Green consumers: sustainability's science fiction - Greener package

Green consumers: sustainability's science fiction - Greener package

Green consumers and little green Martians have traits in common, other than their respective figurative and literal color descriptions. The two inspire science fiction, writing that combines imagination and speculation based on science. Sci-fi is harmless as entertainment, harmful as competitive strategy for consumer packaged goods.

The science alluded to vis-á-vis green consumers concerns sustainability: the measuring, projecting, and protecting of the planet's health. Sustainability is real—non-fiction, continuing the analogy; however, it doesn't necessarily follow that it has created a segment of consumers whose purchases are primarily driven by environmental-conscientiousness. Yet, the notion of the green consumer endures, like a serial character, described in chromatic shades (i.e. from dark to pastel). Martians can be segmented similarly, let's say, in reflection of the various ethnicities among that population. The point: segmentation is not proof of the existence of that which is being segmented.

Proof offered in the form of marketing research doesn't resolve the argument. Respondents have a motive for wanting to be regarded as environmentally-conscientious and will exaggerate what they are willing to sacrifice. And, if there are consumers willing to sacrifice mightily, they constitute such a minority, that they might as well be nonexistent, given the volumes necessary for most consumer packaged goods.

It's ill-advised for any CPGC to lose sight of the most fundamental characteristic of consumers: self-interest. Consumers buy first and foremost to satisfy needs. Those needs translate into product demands, that give rise to product features, which (companies hope) consumers perceive as benefits that satisfy their needs. Strategy should not run, well, alien to that sequence.

Companies, rather than expecting sustainability to supplant the consumers' needs-satisfaction motive, should incorporate sustainability as a product feature that provides a consumer benefit without sacrifice of quality, performance, convenience, and value (relative price). The strategic prowess of sustainability is as a tie-breaker. The product must, at least, be equal to the competition in the above-mentioned parameters, so that sustainability becomes the swaying variable.

From the same research that reveals that consumers exaggerate their environmental-conscientiousness, it can be inferred that consumers would welcome the ability to cast themselves positively but truthfully. Companies can make it painless for consumers to do that, through packaged products that provide sustainability as a bonus, not as the expected reason for the purchase. When that's done, the greenness of the consumers' strips becomes a nonissue.

What about green packaging?

Is it, also, the stuff of sci-fi, along the lines of, The Martian spaceship housed only a modest storage bay, thanks to advanced packaging technology that took source-reduction to heights unknown on Earth? No.

Green packaging is real and a logical spawn of the sustainability era. It's a natural source of a packaged product's green profile, regardless of whether the product component adds to that profile. A company, depending on its core consumer segment, might have reason not to alter the product component, electing instead to reserve formula (or related) changes for line-extensions or a new brand. Teaming that product with green packaging can make for an even more formidable offering.

Green packaging, however, is not as straightforward a concept as it's often made out to be. The term, green, should not be thought of as an absolute, as a destination reached, as is sometimes implied by suppliers and users, alike. Worse of all would be to think in the superlative: for, no type of packaging can justifiably be said to be the greenest. The very idea contradicts sustainability, which can be likened to certain algebraic concepts that regardless of the number of reiterations only approach zero but never reach it. When it comes to sustainability and all of its outgrowths (such as packaging), a serving philosophy is: When all is said and done, there remains more to say and do.

That philosophy is captured by thinking in terms of the comparative, that is to say, a greener package. At any given time, a company should be able to make the case that its present packaging is greener than its predecessors, and that the company is on the path toward packaging that is greener yet. That way, the company never rests on its sustainability laurels.

An important determination is by what means a company's green packaging is to be brought to the attention of the not-to-be-called-green consumer. There's the direct method, using the packaging, itself, as the medium, typically employing an eco-coined name. That's not always practical, however. An example is the elimination of a folding carton. It would seem impractical to announce on the bottle the obvious fact that there's no carton. In lieu, does the company rely on the consumer to notice the elimination and to regard the solo bottle as the more sustainable option? It begs a more fundamental question: does it matter? Another way to pose it is: must green packaging always be expected to result in incremental sales? Not necessarily.

The green supply chain

Since the green package is not sci-fi, neither is the green supply chain, since the resources utilized in the handling, transportation, and storage functions are so affected by packaging. Hence, packaging that is green and functional can generate cost savings and efficiencies that can make the CPGC less dependent on incremental sales. Assume a re-dimensioned primary package that's smaller and generates savings and efficiencies throughout the supply chain. Further assume that the revised packaging makes better utilization of shelf-space, endearing it to the retailer, and resulting in additional aisle-facings. Under that scenario, the CPGC is ahead, even if sales volume goes unchanged.

