The Coffee House

[smoke665]

. Buy handmade cheese from local farmers seems just right for me.

Frank I think part of the difference lies in the way most people in the US buy groceries. We have farmers markets scattered around and we try to buy from them when possible, but it's difficult. Usually they are only open on certain days, or for certain times, while the supermarkets are open pretty much 24/7. At least in our area there is a movement among the supermarkets to carry more locally grown produce.

 

[limr33 2]

. Buy handmade cheese from local farmers seems just right for me.

Frank I think part of the difference lies in the way most people in the US buy groceries. We have farmers markets scattered around and we try to buy from them when possible, but it's difficult. Usually they are only open on certain days, or for certain times, while the supermarkets are open pretty much 24/7. At least in our area there is a movement among the supermarkets to carry more locally grown produce.

And to piggy back on this - not all grocery stores are the same. There are regional chains that offer pretty fresh, local produce but other national chains are less likely to have locally-sourced food. If I want to buy corn on the cob, for example, by a certain time in the corn season, a lot of the smaller stores will have NY corn, but larger chains will have corn from other places in the country. In addition, there are a lot of farm stands within driving distance where I can buy corn that was probably picked that morning. Other local produce might only be sold at weekend farmers' markets, though.

There are just so many variables that depend on where a person lives that it's hard to generalize about what is or isn't available, or what is or isn't regularly consumed.

I'm lucky - I live not too far from where NYS farming country starts, so there are decent options for fresh, local food; I also have a car and can actually get to the farmers' markets or better grocery stores; I am only feeding myself and I have enough income to afford to be (relatively) picky about my vegetables and dairy products (if I am going to risk stomach upset by having dairy, then it is going to be GOOD dairy!)

Others, as seen in the food desert map, aren't so lucky.

 

[SquarePeg39 1]

Our church had a back to school basketball camp. We handed out 350 backpacks filled with school supplies. Walgreens donated all the supplies. We bought the backpacks. They went like hot cakes. Parents were very happy. They were jam packed too. Walgreens really stepped up.

I heartily support these kinds of community efforts. The parents of these kids shop at these stores all year long - it's a drop in the bucket for them to give back to the community, and no doubt already written into the annual budget.

For locals who just donate because they care, your good deeds don't go unnoticed.

I remember one year buying school supplies at Staples and the tab was almost $100 (this from a list provided by the school). When I was paying I made a comment about the cost to my bf and the cashier (a teenager) chimed in with "my brother's school just gave him a new backpack with everything he needs in it already". I found out that they live in a city nearby where most families are struggling to stay afloat. There aren't many in our town who don't have everything they need and more so my initial annoyance was just reflex.

The price of kids' shoes makes me sick. We typically only shop at outlets, so we can get sneakers for a reasonable price (25-30$). But...for my daughter's summer/fall shoes, we ended up splurging on a pair of Keens. They let her foot breath while still being safe. But damn...$55 for a pair of shoes that can fit in my hand. The good news is that we have a pretty solid sharing network set-up. We had the first girl in our group of friends, but our next will be the third boy. So we have all sorts of awesome hand-mes for the new baby, including shoes that should last us for the next couple of years.

$55 for a pair of shoes that will fit her for only a few months? Yikes! As the mother of the only girl in our family (no hand-me-downs available!), I highly recommend cheaping out on everything but winter coats and snow boots until she stops growing. They grow so fast that you'll be giving away clothes and shoes that were only worn once or still have the tags on. It only gets worse and so much more expensive as they get older. I remember when all the girls at my daughter's school were wearing Uggs in 2nd grade. I thought it was insane to pay $100 for boots that will only fit for one season - if that! We bought $30 Target brand Uggs and they were fine and she never knew the difference.

Princess has pretty much stopped growing at this point so she got a couple of expensive pairs of boots last winter (Timberlands and LL Bean duck boots) that I expect her to have for the next 5+ years. This year her backpack, winter coat, jeans, yoga pants and dresses from last year all still fit! Easily saving me $500+ in back to school shopping - which I needed to pay for the new phone I had to get her after the salt water damage ruined hers.

Can't wait to see pics of the new baby!

Gary's children had school uniforms ... OMG what a great idea.

I would love to see school uniforms the norm in public schools. IMO, there are lot of pros and not a lot of cons. The time savings alone sells it for me.

The price of kids' shoes makes me sick. We typically only shop at outlets, so we can get sneakers for a reasonable price (25-30$). But...for my daughter's summer/fall shoes, we ended up splurging on a pair of Keens. They let her foot breath while still being safe. But damn...$55 for a pair of shoes that can fit in my hand. The good news is that we have a pretty solid sharing network set-up. We had the first girl in our group of friends, but our next will be the third boy. So we have all sorts of awesome hand-mes for the new baby, including shoes that should last us for the next couple of years.

$55 for a pair of shoes that will fit her for only a few months? Yikes! As the mother of the only girl in our family (no hand-me-downs available!), I highly recommend cheaping out on everything but winter coats and snow boots until she stops growing. They grow so fast that you'll be giving away clothes and shoes that were only worn once or still have the tags on. It only gets worse and so much more expensive as they get older. I remember when all the girls at my daughter's school were wearing Uggs in 2nd grade. I thought it was insane to pay $100 for boots that will only fit for one season - if that! We bought $30 Target brand Uggs and they were fine and she never knew the difference.

Princess has pretty much stopped growing at this point so she got a couple of expensive pairs of boots last winter (Timberlands and LL Bean duck boots) that I expect her to have for the next 5+ years. This year her backpack, winter coat, jeans, yoga pants and dresses from last year all still fit! Easily saving me $500+ in back to school shopping - which I needed to pay for the new phone I had to get her after the salt water damage ruined hers.

