The parade is over and the table is all set:
"As the cleanup and rebuilding continue, the gatherings have been a place to give thanks."
"Living on food stamps, two bananas at a time" November 28, 2013
In an increasingly stratified economy, City Councilor Tito Jackson recently lived for one week on the amount given to food stamp recipients: $4.50 a day.
How much does a Happy Meal cost?
“For breakfast, I had Cheerios; for lunch, ramen; for dinner, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Jackson said. He acknowledges that the diet was far from healthy. “When I went to go purchase food, my biggest concern was not health. It was: ‘Am I going have enough for the week?’”
This summer, US Representative Jim McGovern did the same. The Worcester congressman ate brown rice, pinto beans, canned tuna, and frozen vegetables, said Michael Mershon, his aide. “I was walking behind him with a calculator saying, ‘You can buy two bananas, but not three,’ ” Mershon said. The lesson? “It’s really hard to be poor. It takes a lot of thinking and planning ahead.”
The good news is that demand for food stamps is leveling off as the economy recovers. Still, as the income gap widens, it is useful for elected officials to get a taste of what it is like to live on food stamps. Everybody in office who will vote on this issue ought to do so.
Yup, nothing you can do about that widening income gap.
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Related: Stimulating Food Stamp Post
Must be why I'm still feeling hungry.
"Gluten-free and vegan meals fattening profits" by Candice Choi | Associated Press, November 27, 2013
NEW YORK — Three types of stuffing will be offered on Stacy Fox’s table this Thanksgiving: traditional, gluten-free, and vegan.
There will be steak for people who don’t like turkey. No eggs will be used in the latkes, or Jewish potato pancakes. And the sweet potato pie will be topped with vegan marshmallows from a health food store.
I'll pass on that dish.
‘‘My life used to be simple,’’ said Fox, who’s entertaining 18 guests in Suffern, N.Y.
Across the country, tables will be set to accommodate everyone from vegans and vegetarians to those trying to eat like cavemen. The increasingly complicated feasts reflect the growing ranks of Americans who are paying closer attention to the food they put into their bodies.
See: Looking Forward to This Thanksgiving
The reasons vary. With two-thirds of the US population overweight or obese, many find rules help ward off temptation. Or people steer clear of ingredients such as dairy to alleviate bloating or to boost energy. Others worry about the long-term effect of artificial dyes, preservatives, and antibiotics.
While dietary quirks may seem like a mere curiosity, they’re reshaping the food industry. Sales of organic packaged foods rose 24 percent to $11.48 billion over the past five years, according to the market researcher Euromonitor International. Gluten-free packaged foods, for those who are sensitive to wheat, more than doubled, to $419.8 million. And the broader market of packaged foods for people with intolerances of things like wheat, dairy, and sugar rose 12 percent to $2.89 billion.
With gluten-free varieties of Chex cereal, General Mills says it was able to reverse years of declines and get sales growing again. This year, its sales are up 6 percent from the same time last year.
Hillshire Brands has expanded the number of sausages and meatballs made without antibiotics under its higher-end Aidells brand, a bright spot for the company. And sales of Tofurky, the tofu-based turkey alternative for vegetarians, have grown each year since it was introduced in 1995, said founder and president Seth Tibbott.
When Tofurky was rolled out, only about 500 were sold in health food stores in Portland and Seattle. This year, Tibbott expects to sell about 350,000 of the loaves.
‘‘People do say it’s close to turkey,’’ Tibbott said, noting the company has worked to achieve the hint of gaminess that distinguishes turkey from chicken.
Still, many remain Thanksgiving traditionalists. Some with dietary restrictions find they still must make concessions when eating at relatives’ houses....
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Time to go shopping:
"Thanksgiving shopping quickly becoming a tradition" by Taryn Luna | Globe Correspondent, November 27, 2013
Bargain hunters eager to score holiday shopping deals may want to eat their turkey dinners on the run Thursday. Stores will be open in much of New England and the country, with some offering doorbuster discounts even before the sun rises.
Thanksgiving day shoppers can hit New Hampshire Kmarts at 6 a.m., swing by the Old Navy in Nashua at 9 a.m., and roam the aisles at a Walmart any time; the chain’s Granite State locations will be open 24 hours on Thanksgiving. Similarly early starts will play out in Connecticut and Vermont. But not in Massachusetts, where ancient Blue Laws keep retailers from opening on the holiday.
A few major chains, including a couple based here, are resisting a trend that threatens to turn Thanksgiving into another shopping day. The companies say they place more value on family time than expanded store hours.
“It’s commercialism and consumerism to a point we’re not willing to endorse,” said Laura Sen, chief executive of BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. “Call me old-fashioned, but I think Thanksgiving is a lovely holiday and not the time to be shopping.”
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Shopping on Thanksgiving is quickly becoming a tradition.
I'm watching football.
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Consumers are also skeptical of retailers’ motives for staying closed until Friday morning. For certain companies, they say, taking a pass on the opportunity to attract Thanksgiving business is more about being practical than altruistic.
“They weren’t going to be busy anyway,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm in New York. That means they have less to gain by adding hours and incurring additional operational costs on Thanksgiving.
BJ’s tried a Thanksgiving opening in 2006 and found customers didn’t respond enthusiastically.
Regardless of the underlying reasons why some retailers are opting out of Thursday openings, Cohen said it gives them a chance to say they cherish family values and win the favor of consumers who don’t want to disrupt long-practiced holiday routines.
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More frequently, anti-Thanksgiving-shopping advocates are making their views known through social media networks. Jordana Bishop of Raynham started a Facebook group called “Boycott Shopping on Thanksgiving Day.” The group’s page plays off Santa’s “naughty or nice” list by assigning retailers to one of the two categories based on whether they plan to be open or shut. Bishop said people should realize that when they patronize stores early, it means workers stocking shelves and manning registers are losing out.
She worries the trend might spread to Christmas and other holidays.
Then I can buy the gifts I intend to hand out the very same morning! Awe$ome!
“I honestly get so sad thinking about all the people that are going to miss out on their Thanksgiving,” Bishop said. “That family time is gone now.”
Change.org, an online petition platform, had posted more than 227,000 signatures by late Tuesday asking stores to remain closed on Thanksgiving. One petition specifically targeting Simon Property Group.
Cohen said some brick-and-mortar stores started creeping into Thanksgiving Day as a defensive strategy in response to a surge in Internet sales on the holiday.
“If you were the CEO of any retailer and you didn’t open [on Thanksgiving], but all the others did and they had good business, you better have a really good excuse for it,” Cohen said....
Whadda ya' mean closed?
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Related: Best Buy simulates Black Friday to prepare staff
Also see:
Holiday travelers in Mass. could face lengthy delays
Snow causes more than 100 crashes in Maine
Travelers endure busy day on roads, rails
Patriots hand off turkeys — without a fumble
Thanksgiving comes early at TD Garden
Jessica Simpson celebrates Thanksgiving in Mass.
Fire officials warn Thanksgiving cooks
Related:
"71 years ago on Thursday, the most devastating building fire in New England history occurred. It’s a tragedy that has been embedded in Boston lore, but one whose exact site remains unknown to nearly all but neighbors and zealous history buffs."
Also see: Firefighter is hurt falling through floor
Time for some pie.