An additional benefit of not having to justify green packaging on sales volume (which reflects consumer reaction) is that the company is under less pressure to make the types of promotional claims that can expose it to charges of greenwashing.

Closing knowledge gaps about consumers

A company liberated from believing in green consumers nonetheless must decide how to regard consumers in the sustainability era. Much is yet to be learned, and the limitations of some forms of research should be acknowledged and new, broadened thinking employed.

Toward that end, companies need a set of principles to guide their efforts. One should be that sustainability involves mankind, as a species, and therefore, segmentation, which relies upon groupings based on perceived differences, should go beyond traditional applications. If not, results will skew toward niches, at the expense of mass-marketing opportunities. It cramps packaging graphics, for one thing, reflected in the multitude that incorporates the color green or an earth-tone. Blending in with surrounding products is the opposite of the shelf-impact that packaging is supposed to bestow. Sustainability needs to be presented in a more mainstream fashion.

On another note, concepts need to be expanded. A case in point is competition, conventionally regarded as what's provided by companies making like products or substitutable ones. But, energy-saving replacement windows can be competition to a seemly unrelated product, if the consumer regards the windows (or hybrid, florescent bulbs, sorting the trash, etc.) as license to be less environmentally-conscientious in other aspects of her life. Is there a consumer version of energy credits? And, if so, to what extent is it practiced? CPGC's need those answers and more to maximize the strategic potential of sustainability. Packaging professionals have an inherent interest because they must reflect those answers in structural and graphic forms.

But, to those companies still determined to base the development of product and package on a believed green consumer, here's some advice: an appropriate test market might be Roswell.

Sterling Anthony is a consultant, specializing in the strategic use of marketing, logistics, and packaging. His contact information is: 100 Renaissance Center-176, Detroit, MI 48243; 313-531-1875 office; 313-531-1972 fax; sterlinganthony1@sbcglobal.net.

Independently Owned Ethnic Restaurants Have More Food Safety Violations, Kansas Researchers Find - Science Daily

Independently Owned Ethnic Restaurants Have More Food Safety Violations, Kansas Researchers Find - Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2010) — Diners who are skeptical of the food safety practices in ethnic restaurants have new research to back up some of their assumptions.

In a study of independently owned restaurants in 14 Kansas counties, Kansas State University researchers found a significantly higher number of food safety violations in ethnic restaurants than in non-ethnic restaurants. The next step for their research is to understand the reasons for these differences and to work alongside restaurant operators to remedy the problems.

Leading the study were Junehee Kwon, associate professor, and Kevin Roberts, assistant professor, both of the department of hospitality management and dietetics. They found that independently owned ethnic restaurants had significantly more violations for several food safety categories, including time and temperature control, hand washing and proper use of utensils. The independent ethnic restaurants in the study also had more inspections than their nonethnic counterparts. Kwon said many of those repeat visits were driven by customer complaints.

The research will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Food Protection Trends. Co-authors are Carol Shanklin, dean of the K-State Graduate School, and Pei Liu and Wen S.F. Yen, doctoral students in human ecology.

Because independent operations don't have the support of a corporate office that sets policies and organizes food safety training programs, the researchers would like to see their studies help independently-owned ethnic restaurants improve their food handling and, eventually, food safety records.

Underscoring the importance of this study, Kwon said U.S. census data indicate that restaurants are one of the most common businesses for immigrants to start.

"There are some challenges to ethnic restaurants," Kwon said. "We can't tell what they are yet. We don't know what operators know and think about opening a restaurant in the United States and following the regulations. It's likely they have different perceptions of the risk of inadequate food safety, as well as the language barrier."

Roberts and colleagues are pursuing funding to study the barriers that keep employees from understanding and practicing food safety techniques. His co-principal investigators are Kwon and Kevin Sauer, assistant professor in the department of hospitality management and dietetics.

"What we want to do with the new project, should it be funded, is to look at whether it is a cultural thing and learn what we can do in food training programs," Roberts said. "Now, programs only deal with knowledge, but it doesn't persuade people to change their behaviors."

Kwon said she looks forward to working with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Dallas and hopes to collaborate with Hispanic Chambers of Commerce in Kansas locations to reach more restaurant owners and employees. She said collaborating with owners on research can be difficult because of skepticism that some immigrants have about government involvement in their businesses.

