Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

"Everyone should just decide what they want to eat and leave everyone else to do the same."

Ummm, that would lead to a massive collapse of the earth's ability to sustain life and the starvation death of billions of people over the next century or so. I vote for the forced normalization of our consumption habits that prices in the true cost of petroleum. Gordon's approach might be ham handed but it's way better than doing nothing.

Everyone is going to have to get used to fact that the human race is going to need to make some RADICAL changes in how we eat, work, live and travel. This means you.

"What about products that just aren't available naturally in the UK, like chocolate or pistachios?"

Its statements like this that expose the fundamental lack of understanding of what we're up against.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind... - John Donne

the beans would be done in a pressure cooker in about 30 min.

Because of the franchises in grocery stores, I've seen two or three Starbucks shops in one parking lot. One in Target, one in Safeway, and one freestanding. Too much!!!! Why couldn't the extra free-standing Starbucks close? Instead, the corporation is closing the one at the truck stop 10 minutes away from town by the freeway. Now, I'll admit, when my husband and I are on a road trip, sometimes we need something caffeinated from Starbucks, and we'll stop if it's easy to see off the freeway.
S-bucks put one in right across from a mom and pop coffee shop. The mom and pop remains one of the main town hangouts.

If the loss of a Starbucks symbolizes the loss of a community then this society is in a sad and sorry state. I try to frequent the small mom& pop places first. I'll go to 7-11 for coffee before I'd walk into a Stabuck's.

@steveray: Olive Garden is one thing, but don't be hating on Walmart.

SamsClub & Walmart are vital to my survival. lol :)

Isn't Wal-Mart's plan similar? Expand, kill off the competition, and close the store since consumers can drive to the one 10 or 15 minutes further away. Repeat. I'm sure we'll see "save our Wal-Marts!" soon.

SBUX may be closing stores, but how many of those "community" SBUX stores killed off a pre-existing coffee shop? I mentioned that SBUX in Arlington - that store was the only place to hang out because it did kill off a small bar/coffee shop half a mile down the road. (Why, as teenagers, we were allowed to hang out in either place is now beyond me.)

Am I the only person who has good memories of sitting with my mom in the car and both of us reaching into the bag of fries as we drove home after a long day?

I don't eat McDonald's anymore, haven't for 7 years, but jeez, I do sometimes eat a protien bar or some grapes when I don't have time to have lunch.

But isn't the fun of eating fries in the car the sharing and the mixing up of the stuff in the bag as you ride home? A professional fry holder seems to fly in the face of such pleasure.