1. Sally Paik (Sung Weun Paik) 2. Buyers of low-fuel cars get a sales tax exemption 3. As I was reading through the news topics, the words "low-fuel cars" caught my eyes instantly since I remembered professor showing us the advertisement in the newspaper about the electric car in Korea. I knew that people were investigating and experimenting with the hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles but I did not know the fact that there were already so many people who used them in their daily lives. It was hard for me to understand why Korean government wouldn't let electric cars to be sold in Seoul even more after reading that these cars will save an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years in Washington.
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5. Last updated September 11, 2008 10:10 p.m. PT
Buyers of low-fuel cars get a sales tax exemption Hybrids, others must do at least 40 highway miles per gallon By LISA STIFFLER P-I REPORTER
A new sales tax exemption that encourages Washington car shoppers to choose hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles will save them an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years.
The savings provide an extra incentive for consumers to trade in gas guzzlers, a trend that's already in full bloom.
"It's probably not going to make that big of an impact on hybrid sales in Washington," said Bill Soholt, general sales manager of Toyota and Honda of Seattle.
Right now, depending on color and features requested, there's a two- to three-month waiting list for the Toyota Prius, Soholt said. "I don't have any hybrid units in stock unless they were pre-owned."
The tax break, which takes effect Jan. 1, applies only to new vehicles. It also only covers cars and trucks getting at least 40 highway mpg, which includes the Prius and hybrid Honda Civic, but not the Toyota Camry or hybrid SUVs.
"What this law does is it helps people save some money to get them to choose a car that's more fuel efficient -- and that's a good thing," said Don Fahnestock, an owner of The Green Car Co., a Bellevue business that sells extra fuel-efficient vehicles.
But it falls far short of encouraging the wide range of purchases that could help the environment by saving oil and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
The tax break doesn't extend to gas-powered or electric motorcycles or scooters, and won't defray the costs of people converting their vehicles to plug-ins.
It does, however, appear to cover what are called "neighborhood electric vehicles" or "medium speed vehicles" sold by The Green Car Co. The cars are street legal, but don't go faster than 35 mph. It also applies to vehicles running on alternative fuels, such as natural gas, propane and hydrogen, though they're rare.
"What would be good is more incentives, more tax breaks to encourage more companies like ourselves to do (research and development) on more electric vehicles," Fahnestock said.
The exemption, approved by lawmakers in 2005, takes effect for vehicles purchased within and out of state from Jan. 1, 2009, until the end of 2010. Shoppers can make payments on the car before the first of the year, but must not take registration and title for it until then to get the deal.
In Seattle, the new rules will save car buyers 9.3 percent in taxes. Sales tax rates vary around the state.
There's also a federal tax credit available to hybrid car buyers. The amount varies depending on the model and how many of the vehicles the manufacturers have sold in a given year.
P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. Read her blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.
Last time in class Bjorn mentioned that he came across some reading about WalMart and its business deals with local growers. prof.Whitaker also mentioned towards the end of class, when talking about his own article and works, the ways in which some industry does not 'develop' (expand in area of distribution...) but remains a lot more localized. One of the arguments he gave for this, if I am not mistaken, is the very nature of certain products (wool and wool production as opposed to cotton for instance). Well here we have a different situation, since I think food is one of the most non-local commodities, at least in the United States (Fruits available out of season, from around the world, etc. One has only to look at the mystery of how the banana gets to US supermarket shelves). However, it seems that WalMart is buying locally grown produce more and more. The article focuses on the recently increasing costs of transportation and a higher demand for organic produce as main causes. That said, I wonder what changes this could spur in produce production in the whole country if this trend becomes more popular? In this case, despite the means to expand areas of consumption of a good, it is being restricted. Could this mean something for the way agricultural (and so territorial, and so environmental) space will be considered in the future?
----------------------------------- Reuters, 1 July 2008 - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is sourcing more produce sold in its U.S. supercenters and Neighborhood Market stores from local farmers as it tries to offset the soaring transportation costs that are driving up food prices.
The world's largest retailer said on Tuesday it had increased the number of local U.S. farmers that it works with by 50 percent in the past two years, and it would like to continue expanding that figure at a double-digit rate.
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While Wal-Mart declined to provide an exact figure, it said it now works with "hundreds" of individual farmers, and this year it expects to source about $400 million in locally grown fruits and vegetables from farmers across the United States.
"When we're buying local, there are less trucks on the road, less miles that that produce is traveling and therefore less fuel," said Pam Kohn, Wal-Mart's general merchandise manager for grocery.
Wal-Mart defines "local" as buying from farmers in a state and selling the produce at stores in the same state. Over the summer months, it said locally sourced fruits and vegetables make up a fifth of the produce available in Wal-Mart stores.
Grocery is a big business for the company, accounting for 41 percent of sales in its U.S. Wal-Mart stores for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31. As food prices rise, shoppers have been flocking to its stores in search of cheaper groceries.
