catbird’s world

Re: Red Card

Dear Target,

If you really want to help schools, just do it. Don’t make it conditional on whether I sign up for your marketing program (so you can track my purchases). Don’t make it conditional on how much I spend in your store. In fact, don’t make it conditional on me shopping at your store at all.

Just help the schools.

Then have your PR team promote the heck out of your good deeds. Good PR can go a long way, much farther than bribery or blackmail.

Sincerely,
catbird*

*Yes, I really sent this letter to Target, but signed with my name.

A NOTE: Target does other things to help schools that aren’t conditional on people buying stuff.

catbird :: Apr.12.2010 :: customer service, mommyhood, socio-pop :: Comments Off

In the most recent beef recall, mechanical tenderizing drove the e.coli deep into the meat, where cooking might not kill it. That kind of kills the whole idea of the consumer being responsible for cooking out pathogens. Personally, I expect my food to be untainted and safe. Based on the lack of public outcry over continual recalls of tainted food, not everyone does. (By the way, did you know there is also a large recall of hazelnuts right now because of salmonella?)

This very smart blog post talks about why grass-fed beef makes more sense from both a health and financial standpoint.

catbird :: Jan.02.2010 :: food :: Comments Off

Dear Old Navy,

I’ve made you a short To Do list for next year’s online holiday shopping season:

1. Real-time stock updates. If you’ve emailed me that something I ordered is out of stock, I shouldn’t be able to buy something two days later. Better yet, take a note from Amazon and don’t list things in the store that are sold out.

2. Tidier order fulfillment. If I put something in my cart and check out, I should receive it. In your brick-and-mortar store you don’t come up to my cart when I’m paying, take stuff out of my cart, and give it to other people, right? So why do it online?

3. Better shipping notification. Offering free shipping is great, but really good communication about when orders will ship and arrive is even better. If I panic and have to contact customer service to find out if my order will arrive on time, you’re doing something wrong.

4. Start post-holiday sales post holiday. I received email about the Old Navy post holiday sale at about 3:30 AM Christmas morning. Next year, please let me enjoy my holiday before announcing your sale.

But, hey, kudos for how you handled my sold out items. I called and got the sold out items replaced with similar items at the same sale price and free shipping as the original. Nice, but really, I’d rather know what is sold out before I buy it so I don’t have to waste time on the phone with customer service and risk not getting my order in time.

Thank you for taking care of these tasks before holiday season 2010. Me and millions of other online shoppers appreciate it.

Sincerely,
cat

catbird :: Dec.29.2009 :: customer service :: Comments Off

My kids love Lucky Charms. Well, they love to eat the marshmallow Charms… the crunchy Luckys are apparently not so desirable. We* always end up with half a box of cereal-sans-marshmallows that gets tossed out or eaten by me.

So I had this idea. Why not make a replacement box of just marshmallows to add back in to your Lucky Charms after all the Charms are devoured? Perfect, right? You could eat the plain or add the to cereal. Who wouldn’t love that? And I’d call them Fortunate Trinkets**.

*By “we” I mean Anne, who always makes sure to have Lucky Charms for her nieces and nephews.
** Thank you for the synonym, Mason.

catbird :: Dec.29.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

At least once a week, my son comes home from school asking me to collect Box Tops for Education. At his school, the class that collects the most gets an ice cream party. Are schools that desperate for additional funds?

Seriously, if companies want to give money to schools, they should just do it. Not blackmail us into buying their heavily processed food products first before they will donate $.10 per box top to a school.

What’s the point of trying to get healthier foods and more fruits/veggies in schools if at home were encouraged (or bribed with ice cream parties) to feed kids processed food to get these box top things.

I repeat: if companies want to give money to schools, they should just do it.

As long as we have public schools, they should properly funded so that we don’t have to supplement with ridiculous programs like this one.

catbird :: Sep.27.2009 :: food, mommyhood :: Comments Off

At the tweet-request of @msmari, here are 5 things I think Whole Foods is doing right. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think WF is perfect. But I do think it’s miles ahead of other chain grocery stores.

