*sssiiiiiiggggghhhhh*

 

Just when I thought I’d found a good food company to patronize… I learn that Fresh Direct is the subject of multiple and varied employee complaints, relating to discrimination and union busting.  I had filled up a virtual grocery cart with a couple bags full of goodies (largely veggies and “sports candy” as one annoying kids tv show has taken to calling fresh fruit) to maximize the $25.00 coupon I’d gotten in the mail for ordering from Fresh Direct.  I envisioned myself getting an awesome sweep for a just a few bucks, when I went to check out and *BAM* I found out I had to spend a hundred dollars to make use of that quarter coupon.  So the coupon’s been sitting on my desk, and I had big plans to spend it, when I needed and had room for a hundred dollars worth of new groceries in my pantry (a/k/a kitchen — this is the city where, for most, pantries only exist in the magazines in our cramped bathrooms, our imaginations, or under the sink). Then suddenly, this bad news appeared….

 

http://www.alternet.org/story/154383/how_freshdirect_delivers_misery_along_with_your_groceries–and_how_workers_and_the_community_are_fighting_back

 

So I guess I am out of the loop. I did not know all the problems with Fresh Direct, which seemed to be well poised to be a nifty alternative to the megamarkets we’ve been trying to escape.  There’s been controversy brewing over at a little local grocery store, Golden Farms, where word on the street is that management has hired undocumented workers and is paying them well below minimum wage.  The availability of decent channels for food procurement seems to be growing narrower and narrower.

I was at Union Square green market on Wednesday, and up at Grand Army Plaza on Saturday, but it is hard to make it to market a couple times a week.  The allure of Foodtown a block and a half away is hard to resist.  Still, trying to make better choices when it comes to buying food.  Back to the drawing board…

QUESTION:  where do you get the bulk of your food these days?  How much will that change with the warming weather?  Are you availing yourself of the vast increase in farmers markets?  Which is your fave? Go ahead…gimme the dirt!

Thanks for patience and comments and encouragement while I was on hiatus.  My lemon tree seemed to care.  I’ve known her the longest of all my house plants, and she bloomed to cheer me up.  My banana plants still can’t seem to quite get in the groove.  They’re rather fickle but so know how to brighten a room.  Everyone’s itching to get outside…assuming the weather soon will permit them.

Not too long ago, I wrote about being overwhelmed at all the information out there on preparing for the unexpected, and noted that I would consider paying someone for the service of pulling it altogether and giving me one statement of what was needed, where I could get it best/cheapest etc., to prepare my home for the unexpected (earthquakes, floods, terrorist attacks, zombie attacks, etc.).  One fellow reveler, made the following comment, which I applaud and appreciate.  I took his test, and have found that I’m not totally ready for “this,” with the “this” being any unknown number of disasters or difficulties that can strike at any time at all.  In my household, we’re set on water and food but things like batteries and flashlights keep kind of disappearing when a non-urgent need arises.  I’m therefore thinking of designating certain items “emergency only” – not to be used for replacing batteries in the remote control or kids toys.  I also realize that I need to not only have a fire extinguisher but be pretty certain I know how to use it.  Also next on my list of to-dos is to take a CPR/first aid class.  It’s a couple hours out of the day and could save lives.  There’s simply no good excuse for not having done so already.

Here it is — many thanks to Ralph!!

 

Ralph ⋅