But soaring fuel costs mean the cost of transporting food to its 2,555 supercenters -- a full grocery store combined with a discount store -- and 138 Neighborhood Market grocery stores is more expensive, making it tougher to keep prices low.
While reporting first-quarter results in May, Wal-Mart said transportation costs would remain a "potential headwind" for the rest of the year, and Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said he was worried about the ongoing jump in fuel prices.
Wal-Mart said that in the United States, produce travels an average 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from farms to consumers' homes, and it should be able to save millions of "food miles" -- the distance food travels from farm to plate -- through local sourcing, better packing of its trucks and improved logistics.
In an example, Wal-Mart said that by sourcing peaches in 18 states instead of just two, as it did before, it saves 672,000 food miles and 112,000 gallons of diesel fuel -- or more than $1.4 million dollars in transportation costs per season.
Kohn said while the organic food trend continues, customer demand for local produce "is a very big trend, a very big trend." (Editing by Braden Reddall)
3. I posted an article on the sea level rise last week. Today, by reading the article I am going to post now, I learned that each part of the earth reacts differently to human caused environmental problems. While the Arctic ice melts down, the Antarctic winter ice gets bigger due to climate change. The thinning ozone layer strenghtens the winds, circumnavigating the Antarctic and possibly blowing ice out to the area where ice would not naturally form. The difference between the Arctic and Antarctic is that the Arctic is the floating ice on an ocean while the Antarctic is an isolated continent. The process of ice expansion in the Antarctic continent, however, is predicted to be reversed as global warming eventually warms the southern oceans and shrinks the ice there.
OSLO (Reuters) - The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has grown in recent Septembers in what could be an unusual side-effect of global warming, experts said on Friday.
In the southern hemisphere winter, when emperor penguins huddle together against the biting cold, ice on the sea around Antarctica has been increasing since the late 1970s, perhaps because climate change means shifts in winds, sea currents or snowfall.
At the other end of the planet, Arctic sea ice is now close to matching a September 2007 record low at the tail end of the northern summer in a threat to the hunting lifestyles of indigenous peoples and creatures such as polar bears.
"The Antarctic wintertime ice extent increased...at a rate of 0.6 percent per decade" from 1979-2006, said Donald Cavalieri, a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
At 19 million sq kms (7.34 million sq mile), it is still slightly below records from the early 1970s of 20 million, he said. The average year-round ice extent has risen too.
Some climate skeptics point to the differing trends at the poles as a sign that worries about climate change are exaggerated. However, experts say they can explain the development.
"What's happening is not unexpected...Climate modelers predicted a long time ago that the Arctic would warm fastest and the Antarctic would be stable for a long time," said Ted Maksym, a sea ice specialist at the British Antarctic Survey.
The U.N. Climate Panel says it is at least 90 percent sure that people are stoking global warming -- mainly by burning fossil fuels. But it says each region will react differently.
A key difference is that Arctic ice floats on an ocean and is warmed by shifting currents and winds from the south. By contrast, Antarctica is an isolated continent bigger than the United States that creates its own deep freeze.
"The air temperature in Antarctica has increased very little compared to the Arctic," said Ola Johannessen, director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway. "The reason is you have a huge ocean surrounding the land."
Cavalieri said some computer models indicate a reduction in the amount of heat coming up from the ocean around Antarctica as one possible explanation for growing ice.
Another theory was that warmer air absorbs more moisture and means more snow and rainfall, he said. That could mean more fresh water at the sea surface around Antarctica -- fresh water freezes at a higher temperature than salt water.
"There has been a strengthening of the winds that circumnavigate the Antarctic," said Maksym. That might be linked to a thinning of the ozone layer high above the continent, blamed in turn on human use of chemicals used in refrigerants.
In some places, stronger winds might blow ice out to sea to areas where ice would not naturally form.
Maksym predicted that global warming would eventually warm the southern oceans, and shrink the sea ice around Antarctica. "A lot of the modelers are predicting the turning point to be right about this time," he said.
1. Bjoern Schmidt 2. Article on relation between food prices and food quality.(Walmart article: Walmart reducing school profits) 3.I forgot to post the article during chusok holiday. So it is coming late evening on Monday Chusok. It is an article about the necessity to pay more money for food, so quality measures could be paid for and sustained. As my own parents are farmers and I also think about this issue when I buy food for myself, this topic is quite connected to me. (However, my original goal was to find something about Walmart after seeing the movie "the high costs of low prices" on Youtube. This movie convincingly demonstrated me how Walmart in public constitutes advertisment which alleges responsible company politics for worker welfare and environmental sustainability, although this is obviously impossible with these low prices and heavenly contradicts with the reality of the Walmart workers and Walmart environment reality. This goal failed due to all articles found written of an economical point of view. I only found one article which is slightly fitting and which I will add additionally, not to be considered as intentional part of this blog. It is about Walmart producing clothes with local school emblems and thereby reducing these schools own earnings which are supposed to be used for school programs.)
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Lapses in safety inevitable as long as consumers demand unrealistic prices
Sep 15, 2008 04:30 AM Comments on this story (1) Owen Roberts
Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain has been a textbook stand-up guy through the listeriosis disaster.