1. Customer Service:
If you read my blog or tweets, you know I’ve had quite a bit of interaction with Whole Foods customer service. WF recognizes customers as key to the company’s survival and therefore treats them with respect, listening to suggestions or complaints and trying to rectify any problems. As a part of the WF customer service plan, they generate a feeling of (dare I say it?) community among customers through feedback channels, in-store events, and general friendliness of the staff. Good customer service is so important to a successful business and WF really gets it.

Where I live (in northern NJ) friendly grocery store employees are few and far between so I really appreciate the friendliness (real or contrived) of the people at Whole Foods.

2. Employees:
For the past 12 years that Fortune Magazine has been generating the Top 100 Places to Work list, Whole Foods has been on it. Ranked at 22, it isn’t the only grocery store on the list. Wegman’s is 5 and Publix is 88 and both of those have been on the list all 12 years as well. Do I think it’s all sunshine and rainbows to work there? Probably not, but they must be doing something right.

3. Local products and suppliers:
Whole Foods is doing a great job bringing in local products and suppliers. In almost every department, there are signs for locally caught, raised, or produced food. Sure, it might be better for me to drive to the various farms or artisan shops to get these products (emphasis on “might”), but as long as we have grocery stores, I’m glad there is one collecting local products under it’s roof for me.

4. Green Mission
Whole Foods has Green Mission Specialists and they actually do stuff. Like listen to customer requests for reusable containers for bulk foods, or setting up special bins for compostable waste in the dining area, or getting rid of plastic containers in the prepared foods area, or… well, you get the idea.

5. Sustainablity
Okay, I know it’s such a buzzword right now, but it is important. Whole Foods thinks about products from “farm to fork”. Might not be perfect yet, but at least they are *thinking* about it.

These are just five things I think Whole Foods is doing right. I’ll reiterate: I don’t think WF is perfect, but I do think it’s the least of all evils with regard to grocery stores.

catbird :: Aug.23.2009 :: customer service, food, green :: Comments Off

We love Whole Foods 365 Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. They are a delicious savory treat.

There is, however, a problem with the packaging. The copy on the back reads: “Snacking is a national past time [sic]“? Really? Snacking is a pastime, and a national one at that. No wonder why there is so much obesity in our nation, we’re all whiling away the hours munching snacks.

What happened to the Whole Foods Education Core Value which says “We can generate greater appreciation and loyalty from all of our stakeholders by educating them about natural and organic foods, health, nutrition and the environment.”

Promoting snacking as a pastime is definitely NOT educating people about health and nutrition. Snacking should be done in moderation when hungry; certainly not to pass the time.

While I know (or at least hope) people aren’t taking life advice from the backs of potato chip bags, I sincerely hope Whole Foods will change the copy on this product to reflect their Values.

catbird :: Aug.10.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

I’m on a quest to find a vitamin for my kids that has less sugar and extra ingredients than the horrible Disney Gummies (or any gummy vitamin) they have right now. (In my defense, Nate can be very persistent. Which isn’t much of a defense.) Luckily, Very Helpful Whole Foods Guy gave me some great suggestions and information. For example, any gummy vitamin will probably have a 2 a day dosage because it’s hard to get all the vitamins in and keep the gummy texture. All the more reason to skip the gummies.

Let’s be clear: I’m not 100% sure my kids need a vitamin but if they do, I am 100% sure it doesn’t need to taste like a candy treat.

First, Disney Gummies.
Other Ingredients:
Corn Syrup, Sugar, Grape Juice Concentrate, Modified Corn Starch, Gelatin, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Natural Flavors, Black Carrot Juice Color Concentrate, Purple Berry Color Concentrate (Maqui Berry Juice Concentrate, Sugar), Annatto Color, Coconut Oil Triglycerides, Beeswax.

Now, other better options.

Just Once Kids One Multistars
Other Ingredients:
Natural mineral or vegetable source fructose, dextrates [a mix of sugars derived from starch], natural orange, pinapple and cherry flavors, vegetable stearine, silica, magnesium stearate, citric acid.

So, these are the ones I chose. The VHWF Guy told me some people have trouble getting their kids to take these, but I was willing to take the risk (Van likes them, Nate hasn’t had them yet). The downside is they’re expensive and not many in a bottle. But on the upside, there is just one color, so no arguments between the kids.

