Consumer Reports: Roundup of supermarket rankings

Here a few Web links on Consumer Reports rating of supermarkets by the publication's readers....

13 steps to save on groceries Main Street

Read the flyers carefully
Three quarters of people we surveyed rely on weekly circulars to find out what's on sale. That helps explain why the mere mention of a product in a flyer can send sales soaring by as much as 500 percent, even without a price reduction. Manufacturers might have paid for placement in the ad. Don't assume featured products are on sale.

Wegmans is tops Buffalo News
Wegmans has topped yet another national list—this time as the best of 59 national and regional grocery chains, according to a survey by Consumer Reports magazine.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” said Wegmans spokeswoman Ann McCarthy.
Consumers were surveyed in such shopping criteria as service, perishables, price and cleanliness. Rochester-based Wegmans scored extremely well across each of those categories — except for price, which had a midrange rating — to snag the top spot. Its score, 87 out of a possible 100, reflects a highly “satisfying shopping experience,” according to the magazine.


Shoppers prefer smaller stores to Wal-Mart Reuters
Respondents said Trader Joe's, Costco, Market Basket, WinCo, Aldi Inc, and Supervalu Inc's Save-A-Lot had lower prices than peers, but were only "so-so" for perishables and service.
Wegmans and Whole Foods were better for meat and produce while Wegmans, Trader Joe's and Raley's earned high marks for service.
Wal-Mart, the chain where the highest percentage of survey respondents shopped -- 14 percent, landed near the bottom of the ratings, with low scores for service and perishables.

Ray Gilmer is back and remade in America

Ray Gilmer is back in the produce business, or at least in the business of produce associations. Look for coverage on The Packer news site on that story. Also, I hear that Kathy Means of PMA will soon unveil a blog...looking forward to that.

Thanks to Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Group who links to this New York Times series/blog called "Remade in America."

Luis asks:

Do we need foreign farm workers? do we need foreign hi-tech workers? Do we only want access to temp workers or to shape future citizens? A big discussion blog at the NYT.


From a discussion about low wage workers:


From Steven A. Camarota is the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit research organization

The first thing to note about workers in low-wage jobs that require relatively little education is that the overwhelming majority are born in the United States. For example, the 2007 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau showed that 65 percent of meatpackers, 68 percent of construction laborers, 73 percent of dishwashers and 74 percent of janitors were U.S.-born. Of course, the immigrant share (legal and illegal) of any occupation varies enormously from city to city. But it’s clear from this data that Americans are willing to do this work.
According to the January Current Population Survey, which measures unemployment, there are now 24 million adult native-born Americans (18 to 64 years of age) who have no education beyond high school who are either unemployed or not in the labor force, which means they are not even looking for work.
During the last few decades the share of these less-educated Americans who are working has been declining and their wages, adjusted for inflation, have been falling. At the same time, the number of immigrants in the low-wage labor market has grown drastically. While most economists think immigration has caused some of this deterioration in wages, there is debate about how much. But even before the recession, it was almost impossible to find any evidence of a labor shortage at the bottom of the economy. If there was, wages and employment rates should all be rising, the exact opposite of what’s been happening for a long time.
Given the severity of this economic downturn, the long-term decrease in wages and employment for the least educated will likely accelerate. Assuming the United States does not change its immigration policy during the recession, competition between native-born Americans and new immigrants will almost certainly intensify for low-wage jobs.
One million new legal immigrants are expected to settle in the country permanently this year. Most will try to find work and a very large share will join the low-wage labor market. Moreover, several hundred thousand unskilled foreign workers will be admitted on a temporary basis under the H2B visa program, which is for unskilled non-agricultural workers in seasonal jobs like landscaping and hospitality. In fact, Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, recently introduced legislation that could triple the size of that visa program above its current cap. As for illegal immigration, the evidence indicates it has fallen, but there are still an estimated six million to seven million illegal immigrant workers in the country, who are heavily concentrated in low-wage jobs.
The January Current Population Survey shows that the unemployment rate for less-educated immigrants is still somewhat better than for less-educated native-born Americans. But it is rising fast for immigrants and natives alike. As the employment picture deteriorates, we can expect more immigrants and native-born Americans to turn to the social safety net. The survey collected in 2007, before the recession, showed that 33 percent of immigrant-headed households had at least one person using a welfare program, mostly food assistance and Medicaid. This compares to 19 percent of households headed by native-born Americans. Welfare use can be expected to increase significantly for both groups.


From Gordon Hanson, a professor of economics and the director of the Center on Pacific Economies at the University of California, San Diego.

During the last two decades, immigrants have become a vital part of the low-skilled labor force in the United States. As of 2007, the foreign-born accounted for 48 percent of the supply of workers with less than a high school education.

Surprising as it might seem, the economic crisis is unlikely to change the situation by very much. Among the low-skilled, immigrants are much more likely than natives to be employed. At the height of the recent economic boom, the number of hours worked by the typical low-skilled immigrant was 56 percent greater than for the typical low-skilled native

Immigrants outcompete low-skilled natives for jobs because they are more motivated or because they are more productive. While the current depressed state of the United States economy is unlikely to attract many new immigrants to our shores, those who are already here will continue to be a mainstay in low-end employment.