To understand different food safety perceptions among foreign nationalities, Roberts and a graduate student are pursuing research that will ask international students at K-State about their countries' cultural norms and food safety attitudes.

Bill Clinton Back to Work, Combating Childhood Obesity - NBC New York

Bill Clinton Back to Work, Combating Childhood Obesity - NBC New York


Chris Hondros/Staff

Just days after undergoing surgery to unclog a blocked artery, former president Bill Clinton is officially back to work -- speaking out against childhood obesity.

Today, Clinton held a press conference about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation.

"Its a good time for me to talk about because everybody knows that I went to the doctor last week for a little tune-up on my heart bypass surgery which occurred in 2004," he said.

Last Thursday, Clinton was taken to New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center to have two stents implanted to prop open the partially blocked artery.

“The root cause of this was habits that I acquired in my childhood,” he said, opening the talk about childhood obesity.

Clinton also commended Michelle Obama on her recently launched “Let’s Move” campaign to combat childhood obesity, saying he wants “to wait and see” what she does because she could be more relatable to children than he would be.

The First Lady’s initiative is focused on improving the nutrition of school meals, promoting exercise, helping people make healthier choices, and providing healthy affordable food.

Clinton and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation seeks to carry out these same goals to help children reverse the unhealthy effects of obesity.

“It’s not just about buying smaller clothes, it’s about what's going on inside your body that people cannot see,” he said.

In response to suggestions that he slow down following his surgery, Clinton said he has started to take better care of himself by getting more sleep and exercising daily, but he remains committed to working as hard as he can.

Speaking in Harlem, Clinton said he would like to see his healthy kids campaign spread to every school district, “so that people like me four years from now, don’t have to stand in front of crowds like you and explain why they had to have their heart fixed.”

N.J.’s Christie Won’t Shut State’s Agriculture Agency - Business Week

N.J.’s Christie Won’t Shut State’s Agriculture Agency - Business Week

By Stacie Servetah

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he won’t follow his predecessor’s idea of eliminating the state’s agriculture department to help balance the budget.

“The Garden State is not going to do without a secretary of agriculture,” Christie, a Republican who took office Jan. 19, said in a Bloomberg radio interview today.

Christie, who ousted Democrat Jon Corzine in the November election, faces an $11 billion deficit in the fiscal year starting July 1. Corzine proposed eliminating the agriculture department in 2008 to help close a budget deficit. He abandoned the idea after objections from farmers and lawmakers.

Christie said he’ll cut spending across all departments and won’t raise taxes when he presents a budget next month.

“We have gone down the road in the last decade of higher and higher taxes,” Christie said. “That has not worked. We need to try a new direction, and that new direction is going to be smaller government, less spending and lower taxes.”

The governor and his pick for education commissioner, Bret Schundler, said they told school districts to budget for a 15 percent cut in state aid next year. Christie later told reporters that his administration will work with local officials to ensure the school-aid cuts don’t result in credit-rating downgrades.

Contract Leverage

Christie said he plans to push for legislation that would give school districts more leverage in contract negotiations to save money on salaries and pensions, and require teachers to contribute to the cost of health insurance.

The governor’s plan to freeze $1.6 billion in spending, including $475 million in scheduled school-aid payments, to balance the current state budget drew criticism from educators at a hearing called by Assembly Democrats in Trenton today.

Officials from Cherry Hill, the state’s 12th largest school district, said Christie’s plans would prompt higher property taxes or increased class sizes, and eliminate 173 of 1,700 jobs.

Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Budget Committee, proposed using part of the state’s $500 million surplus before cutting aid and essential social programs.

Christie called the hearing a “parade of horribles” assembled to sway public opinion. He challenged Democrats in the Legislature to pass an alternative package of cuts.

‘Day of Reckoning’

“The day of reckoning is here,” Christie said. “If we continue to push this off, it’s only going to get worse.”

Last year, Corzine signed a $29 billion budget that included a one-year increase in the income-tax rate for residents earning more than $400,000. That surcharge expired Dec. 31, and Christie said he won’t renew it.

He also said he’ll deal with the finances of the state’s Transportation Trust Fund after a budget for the coming fiscal year is approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. The fund, which finances the state’s road, bridge and transit projects, will run out of money to pay for anything other than debt service by mid-2011.