All One for Kids Vitamin Powder
Other Ingredients:
Rice Bran, Lemon Bioflavonoids (Lemon Fruit), Lecithin (as Soy Lecithin), Choline (as Choline Bitartrate and Lecithin), Inositol, Hesperidin Complex (Citrus Fruit), Para Amino Benzoic Acid (PABA), Rutin

This is a vitamin powder that can be mixed with food or juice with no added sugar at all. This is my second choice, although I’m not sure whether adding an additional measure and mix step to my morning routine is feasible at this point.

Dr. Sears Little Champions Fruit Chews
Other Ingredients:
Fruit powder blend (apple fiber, apple and pear powder), apple juice concentrate, evaporated cane juice, maltodextrin [a polysaccharide produced from starch that's absorbed as glucose], calcium citrate, magnesium phosphate dibasic, soy lecithin, sunflower oil, Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid), glycerine, tri zinc citrate, carrageenan, citric acid, malic acid, natural color (friut and vegetable juice for color), natural flavors.

The dosage is two chews for children over 4, but these might be a good options for kids who insist on a chewy texture. (Although these aren’t gummies, they are more like Starbursts.)

And for comparison… Flintstones Complete (not gummies):
Ingredients:
Sorbitol, Dicalcium Phosphate, Magnesium Phosphate, Choline Bitartrate, Sodium Ascorbate, Ferrous Fumarate, Gelatin, Natural & Artificial Flavors (including fruit acids), Pregelatinized Starch, Vitamin E Acetate, Stearic Acid, Carrageenan, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Soybean, Castor), Magnesium Stearate, Zinc Oxide, Niacinamide, FD&C Red #40 Lake, D-Calcium Pantothenate, FD&C Yellow #6 Lake, Aspartame†, Xylitol, FD&C Blue #2 Lake, Cupric Oxide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Sucrose, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Beta-Carotene, Monoammonium Glycyrrhizinate, Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide, Biotin, Vitamin D, Magnesium Oxide, Vitamin B12. Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine

catbird :: Aug.09.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

Here’s the challenge: Every day, pick one food product in your house or at the store and read the ingredients. Skip the nutrition information, just read the ingredients. Then decide whether you want to eat it and/or serve it to your family.

It’s so easy to be caught up in exaggerated health claims, convenience, or flashy marketing (not to mention pestering children) and lured into a purchase. Taking time to read the ingredients (not the nutrition information!) is a way to better understand what you are buying and take a pause from a possible impulse buy.

So take the challenge and read a label before you decide. You may choose yes, and you may choose no, but at least you’ll be making an informed, thoughtful decision. And that’s the most important thing.

catbird :: Aug.03.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

Here’s what happens when I drop the ball on reading ingredients and purchasing thoughtfully: I end up giving my kids really expensive candy fortified with vitamins.

Here are the ingredients for Disney Gummies Princesses:

Corn Syrup, Sugar, Grape Juice Concentrate, Modified Corn Starch, Gelatin, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Natural Flavors, Black Carrot Juice Color Concentrate, Purple Berry Color Concentrate (Maqui Berry Juice Concentrate, Sugar), Annatto Color, Coconut Oil Triglycerides, Beeswax.

Here are the ingredients for Fruit Jammers: Gummy Bears Fruit Snacks:

Fruit Juice from Concentrates (Apple, Pear), Corn Syrup, Sugar, Gelatin, Sorbitol, Malic Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Mineral Oil*, Carnauba Wax*, Colors (Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Yellow 5).

So yeah, almost exactly the same, although, in a strange twist, the fruit juice comes first in the candy and third in the vitamins.

Sure, the vitamins are have, you know, vitamins, but this ingredient list horrifies me. Add to it the fact that gummies stick to your teeth, and — wow — what an awful product.

Oh, and here is the kicker: Disney Gummies Princesses cost $6.99 for 60 vitamins, which is a 30-day supply (for one child) because the dosage is 2 a day. Yes, you read correctly, 2 gummies a day. $7 a month. For fortified candy in the shape of princesses.

Needless to say, I can’t wait for these to be gone and I will never buy them again. Ever. Let’s all be conscientious shoppers and stay away from products like this that have little redeeming nutritional value when compared to the sugar content and branding exposure contained in them.