He's hung his head, accepted blame, shown remorse and vowed to make it right. There's no question the listeriosis victims were innocent, and he's accountable.
But we should all be shouldering some blame for lapses in food safety. As consumers, we simply don't pay enough for food to ensure the system is as foolproof as we'd like.
This probably sounds like sacrilege, given how food prices are rising, the economy is sputtering and belts everywhere are tightening.
But it's true. When it comes to food, our expectations are enormous, given how comparatively little we pay for it. And every time we put a new demand on the food supply – be it for safer, cleaner, more nutritious or more local food – costs add up.
No one, though, wants to pay a realistic price for food. We have a cheap food culture, spending about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of our disposable income on food, compared to up to 80 per cent in some underdeveloped countries.
Grocery chains here beat up each other for our business, devastating their profits with price-cutting measures. Kevin Grier, a senior market analyst with Canadian agri-food think-tank The George Morris Centre, says established grocery chains have lost an estimated $900 million over the past two years. Big-box food retailers, such as Wal-Mart, are the only "grocers" who've gained ground. They sell some of the cheapest food around.
But consider the ripple effect. Consumers want cheap food, so they lean on grocers. However, grocers already have their backs against the wall, so they squeeze processors and manufacturers. But processors and manufacturers are already staggered by cheap offshore competition, a strong Canadian dollar and the country's general manufacturing malaise. So, they pressure farmers (although, in an ironic twist, Maple Leaf Foods has always paid a premium to farmers whose animals met specific criteria).
A host of other maladies, such as huge U.S. and European production and export subsidies, have made farmers poor cousins for years. It's almost been routine for Ottawa and the provinces to annually fork over billion-dollar bailouts to farmers and keep them from going broke.
We seem to accept that system. We want farmers to maintain the countryside and keep us fed.
But pay more for food? No thanks.
Farmers hoped prosperity would accompany Canadians' growing interest in renewable fuels. When the public became obsessed with the environment, governments rushed in with what they considered clean, renewable energy policies, with a spotlight on biofuel. Farmers could grow conventional crops such as corn for biofuel stocks.
And farmers might have made some money if their production costs hadn't gone through the roof. Oil spiked at the same time crop prices rose. For farmers, fuel, fertilizer and transportation all skyrocketed. No wonder food prices are rising.
Farmers have credibility, and they need to use it explain these scenarios to consumers. They can't complain about people's obsession with cheap food if the consequences are poorly understood. Farmers need to use urban opportunities such as the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, as well as social media and electronic communication, to show the benefits of buying local, and Canadian.
Finally, farmers have to prove how research-based innovations are helping them look after the environment and contribute to Canadians' good health, through advances in better nutrition, food quality and safety.
But so much depends on realistic food prices. They'll support a greater investment in the food safety system, potentially heading off more disease and outbreaks. The vicious low-price food cycle leaves everyone exposed, and it must change.
Owen Roberts teaches agricultural communications at the University of Guelph.
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The Wal-Mart store in Airway Heights is selling merchandise such as the plaid pajama pants with the Medical Lake Cardinal logo on them. Both Medical Lake and Cheney school officials say this practice cuts into their profits, and as such monetary support for their programs, from efforts to sell more expensive school sweatshirts. - Photo by Paul Delaney By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Medical Lake athletics director Chris Spring was just a little surprised recently when one of the high school痴 secretaries, Lynae Strieb, walked into his office with a pair of plaid pajama pants embroidered with the Cardinal logo.