“I have to put the TTF on the back burner,” Christie said. “I’ll worry about July 2011 starting in July of 2010.”

When asked whether he’d consider selling state assets to deal with the deficit, Christie said, “All that will be on the table.”

“Stay tuned for March 16 and my budget address,” Christie said. “We just got through fixing the mess that Governor Corzine left us with for fiscal year 2010. Now we’re beginning earnest work on fiscal ‘11.”

--With assistance from Terrence Dopp and Dunstan McNichol in Trenton, New Jersey, and Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt in New York. Editors: Pete Young, Walid el-Gabry

To contact the reporter on this story: Stacie Servetah in Trenton, New Jersey, at +1-609-394-0736 or sbabula@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at +1-212-617-1962 or mtannen@bloomberg.net

Editorial: Chew on this - Philly.com

Editorial: Chew on this - Philly.com

According to the latest statistics, roughly one of every three children between the ages of 6 and 19 is overweight or obese. That's a recipe for a looming national disaster that must be addressed before it's too late.

Many of these children will suffer later in life from obesity-related problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Many will die at a younger age than their parents.

Recognizing this, first lady Michelle Obama turned a much- needed national spotlight on the problem last week with the unveiling of an ambitious plan to combat childhood obesity. The campaign, known as "Let's Move," seeks to end childhood obesity within the next generation.

The four-pronged plan will try to help parents make better food choices, ensure that healthier food is served in schools, make healthy and affordable food more available, and encourage children to get more exercise.

National business leaders and health advocates have joined the campaign, and President Obama has created a task force to develop other recommendations.

Congress can do its part when it takes up reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which provides funding for school breakfast and lunch programs. The Department of Agriculture wants the law to include higher nutritional standards for school food.

Experts believe a healthier school environment would help keep children on track nutritionally. Most consume half of their daily calories at school. Many aren't getting recommended levels of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.

Larger government subsidies would allow school districts such as Philadelphia's to provide meals to more students. But the schools can also help more students by using the Let's Move model to serve more nutritious meals and eliminate junk food and sodas from vending machines. Children also need more physical activity.

Of course, an effective response to childhood obesity should begin in the home. American adults have struggled with obesity for years; now their children are following in their footsteps. Schools can help, but parents must provide children with better meal choices, and encourage them to be physically fit.

Number of problem banks up 657% since 2007

Number of problem banks up 657% since 2007 - Orange County Register
February 17th, 2010, 5:00 am · Post a Comment · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

There was more than a sixfold increase in the number of U.S. financial institutions identified as problem banks in the past two years.

And banking regulators have strongly signaled to expect more problem banks and failed banks, says Tom Timmons of Timmons Co. in Rancho Santa Margarita, who has more than 30 years’ experience with troubled banks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has its official list of problem banks but it won’t publish the names. However business interests can compile unofficial lists from lists of enforcement actions by the Federal Reserve Bank, Office of Thrift Supervision and Comptroller of the Currency.

“The lists are probably almost identical but you can’t prove it because the FDIC won’t release its list,” Timmons says.

In 2007, the FDIC officially designated 76 banks as problems. At the end of the third quarter 2009, the official list had grown to 552 (the FDIC’s full 2009 data will be released in March).

The unofficial list for all of 2009 is 575 banks.

Not every problem bank fails, but a lot do. In 2008, 25 banks failed, a third the number of problem banks in 2007. In 2009, 140 banks failed, half the number of 2008 problem banks.

Timmons says in his client newsletter:

“FDIC Chairman (Shela) Blair noted that the 54% increase in the 2010 FDIC budget is necessary to prepare for an even larger number of bank failures and to provide regulatory oversight for a larger number of troubled banks. Additionally, the FDIC staff will increase by 23% to more than 8,650 employees in 2010.”

He adds, “It seems certain that there will be more bank failures and probable that there will be more enforcement actions in 2010 than there were in 2009.”

Troubled commercial real estate will be a key factor in that expansion, Timmons says.

Staffing up to deal with bank problems is at odds with a joint statement issued Feb. 5, by the FDIC and Federal Reserve encouraging banks to make more small-business loans.

Banks “should not automatically refuse credit to sound borrowers because of a borrower’s particular industry or geographic location,” the statement said.

Timmons says, “Federal regulators come out with statements like that that don’t translate into reality.”

Banks are in trouble and “there’s no quick fix coming,” Timmons says. “It’s two, three years out. This is the most difficult time I have ever seen.