As a little horrifying gummy side note, when researching ingredient lists, I found a recipe for “YUMMY GUMMY BEAR EGGS”, a combination of scrambled eggs and melted gummy bears. AHHHHHHHHHH.

catbird :: Aug.01.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

Last weekend we went to the local pet store to buy dog food only to find there had been a price increase, from $46 to $60 for a 40 pound bag. Wow, a $14 increase! We purchased a bag, but, out of curiosity, we checked the big chain store for a price comparison: $46. Plus, while we were there, a salesperson gave us a $2 off coupon, making the price difference $16.

I believe it’s very important to shop local. When you shop local, you’re supporting your neighbors who own the business and you’re developing relationships that make your community a better place to live. More of the money you spend stays in the community through profits, jobs, and taxes. Local businesses are more accountable and are more likely to utilize other local businesses. They also hire local people who provide better service to others in the community, who happen to be their neighbors.

No one can deny that shopping at a local merchant is more satisfying than shopping at a big box store. And who wouldn’t rather live in a town with a Main Street full of local merchants rather than next to a highway littered with strip malls?

As satisfying as it is, however, I do have limits. When a book I wanted to get my husband was $30 more at the local bookstore than at Amazon, I didn’t hesitate to buy it online. So, how much more am I willing to spend to buy local? It seems it depends on a number of intangible elements. But I do know I’ll continue to buy from my local merchants whenever possible. Whatever that means.

catbird :: Jun.30.2009 :: customer service, green, socio-pop :: Comments Off

Is this the before or after picture? It doesn’t matter because they look exactly the same.

Today, the friendly Thomasville deliverymen came and took our new chairs away.

We bought two upholstered chairs from Thomasville in April, which were delivered in mid-May. When they arrived, I checked them all over for damage. But it wasn’t until the deliverymen left that I sat down across from the chairs and noticed that the arms were stuffed differently, not just from chair to chair, but, on one of the chairs the two arms were drastically different.

So began my adventure with Thomasville customer service. My call was promptly answered by a real person, who sent me an email requesting photos. I email back photos that same day and immediately received an email confirmation of receipt.

The customer service rep assigned to my “case” said that the problem could probably be fixed by the upholsterer and, if not, Thomasville would replace the chairs.

A week later, not having heard anything, I emailed my customer service rep. With no response, the next day I left a voice mail. The following day, I called the main customer service number finally got my rep on the phone.

Luckily, the news was good. The upholsterer could fix the chairs, although they would have to go back to the warehouse for an indeterminate amount of time. I was even offered loaners! (I declined because the idea of keeping them free of chocolate smears and markers was too stressful.)

So, for now, our chairs are gone to the warehouse, to await the upholsterer. I have no idea how long they will be gone or if they will be repaired correctly. Sounds like I need to make a call.

UPDATE:
After having our chairs for almost three weeks, Thomasville called to schedule a delivery. So exciting! Finally, we would have our chairs back and they would match! I figured since the upholsterer worked on them himself, he would take care to make the arms match on each chair, and also make the chairs match each other.

Oh how wrong I was! The chairs came back looking EXACTLY the same. I am firmly convinced absolutely nothing was done to these chairs and that Thomasville took our chairs as some sort of punishment for complaining. Feeling totally misled and screwed over, I say to Thomasville:

“Do you really think we will ever by anything from you again? Do you really think we won’t tell everyone we know — and everyone we don’t — how horribly we think your furniture quality and customer service has been?”

I was told I would have a call today, but I did not. So tomorrow I have the pleasure to call them.

UPDATE 8/1/09
My Thomasville customer service representative let me know that Joe the Upholsterer is usually very thorough and he couldn’t believe the chairs aren’t okay. Good thing we took photos because everyone agreed that they look no different than before. Joe will come to my house to fix the chairs so we’ll be sure everything is satisfactory. Why didn’t they just arrange that to begin with? Anyway, poor Joe the Upholsterer has had poison ivy, but he is supposed to come Monday. Hum. We’ll see what happens.

UPDATE 8/3/09
Joe the Upholsterer came today to fix the chairs. He is very nice, very competent, and very meticulous. While the chairs still don’t look exactly right to me, they are good enough for me to live with. So I signed the papers. I’m sure I will be the only person bothered by the mismatched arms.