CSPI: institute mandatory process controls for all nuts and peanuts

Sliding across the inbox today:


Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal
The latest recall of a popular nut—pistachios—is expanding to include all nuts processed by Setton Farms in 2008. This recall, coming on the heels of a peanut recall affecting over 2,000 products, is another blow to farmers, nut processors, and consumer confidence. It proves the Food and Drug Administration urgently needs to institute mandatory process controls for all tree nuts and peanuts. The FDA should immediately require processors to institute process controls that would ensure safe product. FDA is being proactive, initiating the recall and working with Setton Farms to get potentially harmful products off the market even before any illnesses have been reported. But the agency didn’t act fast enough to prevent the eight other outbreaks from peanuts or mixed nuts since 2001. The agency should not go company-by-company when it is clear that process controls are warranted for the nut industry overall. Other nut processors may be making the same mistakes that resulted in the Setton plant and the Peanut Corporation of America shipping millions of pounds of tainted nuts across the country. FDA officials say they intend to issue “guidance” to the pistachio industry, but this is an inadequate response. Guidance is voluntary; regulations are law. We can’t rely on industry honor systems to protect us. Without mandates and enforcement, Americans’ protection from food safety illnesses and future scares is paper thin.

Don't tread on us: Green party seeks amendment to food safety bills

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Group posts this story about the Green Party's quest for an amendment to food safety bills that would protect small growers. From the post

 

Green Party leaders voiced concerns about the "Food Safety Modernization Act" (HR 875 and S 425) and, while supporting the goal of food safety and farm inspections, urged amendments in the bill to protect small and family farms, farmers' markets, and organic farming. America needs national food safety guarantees in the age of genetic modification, misleading labeling, food-borne illnesses and contaminants, especially pesticides.  But the 'one size fits all' approach of the bills endangers family farms and local, organic agriculture.  Without amendments, the result of HR 875 and S 425 may
be the demise of small farms and organic agriculture, increased profits and the expansion of giant agri-businesses. This story from the Wilson Country News talks about the proliferation of food traceback bills in Congress.

 

Rather than crushing protocols and penalties, we call for regulation that ensures food safety by working with family farms, farmers markets, and similar small businesses and promotes the selling of locally, organically, and sustainably grown produce.

 

 

TK: It makes no sense to completely exclude small growers from traceback requirements and other basic food safety oversight. The idea of starting small is to get big, to pool supply, build distribution centers to serve larger buyers, etc. . It''s the American way. Better to comply with common sense traceback that would be applicable to all growers rather than try to stick to "corporate farmers."

 

Also from Luis:

 

FDA won't meet its deadline for food safety registry

 

More headlines snatched from the Web:

 

 

Roubini lashes out at Cramer AP

 

"Cramer is a buffoon," said Roubini, a New York University economics professor often called Dr. Doom. "He was one of those who called six times in a row for this bear market rally to be a bull market rally and he got it wrong. And after all this mess and Jon Stewart he should just shut up because he has no shame."

 

Double standard in pesticide ban Chemistry World

 

However, the process has thrown up an anomaly - several agents used in organic farming have made the cut, despite the fact that not all the necessary data were available. These include chemicals that are used to prevent mould, particularly in potatoes and grapes, and which are therefore essential in the production of organic wine. These fungicidal chemicals include several copper salts and Bordeaux mixture, a combination of copper sulfate and calcium hydroxide. 'The EU has given approval to copper salts on the basis of a dossier that I would consider to be pretty light in some areas, and where there are gaps in the data,' says Colin Ruscoe, chairman of the British Crop Production Council. The main problem with copper is environmental - it persists in the soil and can damage beneficial organisms. 'It seems unlikely to me that copper or copper-based compounds would pass the persistence requirements if the data were available,' he says. 'There are areas where livestock can't be fed on the land because it is so heavily contaminated through copper use over generations

 

 

Wegmans rated no. 1 by Consumer Reports AP

Wegmans fared particularly well for its customer service, its produce and its meats.

Students learn by growing their own veggies  Marconews.com

 

Washington state organic farm growth slows  Puget Sound Business Journal

 

In the state, there are an estimated 96,000 acres of farmland growing organic crops, according to the study conducted by the Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. That's up from about 81,000 in 2007 and 64,000 in 2006.Certified organic tree fruit acreage was the fastest-growing organic sector in the state, growing by 55 percent last year to nearly 17,000 acres. Washington leads the nation in organic apple, pear and cherry acreage.Grant County has the most organic acreage in the state, at more than 18,000 acres, followed by Benton County at about 13,000 acres and Yakima County at about 8,000 acres.

 

Six myths about organic food Seattle PI

MYTH #3: IT TASTES BETTER.
Nobody has been able to tell the difference except in one study of apples, where organics came out ahead. To get raspberries that taste raspberrier, buy produce that's locally grown, is in season, and hasn't been sitting on the shelf too long. Let's face it: Nothing is at its best when it's flown halfway around the world and waxed, then has to spend a week in the grocery store.

Merrigan criticized for organic ties Red Green and Blue

Senator Saxby Chambliss, the leading Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, expressed his concerns with Merrigan's organic associations:

I do have some concerns that in promoting your passion for organic production and sustainable agriculture that you tear down other types of agricultural production for those with different points of view.  Please keep a special place in your heart for organic production … but also other types of productions which give farmers more options.

 

How green shoppers navigate the grocery store How Green

TK: Ruffles have ridges....

 

But I'd be lying if I didn't say I longed for some of those preservative-laden goodies lining the store's interior—a bag of sour-cream-and-onion chips, some Keebler's cookies, a frozen mac-and-cheese dinner. Though I've been pretty diligent in the past year or so to stick to fresh foods, the siren's call emanating from those frozen pizza section (once a major vice) still tugs at me on occasion. Hopefully, the more I stick to healthy, fresh food, the more that will go away.