Administration pushed to expand mortgage relief

Administration pushed to expand mortgage relief

The Obama administration is facing increasing pressure from lawmakers and housing advocates to retool its troubled mortgage relief program a year after its debut as the housing crisis continues to deepen and spreads to more creditworthy borrowers.

The $75 billion program pays lenders to modify the mortgages of troubled borrowers, typically lowering their payments by about $500 a month.

But so far, fewer than 200,000 borrowers have received a permanent change to their loans, according to Treasury Department data released Wednesday, a small fraction of the 3 to 4 million borrowers who government regulators initially said the program could help before it expires in 2012. That may not bode well for efforts to stabilize the housing market. Credit Suisse has estimated that 3.2 million foreclosures would have to be prevented this year for home prices to rise modestly.

"Clearly the numbers that were discussed by the administration set up an expectation that just don't deal with the reality we're in," said John Courson, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Administration officials have acknowledged that the program, known as Making Home Affordable, got off to a slow start and has yet to reach its full potential. Many lenders didn't begin enrolling borrowers until last summer, months after the program was launched. By then, the primary cause of foreclosures had shifted from the risky mortgages that helped spur the financial crisis to rising unemployment. The latter is tougher to address because jobless borrowers often have little money with which to pay any type of home loan.

Through January, nearly a million borrowers had gotten at least some reduction in their mortgage payments as part of the program, but more than three-quarters have yet to win a permanent modification and must still prove they qualify, according to Treasury data. The program "is doing the job it was designed to do, Phyllis Caldwell, chief of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, said in a statement. "Struggling families are receiving payment relief and the housing market is showing signs of stabilization."

The unemployment factor

But the administration is facing demands to expand the program to help more unemployed borrowers, or to lower the loan balance of underwater borrowers -- those who owe more than their home is worth. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has launched an investigation into the program. "While I applaud Treasury's efforts, numerous concerns have been brought to my attention regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the MHA program and the extent to which it has assisted struggling homeowners," he wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner earlier this month.

More than half of those who have received mortgage relief so far have said they needed it because they've lost their jobs or had their income drop for some other reason. But many unemployed borrowers can't qualify for help because they don't have enough income. Housing advocates argue that some of the billions of dollars set aside for the loan modification program should be diverted into short-term loans for these borrowers.

And underwater borrowers who have little chance of recouping the lost value of their homes need a more generous program, housing advocates say.

Changes to the program are possible, administration officials have said, but it is unclear how extensive they will be.

No appeals process

Another challenge for borrowers is that the program lacks a formal appeals process for those denied relief, leaving homeowners largely to work out problems on their own.

That has been the challenge for Alice Valentine, a Southeast Washington homeowner who had a decrease in income after a work-related injury. When she first sought a loan modification from Bank of America, she was told she qualified, Valentine said. But the promised forms she needed to fill out never arrived, she said.

"I never received anything in writing from them except for threatening letters," Valentine said. "I have been getting nothing but the runaround."

So she wrote to the White House instead. President Obama responded, offering encouragement. "The road ahead is difficult, but if we move forward resolutely, then I am confident we will overcome this crisis," Obama wrote.

A Bank of America spokeswoman said the bank is following the program's guidelines. "We apologize if there was any miscommunication. We would like to reevaluate her eligibility once her financial situation improves," said spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens.

The program encourages lenders to modify mortgages by offering them a series of incentive payments. But these payments may not be enough to shift the financial calculations made by lenders before offering mortgage relief. "It is clear the incentives being paid are nowhere close to reimbursing the servicers for the cost and expenses that they are devoting to modifications," said Courson of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

'Set up to fail'

Some lenders have sold the loans they made to investors under contracts that restrict modifications. In addition, about 600,000 delinquent borrowers potentially eligible for the program can't apply because their servicers have not signed up, according to Treasury data.

When Yvonne Gipson, 69, applied for relief on the loan for her Annapolis home last year, she was told by her mortgage servicer, PNC, that her loan had been bundled into a security with other loans by Goldman Sachs, she recounted. PNC informed her that the rules governing that security did not allow the loans to be modified, she said.

Instead, wanting to see her catch up, PNC suggested it could raise her monthly payments. The new payments would consume 66 percent of her income, more than double what would be offered under the federal program. "I was being set up to fail," she said. "I am trying to do the right thing. I find the whole thing devastating."

PNC declined to comment and Goldman Sachs said the loan can be modified.