Overall, I was satisfied with the Thomasville service. My two complaints:

1. The chairs never should have shipped looked like that. Really bad QA.
2. The process took a very long time, about 3 months. Way too long to resolution.

catbird :: Jun.12.2009 :: customer service :: Comments Off

We just received our replacement parts for Nate’s Build and Play erector set — all the way from Hong Kong, no less. It cost Meccano $3 in postage to send us four screws… but now we can once again build all the vehicles. Huzzah! (said with just a smidge of sarcasm.)

Meccano was prompt and courteous in their service, which is a refreshing change from Nikko America, which was their previous distributor. I tried to get replacement screws from Nikko America in August of 2008, but I eceived no reply to my email. In November 2008 I tried again, this time calling the Nikko America number on the box. The number didn’t work. My third try, also in November, was another email to Nikko Ameica. This time I got a reply:

As of July 1st, Nikko America is no longer Distributor for Erector sets. Unfortunately we were not given any new information from Meccano as to whom their new distributor would be. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused.

But a few weeks ago I caught a lucky break. A local toy store started carrying the Build and Play sets. I looked on the new box and saw the Meccano URL. I’m not sure why I didn’t go directly to Meccano earlier. I can only think that I tried, but was somehow flummoxed.

Regardless, my email to Meccano was answered within 24 hours and our replacement parts arrived a week later.

Thanks Meccano for your excellent customer service… once I found you, that is.

UPDATE:
I believe Schylling is the US distributer for Meccano. I emailed info at schylling dot com and the very helpful person from Schylling who emailed me back was linda at schylling dot com.

catbird :: May.23.2009 :: customer service :: Comments Off

I buy bulk food from Whole Foods about twice a month and each time I come home with my plastic bag full of rice, beans, popcorn, cous cous, or whatever, and transfer it into a glass jar. Sure, I could reuse those plastic bags for diapers, dog poo, or car trash, despite the light coating of grains and husks that always remain inside. But I always thought it would be great if I could take my own container with me to fill and eliminate the plastic altogether.

A quick call to customer service in the Millburn/Union store confirmed that I can bring my own container and have it weighed first. Having to visit customer service first each time is a clunky solution for both me and customer service. Which is probably why WF doesn’t promote doing this.

The better (really fabulously better) solution, I found out at the Whole Foods live blog, is one implemented by the the Green Mission Specialist at the Whole Foods in Santa Cruz: A program providing Ball jars to customers for a $2 deposit, to be used for purchasing bulk foods. Excellent!

While my emails to the West Orange and Millburn stores, sent through the Whole Foods web site, went unanswered (as of three weeks later. yep. three weeks), my phone call directly to the Green Mission Specialist at Millburn resulted in a quick reply.

Lisa Heimbuch, the Green Mission Specialist in Millburn sent me an email saying she wasn’t familiar with the program but would get more information. I followed up with the name of the Santa Cruz Green Mission Specialist and an offer to help in any way I can. In our last email, Lisa said she’d see about getting a similar program going in Millburn, and also see whether customer service can weigh my containers in the meantime.

Lisa was so enthusiastic and helpful — and seemed genuinely interested in implementing the program. I was impressed with her quick and personable responses, as well as her genuine commitment to the WF Green Mission.

Now for phase two of my plan…. get in touch with the West Orange store Green Mission Specialist.

It would be incredibly great if the second store to implement the Ball jar program was in NJ. Who will do it first… West Orange or Millburn?

Stay tuned!

UPDATE 5/23/09

I received an email from Lisa Heimbuch today about a new program at the Millburn/Union store:

I’m happy to tell you that we have come up with a program for you & your friends to be able to bring in your own containers for use in our bulk department. It’s actually very simple. The only thing you will need to do is to go to our Customer Service booth before you fill your containers. They will weigh the empty container & put two pieces of masking tape on it, one will have the tare/weight of the container & the other is for you to write the product item number on. When you are finished shopping you then will be able to go to any cashier & they will know how much weight to take off of your bulk purchase.

While this is similar to what I was originally told by customer service, I’m excited that it’s being called an actual Program, which means I can count on it every time I buy bulk foods. Maybe I’m irrationally excited about it, but anything that helps reduce the number of plastic bags in landfills sounds really great to me.

