Do you know how animals killed for their fur usually die? By anal electrocution. New York State has just banned this practice, which is widely used in the fur industry because it’s cheap. Though it’s not like they banned fur or anything, which would have been a lot happier for the animals involved. [...]

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You’re a farmer. You’re resisting the giant agro-corporations, who are ready to swoop in and buy up your farm at the first opportunity. You’re fighting to stay afloat in a system that rewards over-production (and under-compensation), forcing you to rely on government subsidies in order to turn a profit. The subsidies are dwindling because of [...]

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At Expo, one can enter the show’s doors as either an exhibitor selling products, a buyer looking for products to order, a retailer looking to make deals, a consumer who’s there to do their own thing, or as a person who is associated with a media source, looking for either a story or to sell [...]

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Does anyone else think this is weird? Check it out for yourself. I know that American Apparel is selling more organic cotton stuff now, though these items are strewn among the shiny gold lamé leggings and unbearably tight tube dresses. So why are they selling Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap? It seems like an odd match [...]

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“We will never offer non-fat milk. It’s not who we are.”
~ Howard Schultz, Pour You Heart Into It
When I was in high school, it was just about the time that coffee houses were becoming popular with my generation. I would sometimes go with my friends, but for the most part, the coffee was terrible, [...]

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Today Ted and I are at Midway Airport in Chicago, hoping and praying that we eventually make it home this evening. So far, we’ve had two flights canceled, and visibility is getting worse by the hour. It’s not looking so hot right now. But, at least we have our healthy snacks, and though I sometimes [...]

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I totally called it: Starbucks couldn’t sustain its organic milk program.
The company is dropping the milk from their stores next month, as I found out yesterday at my local Starbucks. When I asked the barista why, he said it’s because not enough people ordered it. And I’m sure they didn’t, because it’s so damn hard [...]

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After yesterday’s post in which I tore into Batter Blaster, I realized that I couldn’t deny you the above video. I can’t believe the company actually paid for it. At best, it makes the product seem like a SNL joke. Does making your potential customers question the authenticity of your product qualify as a good branding exercise? [...]

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Today I met Ted at a local Whole Foods Market to grab some lunch and do some grocery shopping. As we walked the aisles, Ted noticed a yellow can in the dairy case that said “Organic Batter Blaster.” Can you guess what this product is? It’s pre-mixed pancake and waffle batter that you spray on [...]

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This morning I was reading BoingBoing, and I came across a post titled “Twisted game simulates running McDonald’s.” I always did love The Sims, so the idea of being able to manipulate the inner workings of one of the most iconic (and controversial) American fast-food chains immediately appealed to me. After heading over to [...]

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Kerry’s note: The merger Ted is referring to is the one I wrote about in February. Ted makes some great points, enjoy his post.The Federal Trade Commission, an organization dedicated to among other things “promoting consumers’ freedom to choose goods and services in an open marketplace at a price and quality that fit their needs [...]

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