Despite its slow start, the federal program has established industry standards for the types of loan modifications borrowers should receive. So far, borrowers who receive loan modifications under the program are less likely to re-default than those who get help under other mortgage relief programs. About 25 percent of borrowers in the program were delinquent on their new lower payments, according to the Treasury Department, while about half of borrowers in other mortgage relief efforts fall behind again.

But more borrowers in the federal program could re-default later. More than 60,000 of the borrowers who initially enrolled in the program have already failed out.

Part of the problem is that the financial burden on many borrowers extends beyond their primary mortgage to other types of debt. The federal program focuses only on lowering the payments on a primary mortgage to affordable levels, or about 31 percent of income. But even after a modification, many borrowers still have high levels of debt, and federal regulators also want to bring down the payments for second loans, such as home-equity lines. Since announcing the expansion of the program to second liens last April, just one lender, Bank of America, has signed up.

Local support, concern for childhood obesity plan News Herald

Local support, concern for childhood obesity plan News Herald

Marilyn McSween grew up on Mayfield’s Fruitland Avenue back when it was full of apple orchards. Her parents raised her to can food from her own garden and considered meal preparation an art, a science and a social event.

“These values are part of an innate and learned intuition that is passed on from generation to generation,” said her son, Robert, “unless popular culture overrides, changing the environment.”

Marilyn died in 2000. But in today’s culture of soft drinks, video games and inactivity where obesity affects one in three kids, Robert believes his mom would have been thrilled to hear First Lady Michelle Obama unveil her national “Let’s Move” campaign last week.

He bases this on his mom’s own efforts, clearly ahead of their time in the 1970s, to create a student nutrition task force at Richmond Heights Schools.

“I think I was in seventh or eighth grade when that happened, so I wasn’t really part of the adult conversation,” said Robert. “But I remember them talking about it and everybody was up in arms over the pop machines and candy, and then all of a sudden there appeared the vending machines dispensing apples, oranges, pears and sunflower seeds, and that’s what we all bought.

“The kids bought all the fruit when it was made available.”

In her first high-profile policy role, Michelle Obama pledged Feb. 9 to work with government, medicine, science, business, education and athletics to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation.

The four-pronged approach, kicked off by the establishment of a Task Force on Childhood Obesity, includes partnership with athletes from a dozen professional leagues, the Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal and Viacom to better educate parents and children; a $10 billion investment to fund legislation for national school nutrition standards; a $400 million investment to bring grocery stores to underserved areas and help places like convenient stores carry healthier options; and community-wide initiatives to get kids more exercise each day.

Kelly Minnick, Riverside Schools’ director of nutrition services, works actively with the School Nutrition Association and applauds the national spotlight.

Minnick said the lack of national school nutrition standards discourages food manufacturers from spending as much as $100,000 to reformulate one food product for better nutrition — and the more bad options there are, the more power they have over kids’ choices.

Among the products she’s worked to get into Riverside Schools meanwhile are locally grown apples and baked, organic Hippie Chips made by Rock-n-Roll Gourmet. Marketed toward teens with cool packaging, fun flavors and unique chip shapes, they pack only 90 calories a bag, she said.

“I had to find someone who would bring it in for us, but kids are buying it,” she said. “A lot of foods affordable to us are processed; anything else has to be something the kids are going to buy and then re-buy if they like it.”

Programs like Fit for Fifteen, which gives Willoughby’s Longfellow Elementary students 15 minutes of exercise each morning, will be used as models in the First Lady’s campaign. Principal Ruth Ann Plate said the program, now in its second school year, produces more focused learning and health-conscious students. Some have even lost weight and kept it off.

“I think it’s become very much an integral part of our school life here at Longfellow,” she said. “All of our students feel a little blah without having had that workout in the morning; it’s fitness as a lifestyle change as opposed to an exercise program or a diet, really a commitment to better, healthier living.”

Of course marketing is everything, added Leslie Skinner, Kirtland Schools’ director of food service. Removing sugary, salty, fatty foods from cafeterias in an outright fight against obesity might not appeal to kids, but pegging it as a challenge or game might.

“We do use whole grain products, we incorporate dark green vegetables into our salads, we use low-fat cheeses, we serve fresh fruits, but we don’t advertise that,” she said. “I don’t put on the menu, ‘Look, kids, we’re having whole grain pancakes today — your pizza crust is made with whole grain,’ because I think kids shy away from that stuff. But products with good taste and eye appeal, they’ll accept them.”