I hope everyone takes advantage of this program… and I hope other Whole Foods follow suit. (Do you hear me West Orange?)

catbird :: May.11.2009 :: food, green :: Comments Off

In some cosmic coincidence, on the same day I found out about Disney eggs, I also had to go to the grocery store to get a snack to take to Nate’s school tomorrow. Maybe it was because I had just read about Disney’s new venture into farming, but it suddenly seemed licensed cartoon characters were everywhere.

So there we are, in the dairy aisle of Shop-Rite, looking for some sort of yogurt to feed 11 five-year-olds. No Stonyfield Farms Squeezers. All the other tube yogurts had high fructose corn syrup and corn starch, which, I patiently explained to Nate, is icky and doesn’t belong in yogurt (and yes, I am certain the other shoppers were rolling their eyes). But Nate wasn’t listening….

He picked up Dora smoothies. Then Danimals smoothies. Then Trix yogurt. Then Scooby-Doo yogurt. Our usual Stonyfield yogurt in containers was right there, but Nate was blinded by cartoon marketing. When I nixed all his choices, he moved on to the Scooby-Doo cheddar cheese snacks, which, I’ll admit, we purchased.

Blurring the line between entertainment and food has several implications:

Children get the idea that they need to have their own special food

Media conglomerates have infiltrated virtually every aisle of the supermarket with the intent of marketing products directly to children and to parents who start to believe that they need special “kids food” for their children.

Do we? Not really.

Virtually any product you would buy with a character on it can be purchased in a regular version. Do cartoon characters entice children to eat certain foods? I don’t know. But I do know that kids don’t need to be enticed into eating yogurt, mac and cheese, crackers, cookies, juice, etc.

The imagination monopoly these characters have on our children is perpetuated

Cartoon characters such as Dora, Diego, or any Disney princess appear on any product you could want to purchase: clothes, bedding, toys, video games, books, toothbrushes, furniture, shampoo…. Maybe mealtime is a good place to give kids a break from the media marketing storm.

Our children’s health is impacted through over-processed and additive-filled foods

Take a look at what the “kid’s food” usually is: snacks, treats, yogurt-like products, highly-processed heat-and-eat food.

Of course, now Disney is taking it one step further with their Disney Eggs. I can’t imagine what a Disney Farm is like, but free-range, grass-fed, and organic are not ideals that come to mind. One more giant factory farm feeding chickens corn grown with petroleum-based pesticides. Just what we need. However, I digress. The point is that children don’t need eggs wrapped in Disney packaging and stamped with Disney characters, and cooked in the shape of Mickey Mouse. And as parents, we don’t need to spend the extra money to purchase these eggs. If you have extra money in your budget for eggs, make it free-range, organically fed eggs from a local farm. Please.

Our wallets are hit: branded products and “kid’s” products cost more

Compare the cost of kids yogurt to buying a big tub of yogurt and dishing it out into a bowl (or reusable container for school lunches). (Plus there is the added benefit of less waste.)

Many kids products come in a smaller size but cost the same or more as the regular version. Check out kids yogurt or smoothies or boxes of crackers or cookies for example.

Buying a “kids” version and an “adult” version of the same food just adds additional cost to your food bill.

While it would make life easier if licensed characters didn’t show up on food marketed to kids, I don’t see it happening. And, quite frankly, there are bigger issues with the food system that should be resolved first. But I do agree with Marion Nestle: “If food is nourishing and well prepared, it is entertainment enough and doesn’t need cartoons to entice kids to eat.” She calls for a boycott of food with cartoon characters which, today’s Scooby-Doo cheese purchase aside, I plan to wholeheartedly support.

As parents, we should all strive to feed our children and ourselves the most nutritious food we can. That means food, not “food.” If we take the time to read the ingredients of the food we buy, and, in fact, buy more ingredients to make our own food, we can make the best choices possible.