Can't wait to see pics of the new baby!

Gary's children had school uniforms ... OMG what a great idea.

Agreed. So cheap, too. 5 sets of Old Navy uniforms will only set you back $100 this time of year. From a teacher stand point, it would solve a lot of other problems too.

I bet!

 

[Gary A.]

Some of the public school and many of the charter school are going uniform. Some public schools are making it optional.

 

[tirediron]

... Some public schools are making it optional.

If it's optional, it's not really uniform....

 

[jcdeboever]

We buy all our fruit and vegetables from local farmers during season. Freeze alot for winter. Grocery stores stuff is from Mexico mostly.

 

[smoke665]

Personally, seeing some of the dress of public school kids makes me think the uniforms would be mostly "pros". Our grandsons attended a private school for several years where uniforms were not optional. It really simplified things for parents and kids. Something the school did that I thought was neat was they had an "exchange store", where parents could go to either buy or exchange used uniforms as the kids outgrew the old.

 

[smoke665]

Grocery stores stuff is from Mexico mostly.

Surprisingly most of the produce in our big box stores is US grown. Very little from Mexico anymore.

 

[Frank F.]

Very interesting topic: where do we buy our food and how is it produced....


.... and what will happen to our food source, when we see a big power outage due to computer failure and are we prepared?

Interesting read for the rural or would be rural population:

Whole Systems Design - The Resilient Farm and Homestead, By Ben Falk

I loved the book very much. Full of practical knowledge embedded in a rationalized paranoid world view. Funny and charming!

 

[smoke665]

and what will happen to our food source, when we see a big power outage due to computer failure and are we prepared?

I think that would be the least of your worries, computer failures, power outages, can likely be repaired. Biological disasters could take years. Think for minute if the Honey Bee population continues to decline. Or, something goes wrong on the GMO front. This year at our farm in Missouri there was a major scare when a herbicide designed for genetically modified soybeans, was causing widespread damage to non-modified soybeans because of uncontrollable drift, sometimes as much as 20-30 miles away. Most don't think about these things but if the temperature rises above 92 degrees corn starts to get stress damage. What if normal summer temperatures were to hover in the 100 degree range for 90 days? You'd see a a substantial drop in corn yields, for the year, but what if that were the new norm every year? You'd see major shortage which would in turn cause problems feeding livestock.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Look up Lehman's, it's a store in Ohio that carries lots of nonelectric stuff. I buy things like their canned broth and no added sugar fruit preserves, etc. not the appliances and whatnots. But living out in the country I stock up on stuff so if power's out I have things on hand. We had power out one time for almost a week when hurricane force winds made it clear to Ohio where our trees couldn't withstand it. Cell towers lost power but I have a landline; worst was gas pumps not working and my car was low on gas so couldn't run into town where power was back on. Took time to get all the limbs off power lines but we managed... read, listened to the radio, hung out in the yard talking to the neighbors, lit candles, used flashlights - a little like going primitive camping. Except I'm getting too old for that crap! lol

Depends on if you go to a chain grocery store or smaller stores that carry more local produce, etc. There seems to be a trend toward more of that.

Seems like some of what you're reading Frank doesn't always give a realistic portrayal, or maybe is rather limited and doesn't give the whole picture of things. When I was working with kids and families I was in a large city but some areas seemed like you almost drove all of a sudden into a rural area with a lot of real poverty - I doubt people realize those places even exist. I took toys to use on home visits and on occasion, I left a toy or two because the family literally didn't have any. (Not school property, but ones I'd bought at resale shops, etc.) Then of course got the family hooked up with appropriate services.

I don't know why lately we seem to be having these serious conversations in the coffeehouse but maybe we could start posting those somewhere else - in, I don't know, off topic? so we can carry on with those conversations elsewhere that people can spend time on the discussion if they want.

 

[terri37 8]

I don't know why lately we seem to be having these serious conversations in the coffeehouse but maybe we could start posting those somewhere else - in, I don't know, off topic? so we can carry on with those conversations elsewhere that people can spend time on the discussion if they want.

 

[jcdeboever]

Gary 2 - JC 0. Bummed. Tigers are playing bad. Times are a changing.

I am going to relax and watch Band of Brothers the next few nights on VHS. I really miss my Marine Brothers and often think of them, our challenges, our losses. There is something special when you can love your enough to sacrifice your life for him, let alone the people back home. I am in a bad space lately with all this hatred talk in the media. My oldest has been to all of them and I can't stand the thought of him going to Korea. So I'm going to OD on love and hatred watching this volume.

Thank the Lord for my camera, wife, cat, and dog. The emotion of love seems absent in this world.

 

[limr33 2]

Gary 2 - JC 0. Bummed. Tigers are playing bad. Times are a changing.

I am going to relax and watch Band of Brothers the next few nights on VHS. I really miss my Marine Brothers and often think of them, our challenges, our losses. There is something special when you can love your enough to sacrifice your life for him, let alone the people back home. I am in a bad space lately with all this hatred talk in the media. My oldest has been to all of them and I can't stand the thought of him going to Korea. So I'm going to OD on love and hatred watching this volume.

Thank the Lord for my camera, wife, cat, and dog. The emotion of love seems absent in this world.

Oh sweet honey child, we are all soul-weary these days and it's so so so important to take care of yourself. But also don't ever feel like love is absent in this world. It may be outshouted from time to time, but it's always here and it will not be silenced.

 

[limr33 2]

So pretty much, what I'm saying is that I think what we all pretty clearly need right now is........Cute Animal Meme Saturday!!!