展ho ordered those?・Spring asked. Strieb replied that nobody ordered the garment and that she found them - along with other items featuring logos from both her school, as well as those of Cheney High - at the Airway Heights Wal-Mart. Spring was quick to point out and praise Wal Mart for their efforts in helping Medical Lake raise money, but he did wonder why no one from the store, or company, had even so much as called or sent a letter asking if it would be OK to sell such merchandise. Both Medical Lake and Cheney sell their own line of souvenir items that return money to their respective booster organizations, who, in turn donate the money back to the schools for needed projects and activities. Cheneyassistant principal for activities and athletics, Jim Missel asked the rhetorical question. 展ho gave them permission and what is our cut?・Missel then asked, 展al-Mart is also competing against our sales of Cheney stuff and is this fair? Wal-Mart versus Cheney High School?・BR>A check of the Airway Heights Wal Mart showed a variety of T-shirts and other items featuring a Blackhawks・script logo. Medical Lake痴 Cardinal was seen on the pajama pants in the women痴 section. It was unclear what other Blackhawks・logoed items were for sale. 典he money we raise goes back into our activity and athletic programs,・Missel said of his merchandise that is available online from Fieldhouse, Inc. a Bellevue, Wash. based company. 展here does the Walmart sales money go?・Missell wondered. Not to Cheney High痴 fundraising efforts apparently. That痴 because like Spring, no one from Wal-Mart, or their apparel supplier, Pel Athletics, has ever contacted Missel. 的知 very, very disappointed,・Missel said. Wal Mart痴 headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. and the home of Pel Athletics in Rogers, Ark. are less than 10 miles apart in the northwestern part of the state. A phone request asking clarification on Wal Mart policies regarding sales of such merchandise, elicited the following e-mailed response from Linda Blakely of Wal-Mart media relations. 展al-Mart is pleased to offer school spirit -wear in many stores across the country. We want as many students as possible to be able to show their school spirit,・Blakely wrote. 展ith the help of supplier partners who understand the varying needs of local communities, we work to offer school apparel at affordable prices. It痴 one of the many ways we are helping families stretch their dollars as they prepare for the school year,・the response went on to say. The reply concluded with the following: 展e will continue to show our support for students and schools with scholarship programs, programs honoring teachers, fundraising activities and participating in other events and activities that help ensure students have the school supplies they need to succeed.・BR>Following receipt of the above reply, questions regarding whether the company asked permission to produce the items, or whether any profits would be returned to schools went unanswered other than Blakely noting in another e-mail that 鄭ll permissions and approvals required for logo apparel are met.・Blakely indicated she would discuss concerns with the Wal-Mart buying team. Two phone calls were made to Pel Athletics requesting that they address the issue. An initial promised response did not occur. Another call, and request left in a voice message to Pel痴 customer service department, was not returned by press time. Other schools across both the Spokane area, and in the Great Northern League, have also seen Wal-Mart offer merchandise featuring their school logos. And like Cheney and Medical Lake, none of those schools contacted have had any communication with Wal-Mart. 徹ur booster club and our Senior All-Knighter committee sells apparel,・East Valley High School athletics director Joe Kostecka wrote in an e-mail. 的知 not sure of prices or what they have ordered for this year but this will obviously hurt sales,・Kostecka said of his school痴 fundraising group. Kostecka also noted that the Wal-Mart in the Spokane Valley is in the Central Valley School District and he痴 哲ot aware of any support they have given our school.・BR>Apparently Wal-Mart need not ask permission to use their logos because most schools have not registered their insignias with the Washington Secretary of State, despite urging to do so from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. 添ears ago we encouraged all schools to register their school names and mascots with the secretary of state,・WIAA executive director, Mike Colbrese said. The cost, Colbrese noted, was $50. He indicated that his office in the Seattle area had not heard of similar sales of merchandise on the West Side, 釘ut I値l send out some feelers,・he concluded. If the world-wide retail giant isn稚 selling similar product lines on the West Side, that may be one of the only places because the practice seems to be quite prevalent in Eastern Washington, and even into Idaho. When asked if he had given Wal-Mart permission to use his school痴 logo, CV痴 athletics director, Grant 釘utch・Walter replied via e-mail, 哲o they do not have permission.・But Walter admitted he had not seen the merchandise in previous visits to the store closest to him, located east of Sullivan Road on Broadway Avenue. A recent visit to that Wal-Mart location quickly revealed prominent displays of a variety of hooded sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts and sweats featuring logos from CV, EV and West Valley. Hoodies ・the popular hooded sweatshirts ・sell for just under $19 at the Spokane Valley Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart does not appear to offer Cheney nor Medical Lake hoodies at their Airway Heights store, comparable items sell for $10 to $20 more through the schools. West Valley High School痴 athletics director, Wayne McKnight replied to questions by writing, 殿s far as Wal-Mart, no we have not released any rights to them to sell shirts with our name on them or logo痴.・BR>The Greater Spokane League痴 executive director, Randy Ryan, said, 典o my knowledge, retailers have often sold products with high school names and logos in the past.・BR>Ryan believes that not many high schools have gone through the legal process to get trademark and logo ownership to prohibit retailers from using their school name and logo.滴igh schoolsdo not deal with the volume of sales that drivescolleges and universities to get trademark protection,・he said. One school that was thinking ahead was Gonzaga Prep according to their athletic director, Paul Manfred. 轍uite a while ago we either trademarked or copyrighted our name,・Manfred replied. Checks of a variety of stores show no G-Prep items on the shelves. The scope of the issue goes as far south as Lewiston, Idaho where that city痴 Wal-Mart sells both Clarkston and Lewiston High School items, according to Keri Myklebust, executive assistant to Clarkston School District superintendent Pete Lewis. 徹ur local Wal-Mart in Lewiston does in fact sell Bantam and Bengal merchandise,・Myklebust said in an e-mail. But Wal-Mart is not alone as Myklebust pointed out, 鄭lbertsons in Clarkston and Lewiston also sell merchandise with our logo on it,・all without these stores asking permission, nor offering the schools a cut of any profits. East Valley痴 Kostecka admits that by not protecting their school logo, 鍍here is nothing we can do legally. Ethically, that is another story.・BR>Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
4 comments:
1. Sally Paik (Sung Weun Paik)
2. Buyers of low-fuel cars get a sales tax exemption
3. As I was reading through the news topics, the words "low-fuel cars" caught my eyes instantly since I remembered professor showing us the advertisement in the newspaper about the electric car in Korea. I knew that people were investigating and experimenting with the hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles but I did not know the fact that there were already so many people who used them in their daily lives. It was hard for me to understand why Korean government wouldn't let electric cars to be sold in Seoul even more after reading that these cars will save an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years in Washington.