Understanding something is the first step toward improving it, many local voices agree.

However, Newbury Schools Superintendent Richard Wagner can’t help fearing unfunded mandates for his 650-student district, and three-fourths of “Let’s Move” seems aimed at schools — many of which have already eliminated things like fried foods, slushies, ice cream days and high-fat snack foods.

“If I do my calculations correctly, if kids ate lunch here every day and bought it from the school, they’d have 178 lunches, but they eat 1,095 meals a year,” he said. “We have them for 16 percent of their meals, so I don’t know how making schools responsible for obesity makes sense. Of course we want kids to be exercised more, go out and play, to have healthy eating habits, but I’m not sure we can even have a major share in that piece.

Cutting back on fried foods, slushies, ice cream days and high-fat snacks have also resulted in fewer lunch sales, he said, forcing the district to transfer $58,000 from its general fund to balance its cafeteria budget last fiscal year.

He said other county schools have even higher numbers — $170,000 in West Geauga, $160,000 in Chardon, $97,000 in Cardinal, $95,000 in Berkshire.

“We’ve certainly made health foods more available, but I’ll tell you what: if schools start selling brussel sprouts and asparagus in lunch lines, the lines aren’t going to be very long,” he said.

Confronting childhood obesity on a psychological level — without stigmatizing heavier or fuller-formed children among their peers, for instance — will also be critical, said Mentor Schools’ school social worker Christie Graf. It’ll take more than fresh foods to work through personal roadblocks to fitness.

“I really view eating as a boundary issue, learning what their limits are, and some kids use it to cope,” Graf said. “We have to provide wrap-around services: you look at the psychological, the mental, the emotional and the physical aspects. If you don’t do that, you’re going to miss something.”

Wash. gov seeks $605M in higher taxes for deficit - Business Week

Wash. gov seeks $605M in higher taxes for deficit - Business Week

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wants a total of $605 million in higher taxes to help fill the state's budget deficit, including larger levies on oil products, bottled water, pop, candy and cigarettes.

Gregoire's tax plan, released Wednesday afternoon, is an opening bid in the public debate over hiking taxes amid a fragile economic recovery. The Legislature's majority Democrats are planning to raise taxes and cut spending to solve the $2.8 billion budget gap, but haven't yet revealed detailed plans.

"The task ahead may appear daunting, but I believe we can work together to get the job done," Gregoire said in a letter to top legislators.

Gregoire's plan is centered around some $493 million in tax increases, including a near-tripling of the tax rate on oil products and other pollutants.

Raising that existing pollution tax from 0.7 to 2 percent would generate about $148 million for state programs, according to Gregoire's projections.

Environmentalists and organized labor have been pushing that tax increase as a key budget solution, but the idea is opposed by oil refiners, business groups and some key transportation leaders.

Gregoire also would raise about $135 million from a penny-per-ounce tax on bottled water; a nickel-per-can tax on pop, worth about $96 million; a $1-per-pack cigarette tax, raising about $89 million; and extension of the sales tax to candy and gum, for about $28 million.

The money would be used to help preserve state programs that otherwise would be cut, including the Basic Health Plan, the General Assistance welfare program for the disabled, and subsidies for rural school districts.

In her letter to lawmakers, the second-term Democrat said her first priority was to seek tax sources that wouldn't handcuff the economic recovery.

The state's chief economist recently reported encouraging signs of economic improvement, but also warned of lingering risks among regional banks, construction employment and consumer spending. Washington's December unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, the highest in 25 years.

Gregoire's tax plan also includes the closing of some tax exemptions and legal changes spurred by the state's loss in recent court cases that challenged tax collections.

She had previously suggested some of those proposals, including an estimated $73 million plan to raise taxes on out-of-state businesses by rewriting a part of the business tax code.

As a practical matter no taxes can be raised until lawmakers suspend Initiative 960, a 2007 law that imposed a difficult-to-reach requirement that tax increases get support from two-thirds of the state Legislature. Democrats are in the middle of revising I-960, but their effort has been bottled up by missteps and rowdy delays from an energized Republican minority.

Winn-Dixie 2Q profit falls but beats Wall Street - AP

Winn-Dixie 2Q profit falls but beats Wall Street - AP
Winn-Dixie Stores fiscal 2nd-quarter profit drops but still beats Wall Street's expectations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. reported late Tuesday its fiscal second-quarter profit tumbled from a year-ago period boosted by an insurance settlement, but its results still beat Wall Street's expectations.

