirements. It is true that the legislation gives the Secretary some authority to enforce the labeling requirements through notice, hearing, and imposition of small fines. However, the law does not expressly prohibit private rights of action for enforcement. Given the limited resources the agency will have to ensure proper enforcement of this law that applies to a vast amount of consumer food products, private action enforcement would compliment the agency’s efforts and may be necessary to ensure full compliance with the legislation. When Congress does not expressly establish a private right of action to enforce a law it is up to the courts to determine whether there is an implied cause of action for private parties to bring enforcement actions. Whether there is a private right of action is not left to the agency’s determination. In any subsequent Federal Register publications related to the country of origin labeling regulation the agency should withdraw its statements regarding private rights of action.
A shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions:onions from Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon and potatoes from Northwestern Washington.A slight shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions:potatoes from San Luis Valley Colorado, potatoes and onions from Columbia Basin Washington.A surplus of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: lettuce, mixed vegetables, strawberries and raspberries from Salinas-Watsonville, apple pears, grapes,nectarines, melons, peaches, peppers, plums and apples from San Joaquin Valley California,citrus, avocados, mangoes, and mixed vegetables from Mexico Crossings Through Texas and watermelons from Texas.North and East Points Colorado noted an adequate supply of flatbedtrucks and a shortage of refrigerated trucks.LAST REPORT was issued for cucumbers fromMichigan.FIRST REPORT was issued for sweet potatoes from Atwater Livingston California.All other districts reported an adequate supply of trucks.
