Posted by Amanda Clarke, April 24, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Last week, in the midst of an all-too-short, all-too-ambitious itinerary amongst various points in northern Italy, I managed to spend one full day wandering around stylish Milan, checking out stores, scouting for interesting kitchen and tableware. Though my abbreviated stay made it impossible to visit all of the promising shops on my list during business hours (which are generally much shorter in Italy than here, owing to the one- to three-hour midday prandial break, and, often, earlier closing hours), I did manage to make it to a few noteworthy establishments.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM
"4401": A four-digit code indicates conventionally grown items, here white-fleshed peaches.
Those pesky PLU code stickers that you have to peel off your fruit and vegetables do more than just convey prices to the cashier. If you know how to read them, says Marion Owen at PlanTea.com, they can tell you a thing or two.
Conventional produce gets a four-digit number.
Organic produce gets a five-digit number that starts with 9.
Genetically modified items also get a five-digit code, but that code starts with 8.
Examples
4139: Conventional Granny Smith apple
94139: Organic Granny Smith
84139: GMO Granny Smith
If you want a full list of PLU codes, hit up the International Federation for Produce Standards, where you can look up the look-up the look-up codes and find out even more info. For instance, some PLUs are restricted to items grown in certain regions. (4138, for instance, denotes a Granny Smith grown in East/Central North America.) But if you want to decode those at the store, you'd have some memorizin' to do. And if you're really into it, here's the IFPS's PLU Codes User Guide (pdf). [via Lekkercraft]
Posted by Robyn Lee, October 15, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Consumerist reports that new boxes of Honey Nut Cheeries are lighter and taller than older boxes but cost the same. The result is handing over $2.99 for 1.5 fewer ounces of honey-flavored Cheerio goodness in a box that is slighter, slimmer, and taller than before.
I can understand the effects of inflation, but if the box were to change, wouldn't it make sense to shrink it? I half expect trai_dep's comment to become reality: "I'm just waiting for a burst graphic on the boxes saying, 'New—TALLER!!' "
Photograph from Spying on the Streets on Flickr
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 24, 2007 at 1:30 PM
This week's Cook the Book feature highlights How to Pick a Peach
by Russ Parsons. With the disconnect between consumer and producer that's developed in recent years, Parsons says that basic skills shoppers once had—knowing what's in season when and how to choose the best fruit or vegetable on offer—have atrophied. His book, with its detailed rundown on everything from apples to winter squash, will make you a produce-aisle expert in no time.
As with all weekly Cook the Book features, we've got a number of copies to give away. Ten (10) winners will be chosen at random from among the commenters below. All you have to do is answer the following:
What's your favorite fruit or vegetable for 1.) cooking and 2.) eating raw?
The usual Serious Eats contest rules apply.
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 31, 2007 at 10:30 AM
U.S. health officials visit Beijing to talk food safety with Chinese government. This, after the recent string of tainted product scares. Officials on both sides want to devise ways to increase the flow of information about products and to come up with regulations that will govern production and transport. Meanwhile, Paris-based food chain Carrefour makes hay at locations in China by promoting itself as a safe alternative, with its in-store food-testing labs.
FDA food-safety officials give their own department's inspections a flunking grade. But, hey, they're working on it, people.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 18, 2007 at 11:20 AM
If you walked by a Whole Foods in New York City last night, you would've seen a long line of people waiting outside the closed storefront. If you walked by a Whole Foods in New York City early this morning, you would've still seen the long line of people, although this time huddled under umbrellas to protect themselves from a downpour.
What were they all waiting so diligently for? A bag. What kind of bag would only be sold at Whole Foods? Anya Hindmarch's $15 environmentally aware "I'm not a plastic bag" bag. As Hindmarch's tote bags tend to cost closer to $500 than $15, there's a bit more demand for her cloth tote bags sold at cost in order to raise awareness about the plastic bags we mindlessly throw away every year. It sells out in hours at any store it graces with its presence, nearly caused a riot in Hong Kong, and goes for hundreds of dollars on eBay.
As the New York Times says, "If you are reading this anytime after dawn on Wednesday, you are probably too late to make a fashion statement and simultaneously keep the world safe from plastic bags."
I guess I'll just have to stick with the cloth tote bag that I've been using for the past four years (whose purchase didn't require waiting outside a store overnight). It may not be as fashionable, but it does hold stuff, so I guess it gets the job done.
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 13, 2006 at 5:40 PM
Personal-finance blog Get Rich Slowly outlines the pros and cons of buying a side of beef straight from a local cattle rancher:
"... We try to grow as much of our own food as possible. But one thing we cannot grow is our own meat. We’ve discovered the next best thing, though: we buy beef in bulk from a local rancher. Every year, we pool our money with three other couples to purchase an animal when it’s ready to be slaughtered. In early December, we bring home about one hundred pounds of meat."
Complete with cost breakdowns on bulk beef vs. store-bought beef, the cuts typically available, and links to further resources.