The grocery store operator's shares gained 84 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $10.31 in afternoon trading Wednesday. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $8.01 to $16.

For the quarter ended Jan. 6, Winn-Dixie's quarterly earnings slid 87 percent to $2.1 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $16.1 million, or 30 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Results in the year-ago period included a gain of $22.4 million, or 25 cents per share, from an insurance settlement.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates usually exclude one-time items, expected a loss of 16 cents per share.

Sales slipped 3 percent to $2.18 billion from $2.25 billion, hurt by six store closings and the absence of some storm-related sales. Sales met analyst estimates.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.9 percent. The metric is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth from existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Perry, other Texas leaders sue EPA over finding on greenhouse gases - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Perry, other Texas leaders sue EPA over finding on greenhouse gases - Fort Worth Star Telegram

AUSTIN -- Escalating an attack on the Obama administration's environmental policies, Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the EPA's 2-month-old finding that greenhouse gases significantly endanger public health.

Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples announced the lawsuit at a joint news conference, contending that the declaration is based on bogus conclusions and could cause billions of dollars in economic damage to Texas.

"The EPA's misguided plan paints a big target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers and the hundreds of thousands of Texans they employ," Perry said.

But EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz defended the policy, which is expected to result in more vigorous enforcement of clean-air standards.

Texas' '35 percent'

"Today's action is not surprising," said Armendariz, who has criticized the state's regulation of industrial polluters. "Texas has been on the record in opposing the EPA's common-sense approach to begin reducing harmful greenhouse gases.

"Texas contributes up to 35 percent of the industrial greenhouse gases in the United States," he said. "I believe Texas should be leading the way, not fighting with unnecessary litigation."

Armendariz said he is confident that the finding "will withstand legal challenge."

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry's leading challenger in the three-way Republican race for the gubernatorial nomination, also released a statement condemning the EPA policy, saying it will "lead to disaster for the Texas economy."

Hutchison and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are co-sponsoring a resolution denouncing the EPA's efforts to regulate greenhouse gases.

Environmentalists critical

Environmental groups asserted that Perry and the other leaders are ignoring scientific evidence about the dangers of greenhouse gases.

Austin leaders of Public Citizen and the Sierra Club went to Perry's second-floor office in the state Capitol to serve him with a symbolic "citizen citation" demanding that the governor "cease and desist endangering the health of breathers, the economy and the climate in Texas."

"This morning, Gov. Perry attempted to show Texas voters that he is bigger than both Texas and federal law," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office.

The suit was filed in Washington in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The state also announced a "petition for reconsideration" with the Environmental Protection Agency, calling on EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to review the policy.

Abbott said other states may file similar lawsuits. At least 16 states and New York City have intervened in favor of the EPA's stance.

The EPA declared in December that carbon dioxide emissions constitute a threat to public health, opening the door to further regulation to control greenhouse gases. The policy could have far-reaching effects in Texas, which produces more carbon dioxide than any other state.


Texas' large carbon footprint comes from emissions generated by millions of vehicles -- many of them in the state's five biggest metropolitan regions -- as well as from the petrochemical plants, refineries and other heavy industries along the Gulf Coast.

'Flawed' decision

Perry told Jackson in a letter shortly after the ruling that her agency's mandate is based on distorted scientific claims and could wither jobs and the economy.

In their 38-page legal petition, the state officials said the Dec. 15 "Endangerment Finding" will lead to "unprecedented bureaucratic licensing and regulatory burdens on farmers, ranchers, small businesses, hospitals and even schools."

Abbott said the finding is legally unsupported because of the agency's reliance on the International Panel on Climate Change, which has been accused of basing its findings on discredited research and false claims.

"Despite the Endangerment Finding's remarkably broad impact, EPA's Administrator relied on a fundamentally flawed and legally unsupported methodology to reach her decision," the petition stated.

Critics have contended that intercepted e-mails from British scientists suggest that data were distorted to overstate the dangers of global warming.

"The EPA should not blindly accept what the world has begun to second-guess," Abbott said.

The Associated Press, in a recent investigative report, said the 1,073 e-mails stolen from climate scientists showed that they discussed hiding data and stonewalled skeptics, but the e-mails did not support claims that global warming theories are faked.

Dallas-Fort Worth has struggled for years with an ozone pollution problem linked to automobile traffic and industries.