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5. Last updated September 11, 2008 10:10 p.m. PT
Buyers of low-fuel cars get a sales tax exemption
Hybrids, others must do at least 40 highway miles per gallon
By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER
A new sales tax exemption that encourages Washington car shoppers to choose hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles will save them an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years.
The savings provide an extra incentive for consumers to trade in gas guzzlers, a trend that's already in full bloom.
"It's probably not going to make that big of an impact on hybrid sales in Washington," said Bill Soholt, general sales manager of Toyota and Honda of Seattle.
Right now, depending on color and features requested, there's a two- to three-month waiting list for the Toyota Prius, Soholt said. "I don't have any hybrid units in stock unless they were pre-owned."
The tax break, which takes effect Jan. 1, applies only to new vehicles. It also only covers cars and trucks getting at least 40 highway mpg, which includes the Prius and hybrid Honda Civic, but not the Toyota Camry or hybrid SUVs.
"What this law does is it helps people save some money to get them to choose a car that's more fuel efficient -- and that's a good thing," said Don Fahnestock, an owner of The Green Car Co., a Bellevue business that sells extra fuel-efficient vehicles.
But it falls far short of encouraging the wide range of purchases that could help the environment by saving oil and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
The tax break doesn't extend to gas-powered or electric motorcycles or scooters, and won't defray the costs of people converting their vehicles to plug-ins.
It does, however, appear to cover what are called "neighborhood electric vehicles" or "medium speed vehicles" sold by The Green Car Co. The cars are street legal, but don't go faster than 35 mph. It also applies to vehicles running on alternative fuels, such as natural gas, propane and hydrogen, though they're rare.
"What would be good is more incentives, more tax breaks to encourage more companies like ourselves to do (research and development) on more electric vehicles," Fahnestock said.
The exemption, approved by lawmakers in 2005, takes effect for vehicles purchased within and out of state from Jan. 1, 2009, until the end of 2010. Shoppers can make payments on the car before the first of the year, but must not take registration and title for it until then to get the deal.
In Seattle, the new rules will save car buyers 9.3 percent in taxes. Sales tax rates vary around the state.
There's also a federal tax credit available to hybrid car buyers. The amount varies depending on the model and how many of the vehicles the manufacturers have sold in a given year.
P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. Read her blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.
---
7. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/378818_greencar12.html?source=rss
Moctar Abouabacar
WalMart and local growers
Last time in class Bjorn mentioned that he came across some reading about WalMart and its business deals with local growers. prof.Whitaker also mentioned towards the end of class, when talking about his own article and works, the ways in which some industry does not 'develop' (expand in area of distribution...) but remains a lot more localized. One of the arguments he gave for this, if I am not mistaken, is the very nature of certain products (wool and wool production as opposed to cotton for instance).
Well here we have a different situation, since I think food is one of the most non-local commodities, at least in the United States (Fruits available out of season, from around the world, etc. One has only to look at the mystery of how the banana gets to US supermarket shelves). However, it seems that WalMart is buying locally grown produce more and more. The article focuses on the recently increasing costs of transportation and a higher demand for organic produce as main causes.
That said, I wonder what changes this could spur in produce production in the whole country if this trend becomes more popular? In this case, despite the means to expand areas of consumption of a good, it is being restricted. Could this mean something for the way agricultural (and so territorial, and so environmental) space will be considered in the future?
-----------------------------------
Reuters, 1 July 2008 - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is sourcing more produce sold in its U.S. supercenters and Neighborhood Market stores from local farmers as it tries to offset the soaring transportation costs that are driving up food prices.
The world's largest retailer said on Tuesday it had increased the number of local U.S. farmers that it works with by 50 percent in the past two years, and it would like to continue expanding that figure at a double-digit rate.
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While Wal-Mart declined to provide an exact figure, it said it now works with "hundreds" of individual farmers, and this year it expects to source about $400 million in locally grown fruits and vegetables from farmers across the United States.
"When we're buying local, there are less trucks on the road, less miles that that produce is traveling and therefore less fuel," said Pam Kohn, Wal-Mart's general merchandise manager for grocery.
Wal-Mart defines "local" as buying from farmers in a state and selling the produce at stores in the same state. Over the summer months, it said locally sourced fruits and vegetables make up a fifth of the produce available in Wal-Mart stores.
Grocery is a big business for the company, accounting for 41 percent of sales in its U.S. Wal-Mart stores for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31. As food prices rise, shoppers have been flocking to its stores in search of cheaper groceries.
But soaring fuel costs mean the cost of transporting food to its 2,555 supercenters -- a full grocery store combined with a discount store -- and 138 Neighborhood Market grocery stores is more expensive, making it tougher to keep prices low.
