Elaine's Place » Economy

Supporting Your Local Farmer’s Market

Elaine — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:57:39 +0000

You know what I love about summer? It’s the abundance of fresh produce locally grown by our farmers. Be it a grocery store, Farmer’s Market, or vegetable stand down the street there is healthy fresh food all summer. Even the major grocery stores have a section set aside for ‘locally grown.’

The benefits to your community and health are reason enough to shop and buy local. You have superior taste and freshness compared to a product that traveled 1500 miles to reach your table. Locally grown is sold within hours, still full of nutrients and there’s no comparison in taste. It hasn’t been altered by irradiation in order to prolong shelf life. You’re supporting your local economy by keeping funds within your community. Given a choice why would anyone not buy local? Why would anyone buy fake food over real food unless it’s not available to them? The definition of fake food…if it wasn’t around when your Great Grandmother was alive it’s fake food.

Today on my way home stopped at Sofia’s Produce to pick up corn on the cob for dinner tonight. The corn had been picked less than an hour before. Of course I ended up buying more than corn, mouth watering tomatoes, peppers, blueberries, well you get the idea.

Snapped a few pictures with my iPhone, big thanks to Jodi and her collage maker program for combining my pictures into one.

Recommended viewing: Food Inc., nominated for an Academy Award in documentaries.

Be kind to your body – feed it real food. Move more, eat less, read labels.

Some Staggering Statistics

Elaine — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:10:44 +0000

•    83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
•    61 percent of Americans “always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
•    66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
•    36 percent of Americans say that they don’t contribute anything to retirement savings.
•    A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
•    24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
•    Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
•    Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
•    For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
•    In 1950, the ratio of the average executive’s paycheck to the average worker’s paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
•    As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
•    The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
•    Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
•    In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
•    The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America’s corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
•    In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
•    More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
•    For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
•    This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
•    Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 – the highest rate in 20 years.
•    Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
•    The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.

Source: Yahoo Finance

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession

Elaine — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:48:00 +0000

Updated 7/15/10

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 31 million people currently unemployed — that’s including those involuntarily working part-time and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting.

"The Decline: The Geography of a Recession," as created by labor writer LaToya Egwuekwe, serves as a vivid representation of just how much. Watch the deteriorating transformation of the U.S. economy from January 2007 — approximately one year before the start of the recession — to the most recent unemployment data available today.

If unable to view imbedded video – You Tube link.

Original link: http://latoyaegwuekwe.com/geographyofarecession.html.

Third Young Adults Lack Health Insurance

Elaine — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:38:48 +0000

I hate to see what the numbers are for 2009, I’m sure it’s much worse.

Almost one-third of young adults in their 20s lacked health insurance in the United States in 2008, new statistics show.

The problem was more pronounced among men 20 to 29 years of age, 35 percent of whom went without coverage for medical care. As a result, these uninsured 20-somethings are less likely to visit a doctor on a regular basis, less likely to fill prescriptions and more likely to arrive at the emergency room.

HealthDay

Making Sense of High-Deductible Health Plans

Elaine — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:47:08 +0000

During the open enrollment season for employee benefits, now under way for next year, you are likely to hear a whole lot about Consumer-Directed Health Plans.

You, of course, are the consumer. And you’re being directed to save your employer a lot of money — so much so that many employers are offering workers lucrative incentives to make the switch into a consumer-directed plan.

Should you bite? And if you don’t have a choice — General Electric, for example, is forcing 75,000 of its salaried employees in the United States to choose one of three consumer-driven options — how can you best navigate this new landscape?

via Patient Money – Making Sense of High-Deductible Health Plans – NYTimes.com.

U.S. grads work for free, look abroad

Elaine — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:27:40 +0000

Americans fresh out of university are discovering their expensive degrees are not the entry ticket to a job they had hoped in the face of high unemployment.

Some young graduates are working for free to enhance their skills and bolster their resumes. Some are looking abroad for work while others are determined to push their way into the U.S. job market.

Many U.S. graduates face a further hardship scrambling to pay off loans they took to finance a university education. Many were counting on the higher incomes that college degrees usually promise.

They graduate with an average debt of $27,000 with no means to pay it off and almost 30 percent — or 13.2 million in 2007 — of them are uninsured. One concern is that the graduates will lack the skills they need once the jobs come back.

Lost generation? U.S. grads work for free, look abroad | Reuters

Laid-Off, Walgreens Offers Free Health Care

Elaine — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:32:55 +0000

Washington (dbTechno) – Walgreens has announced that they are going to offer free health care services to those who have lost their jobs and are laid-off.

Walgreens has announced as part of their Take Care Health Systems that they are going to offer these free health care services to help those in need.