While reporting first-quarter results in May, Wal-Mart said transportation costs would remain a "potential headwind" for the rest of the year, and Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said he was worried about the ongoing jump in fuel prices.
Wal-Mart said that in the United States, produce travels an average 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from farms to consumers' homes, and it should be able to save millions of "food miles" -- the distance food travels from farm to plate -- through local sourcing, better packing of its trucks and improved logistics.
In an example, Wal-Mart said that by sourcing peaches in 18 states instead of just two, as it did before, it saves 672,000 food miles and 112,000 gallons of diesel fuel -- or more than $1.4 million dollars in transportation costs per season.
Kohn said while the organic food trend continues, customer demand for local produce "is a very big trend, a very big trend." (Editing by Braden Reddall)
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http://www.enn.com/business/article/37530
1. Haerang Park
2. Antarctic winter ice gets bigger; Arctic shrinks
3. I posted an article on the sea level rise last week. Today, by reading the article I am going to post now, I learned that each part of the earth reacts differently to human caused environmental problems. While the Arctic ice melts down, the Antarctic winter ice gets bigger due to climate change. The thinning ozone layer strenghtens the winds, circumnavigating the Antarctic and possibly blowing ice out to the area where ice would not naturally form. The difference between the Arctic and Antarctic is that the Arctic is the floating ice on an ocean while the Antarctic is an isolated continent. The process of ice expansion in the Antarctic continent, however, is predicted to be reversed as global warming eventually warms the southern oceans and shrinks the ice there.
4. Antarctic winter ice gets bigger; Arctic shrinks
OSLO (Reuters) - The amount of sea ice around Antarctica has grown in recent Septembers in what could be an unusual side-effect of global warming, experts said on Friday.
In the southern hemisphere winter, when emperor penguins huddle together against the biting cold, ice on the sea around Antarctica has been increasing since the late 1970s, perhaps because climate change means shifts in winds, sea currents or snowfall.
At the other end of the planet, Arctic sea ice is now close to matching a September 2007 record low at the tail end of the northern summer in a threat to the hunting lifestyles of indigenous peoples and creatures such as polar bears.
"The Antarctic wintertime ice extent increased...at a rate of 0.6 percent per decade" from 1979-2006, said Donald Cavalieri, a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
At 19 million sq kms (7.34 million sq mile), it is still slightly below records from the early 1970s of 20 million, he said. The average year-round ice extent has risen too.
Some climate skeptics point to the differing trends at the poles as a sign that worries about climate change are exaggerated. However, experts say they can explain the development.
"What's happening is not unexpected...Climate modelers predicted a long time ago that the Arctic would warm fastest and the Antarctic would be stable for a long time," said Ted Maksym, a sea ice specialist at the British Antarctic Survey.
The U.N. Climate Panel says it is at least 90 percent sure that people are stoking global warming -- mainly by burning fossil fuels. But it says each region will react differently.
A key difference is that Arctic ice floats on an ocean and is warmed by shifting currents and winds from the south. By contrast, Antarctica is an isolated continent bigger than the United States that creates its own deep freeze.
"The air temperature in Antarctica has increased very little compared to the Arctic," said Ola Johannessen, director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway. "The reason is you have a huge ocean surrounding the land."
Cavalieri said some computer models indicate a reduction in the amount of heat coming up from the ocean around Antarctica as one possible explanation for growing ice.
Another theory was that warmer air absorbs more moisture and means more snow and rainfall, he said. That could mean more fresh water at the sea surface around Antarctica -- fresh water freezes at a higher temperature than salt water.
"There has been a strengthening of the winds that circumnavigate the Antarctic," said Maksym. That might be linked to a thinning of the ozone layer high above the continent, blamed in turn on human use of chemicals used in refrigerants.
In some places, stronger winds might blow ice out to sea to areas where ice would not naturally form.
Maksym predicted that global warming would eventually warm the southern oceans, and shrink the sea ice around Antarctica. "A lot of the modelers are predicting the turning point to be right about this time," he said.
5. http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/38171/print
1. Bjoern Schmidt
2. Article on relation between food prices and food quality.(Walmart article: Walmart reducing school profits)
3.I forgot to post the article during chusok holiday. So it is coming late evening on Monday Chusok. It is an article about the necessity to pay more money for food, so quality measures could be paid for and sustained. As my own parents are farmers and I also think about this issue when I buy food for myself, this topic is quite connected to me.
(However, my original goal was to find something about Walmart after seeing the movie "the high costs of low prices" on Youtube. This movie convincingly demonstrated me how Walmart in public constitutes advertisment which alleges responsible company politics for worker welfare and environmental sustainability, although this is obviously impossible with these low prices and heavenly contradicts with the reality of the Walmart workers and Walmart environment reality. This goal failed due to all articles found written of an economical point of view. I only found one article which is slightly fitting and which I will add additionally, not to be considered as intentional part of this blog. It is about Walmart producing clothes with local school emblems and thereby reducing these schools own earnings which are supposed to be used for school programs.)
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Lapses in safety inevitable as long as consumers demand unrealistic prices
Sep 15, 2008 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (1)
Owen Roberts
Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain has been a textbook stand-up guy through the listeriosis disaster.
He's hung his head, accepted blame, shown remorse and vowed to make it right. There's no question the listeriosis victims were innocent, and he's accountable.
But we should all be shouldering some blame for lapses in food safety. As consumers, we simply don't pay enough for food to ensure the system is as foolproof as we'd like.
This probably sounds like sacrilege, given how food prices are rising, the economy is sputtering and belts everywhere are tightening.
But it's true. When it comes to food, our expectations are enormous, given how comparatively little we pay for it. And every time we put a new demand on the food supply – be it for safer, cleaner, more nutritious or more local food – costs add up.
No one, though, wants to pay a realistic price for food. We have a cheap food culture, spending about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of our disposable income on food, compared to up to 80 per cent in some underdeveloped countries.
Grocery chains here beat up each other for our business, devastating their profits with price-cutting measures. Kevin Grier, a senior market analyst with Canadian agri-food think-tank The George Morris Centre, says established grocery chains have lost an estimated $900 million over the past two years. Big-box food retailers, such as Wal-Mart, are the only "grocers" who've gained ground. They sell some of the cheapest food around.
But consider the ripple effect. Consumers want cheap food, so they lean on grocers. However, grocers already have their backs against the wall, so they squeeze processors and manufacturers. But processors and manufacturers are already staggered by cheap offshore competition, a strong Canadian dollar and the country's general manufacturing malaise. So, they pressure farmers (although, in an ironic twist, Maple Leaf Foods has always paid a premium to farmers whose animals met specific criteria).
A host of other maladies, such as huge U.S. and European production and export subsidies, have made farmers poor cousins for years. It's almost been routine for Ottawa and the provinces to annually fork over billion-dollar bailouts to farmers and keep them from going broke.
We seem to accept that system. We want farmers to maintain the countryside and keep us fed.
But pay more for food? No thanks.
Farmers hoped prosperity would accompany Canadians' growing interest in renewable fuels. When the public became obsessed with the environment, governments rushed in with what they considered clean, renewable energy policies, with a spotlight on biofuel. Farmers could grow conventional crops such as corn for biofuel stocks.
And farmers might have made some money if their production costs hadn't gone through the roof. Oil spiked at the same time crop prices rose. For farmers, fuel, fertilizer and transportation all skyrocketed. No wonder food prices are rising.
Farmers have credibility, and they need to use it explain these scenarios to consumers. They can't complain about people's obsession with cheap food if the consequences are poorly understood. Farmers need to use urban opportunities such as the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, as well as social media and electronic communication, to show the benefits of buying local, and Canadian.
Finally, farmers have to prove how research-based innovations are helping them look after the environment and contribute to Canadians' good health, through advances in better nutrition, food quality and safety.
But so much depends on realistic food prices. They'll support a greater investment in the food safety system, potentially heading off more disease and outbreaks. The vicious low-price food cycle leaves everyone exposed, and it must change.
Owen Roberts teaches agricultural communications at the University of Guelph.
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The Wal-Mart store in Airway Heights is selling merchandise such as the plaid pajama pants with the Medical Lake Cardinal logo on them. Both Medical Lake and Cheney school officials say this practice cuts into their profits, and as such monetary support for their programs, from efforts to sell more expensive school sweatshirts. - Photo by Paul Delaney
By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
Medical Lake athletics director Chris Spring was just a little surprised recently when one of the high school痴 secretaries, Lynae Strieb, walked into his office with a pair of plaid pajama pants embroidered with the Cardinal logo.
展ho ordered those?・Spring asked. Strieb replied that nobody ordered the garment and that she found them - along with other items featuring logos from both her school, as well as those of Cheney High - at the Airway Heights Wal-Mart.
Spring was quick to point out and praise Wal Mart for their efforts in helping Medical Lake raise money, but he did wonder why no one from the store, or company, had even so much as called or sent a letter asking if it would be OK to sell such merchandise.
Both Medical Lake and Cheney sell their own line of souvenir items that return money to their respective booster organizations, who, in turn donate the money back to the schools for needed projects and activities.
Cheneyassistant principal for activities and athletics, Jim Missel asked the rhetorical question. 展ho gave them permission and what is our cut?・Missel then asked, 展al-Mart is also competing against our sales of Cheney stuff and is this fair? Wal-Mart versus Cheney High School?・BR>A check of the Airway Heights Wal Mart showed a variety of T-shirts and other items featuring a Blackhawks・script logo. Medical Lake痴 Cardinal was seen on the pajama pants in the women痴 section. It was unclear what other Blackhawks・logoed items were for sale.