The offer is known as the Take Care Recovery Plan, and will be provided at all Take Care Clinics.

They are also working with Quest Diagnostics Inc. to offer free lab testing for patients.

These Take Care Clinics are located in various Walgreens locations.

The plan in place will give free health care to those who need it to help them deal with colds, sore throats, allergies, etc.

It will also help by offering treatment for minor skin infections, minor burns, and other skin problems.

The free health care services will be available on a Monday through Friday basis from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tea, Coffee May Reduce Stroke Risk

Elaine — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:02:28 +0000

Well this is good to know, along with red wine for my heart, caffeine and Mediterranean diet for my brain I just might live to celebrate a 100. Course having enough money to last that long is highly doubtful. Hell having enough money to retire in mid 60’s is looking bleak. Good thing my husband and I both like red wine, caffeine and a healthy diet so we can work till we drop.

Feb. 19, 2009 — The odds of having a stroke may be lower for tea drinkers and coffee drinkers.

That’s according to two studies presented today in San Diego at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2009.

Source:

Top Romantic Restaurants

Elaine — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:41:12 +0000

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner I thought you might like to see a list of the top 10 romantic restaurants compiled by Forbes Traveler. From New York to Chicago to Florida to the vineyards of California there’s something here for everyone, providing you live in one of these cities and can afford the tab. I have to wonder with the economy this year will restaurants see a decline in business? Or will people say “economy be damned” we’re still going out! Click on link at bottom of post to view the slideshow of these restaurants. The top 3 that appealed to me the most were River Cafe, NY, - Everest, Chicago – Etoile in Napa Valley. My husband and I decided NO gifts but we’ll still go out. What about you?

River Café, Brooklyn, N.Y.

A restaurant Gershwin might have used to inspire him to write “Rhapsody in Blue,” River Café’s view of the Manhattan cityscape and its rep for fine cuisine goes back to 1977.

Alex, Las Vegas, Nev.

Las Vegas at its most starry-eyed, very lavish, very grand, very romantic, and Chef Alessandro Stratta cooks in the same glamorous style of haute cuisine.

The English Grill, Louisville, Ky.

With its lovely wood-paneling and stained glass windows and a menu that reflects modern American and European cuisine with flair, the English Grill has for decades been the place to propose or to celebrate an anniversary.

Azul, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Miami, Fla.

The blue-green water shimmers, the silver-yellow moonlight over Miami works its magic, and the food—a mix of Gulf Coast and Pan-Asian cuisine—is exquisitely executed and presented for maximum dazzle.

Terra-Encantado, Tesuque, N.M.

Even the thunderstorms here have a dramatic impact that makes dinner at this stunning new restaurant in the New Mexican desert an experience you’ll never forget with someone you love.

Everest, Chicago, Ill.

No city has a more romantic skyline than Chicago, and from Everest you get to see most of it, and the beautiful great lake too, all the while dining at the same level as the 40 stories up the top of the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Nana, Dallas, Texas

The lights of Dallas and the vast skies of Texas are the backdrop for some of the most creative and sumptuous cuisine in America, while the setting, with very fine Oriental antiques, has a shadowy, sexy appeal.

Etoile, Yountville, Calif.

For pure relaxing enchantment, Étoile, set within the vineyards at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley, is sought out by lovers of every kind, not least lovers of great wine.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, N.Y.

A Hudson Valley reverie of pastoral grandeur, set on a Rockefeller estate and farm, from which Chef Dan Barber culls most of his ingredients for modern American cuisine focusing on the seasons.

Restaurant Jean-Louis, Greenwich, Conn.

Highly personalized cuisine, service as deft as it is discreet, and the intimacy of a small dining room make Jean-Louis a natural for a lovers’ long evening of great food and wine.

Source: Forbes Traveler

German billionaire kills self

Elaine — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:37:19 +0000

I guess being worth $9.2 billion isn’t enough in this tough economy! Somehow I can’t bring myself too feel sorry for the guy when so many are truly hurting and worried about the necessities such as making the mortgage payment and keeping food on the table. At least his family won’t have to alter their lifestyle, something I”m sure they’re very grateful for.

(CNN) — German billionaire Adolf Merckle, one of the richest men in the world, committed suicide Monday after his business empire got into trouble in the wake of the international financial crisis, Merckle’s family said Tuesday in a statement.

Merckle, 74, was hit by a train in the southwestern town of Ulm, police said.

His family said the economic crisis had “broken” Merckle.

He was number 94 on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. He had fallen from number 44 on the Forbes 2007 rich list as his fortune declined from $12.8 billion to $9.2 billion in 2008.

German billionaire kills self, family says – CNN.com