典he money we raise goes back into our activity and athletic programs,・Missel said of his merchandise that is available online from Fieldhouse, Inc. a Bellevue, Wash. based company. 展here does the Walmart sales money go?・Missell wondered. Not to Cheney High痴 fundraising efforts apparently. That痴 because like Spring, no one from Wal-Mart, or their apparel supplier, Pel Athletics, has ever contacted Missel. 的知 very, very disappointed,・Missel said.
Wal Mart痴 headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. and the home of Pel Athletics in Rogers, Ark. are less than 10 miles apart in the northwestern part of the state.
A phone request asking clarification on Wal Mart policies regarding sales of such merchandise, elicited the following e-mailed response from Linda Blakely of Wal-Mart media relations.
展al-Mart is pleased to offer school spirit -wear in many stores across the country. We want as many students as possible to be able to show their school spirit,・Blakely wrote.
展ith the help of supplier partners who understand the varying needs of local communities, we work to offer school apparel at affordable prices. It痴 one of the many ways we are helping families stretch their dollars as they prepare for the school year,・the response went on to say.
The reply concluded with the following: 展e will continue to show our support for students and schools with scholarship programs, programs honoring teachers, fundraising activities and participating in other events and activities that help ensure students have the school supplies they need to succeed.・BR>Following receipt of the above reply, questions regarding whether the company asked permission to produce the items, or whether any profits would be returned to schools went unanswered other than Blakely noting in another e-mail that 鄭ll permissions and approvals required for logo apparel are met.・Blakely indicated she would discuss concerns with the Wal-Mart buying team.
Two phone calls were made to Pel Athletics requesting that they address the issue. An initial promised response did not occur. Another call, and request left in a voice message to Pel痴 customer service department, was not returned by press time.
Other schools across both the Spokane area, and in the Great Northern League, have also seen Wal-Mart offer merchandise featuring their school logos. And like Cheney and Medical Lake, none of those schools contacted have had any communication with Wal-Mart.
徹ur booster club and our Senior All-Knighter committee sells apparel,・East Valley High School athletics director Joe Kostecka wrote in an e-mail. 的知 not sure of prices or what they have ordered for this year but this will obviously hurt sales,・Kostecka said of his school痴 fundraising group. Kostecka also noted that the Wal-Mart in the Spokane Valley is in the Central Valley School District and he痴 哲ot aware of any support they have given our school.・BR>Apparently Wal-Mart need not ask permission to use their logos because most schools have not registered their insignias with the Washington Secretary of State, despite urging to do so from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
添ears ago we encouraged all schools to register their school names and mascots with the secretary of state,・WIAA executive director, Mike Colbrese said. The cost, Colbrese noted, was $50. He indicated that his office in the Seattle area had not heard of similar sales of merchandise on the West Side, 釘ut I値l send out some feelers,・he concluded.
If the world-wide retail giant isn稚 selling similar product lines on the West Side, that may be one of the only places because the practice seems to be quite prevalent in Eastern Washington, and even into Idaho.
When asked if he had given Wal-Mart permission to use his school痴 logo, CV痴 athletics director, Grant 釘utch・Walter replied via e-mail, 哲o they do not have permission.・But Walter admitted he had not seen the merchandise in previous visits to the store closest to him, located east of Sullivan Road on Broadway Avenue.
A recent visit to that Wal-Mart location quickly revealed prominent displays of a variety of hooded sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts and sweats featuring logos from CV, EV and West Valley. Hoodies ・the popular hooded sweatshirts ・sell for just under $19 at the Spokane Valley Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart does not appear to offer Cheney nor Medical Lake hoodies at their Airway Heights store, comparable items sell for $10 to $20 more through the schools.
West Valley High School痴 athletics director, Wayne McKnight replied to questions by writing, 殿s far as Wal-Mart, no we have not released any rights to them to sell shirts with our name on them or logo痴.・BR>The Greater Spokane League痴 executive director, Randy Ryan, said, 典o my knowledge, retailers have often sold products with high school names and logos in the past.・BR>Ryan believes that not many high schools have gone through the legal process to get trademark and logo ownership to prohibit retailers from using their school name and logo.滴igh schoolsdo not deal with the volume of sales that drivescolleges and universities to get trademark protection,・he said.
One school that was thinking ahead was Gonzaga Prep according to their athletic director, Paul Manfred. 轍uite a while ago we either trademarked or copyrighted our name,・Manfred replied. Checks of a variety of stores show no G-Prep items on the shelves.
The scope of the issue goes as far south as Lewiston, Idaho where that city痴 Wal-Mart sells both Clarkston and Lewiston High School items, according to Keri Myklebust, executive assistant to Clarkston School District superintendent Pete Lewis.
徹ur local Wal-Mart in Lewiston does in fact sell Bantam and Bengal merchandise,・Myklebust said in an e-mail. But Wal-Mart is not alone as Myklebust pointed out, 鄭lbertsons in Clarkston and Lewiston also sell merchandise with our logo on it,・all without these stores asking permission, nor offering the schools a cut of any profits.
East Valley痴 Kostecka admits that by not protecting their school logo, 鍍here is nothing we can do legally. Ethically, that is another story.・BR>Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com
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http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/498614
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