And even though it can be incredibly difficult to say no to a child clamoring for SpongeBob mac and cheese, Dora smoothies, or, yes, Scooby-Doo cheese snacks, we should fight the battle. While I fully believe it’s okay to say yes to a treat now and then, in daily life we would all be better off taking back control over our food.

catbird :: Mar.29.2009 :: food, mommyhood :: Comments Off

I’m so tired of obnoxious cartoon children breaking the fourth wall to ask my kids questions as a weak attempt at educational television. Do any kids answer? Can TV zombies even talk?

Saying my kids can only watch educational TV is like saying I only let my kids eat organic potato chips.

I don’t expect my kids to learn from TV. TV is not (despite what Noggin wants us to believe) preschool. I don’t think shows have to teach my kids anything. In fact, I think there is something nice about a show that doesn’t teach anything or have any message.

This Juicebox Jungle clip talks a lot about the TV vs. no TV debate, but really, how could I deny my kids TV? I enjoy it and to tell them they can’t watch it but I can wouldn’t be right. It would be like telling them they can’t have sweets while I eat a bowl of ice cream.

In fact, non-educational TV has provided lots of great discussion starting points for me and my children. Josie and the Pussycats: don’t be mean to your friends. Commercials: don’t believe everything you see on TV. Scooby-Doo: being brave can mean doing something you’re scared to do. Tom and Jerry: well, nothing, but it does crack them up. I don’t expect my kids to learn from these shows (that’s what family and school are for), but those are some good life lessons.

What, when, how much? That’s a personal decision for each parent. But let’s not delude ourselves here. TV is entertainment.

And to paraphrase Cookie Monster: TV is a sometimes food.

catbird :: Mar.27.2009 :: mommyhood :: Comments Off

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a sweet and wonderful story — one of my favorites — but does it really need to be made into a movie?

In the book, a boy gets in trouble and thinks his parents don’t love him anymore. After an imaginary trip to live with the other wild things, he gets lonely, and returns home to find his warm supper waiting in his room. His parents do still love him after all.

With Sendak’s charming illustrations, this story is truly a childhood classic. The message resonates with every child: even if you get in trouble, your parents still love you.

Why turn it into a feature-length movie about a boy dealing with “absent father issues“?

Hollywood, are you that hard up for new ideas?

catbird :: Mar.25.2009 :: mommyhood, socio-pop :: Comments Off

Last week at Whole Foods, I couldn’t find my usual Breakstone’s Whipped Butter. A helpful associate (that’s not sarcasm, the people at WF really are helpful) pointed me to 365 Spreadable Butter as a substitute. I guess, like me, this associate mistakenly thought “spreadable” and “whipped” were comparable terms.

Oh how very, very wrong we were.

The 365 label should read “365 Spreadable Butter Spread” since what is contained in the tub isn’t really butter. Here are the ingredients:

Organic butter (sweet cream), organic expeller pressed vegetable oil blend (canola, soy, palm fruit, sunflower and/or flax oil), filtered water, salt, organic soy lecithin (emulsifier), organic flavor (derived from corn).

For comparison, the ingredients in Breakstone’s Whipped Butter (salted) are:

Cream, salt

Did I even need to blockquote that? What is butter? It’s cream, churned up into butter. For salted butter, add salt.

So what’s up with the 365 “butter”? It’s got at least three ingredients on my “avoid eating” list: soy oil, soy lecithin (oooh but it’s organic! Now, that is sarcasm), and corn (see previous comment). This spread is everything that Whole Foods says they are against.

The Whole Foods web site says:

“We search for the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful and natural foods possible because we believe that food in its purest state — unadulterated by artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings and preservatives — is the best tasting and most nutritious food there is.”

Let’s see, this “butter” is processed, not in it’s purest state, and has artificial additives. While it could be argued that soy lecithin and corn flavoring are natural, I’m not so sure. I mean, how much processing does it take to make corn into flavoring for butter? How is that even possible? And, more importantly, why is it needed?

I’m disappointed in Whole Foods for producing and offering this product.

catbird :: Mar.08.2009 :: food :: Comments Off

Lucky me, I have two Whole Foods in close proximity: West Orange, NJ and Union, NJ. While the meat departments are about equal, the butchers are definitely not.

The Good: The West Orange Whole Foods butchers.

These guys know their stuff and aren’t afraid to share it. In fact, sometimes I even think they enjoy sharing their meat knowledge with me, but then again, that might just be my own personal delusion. While they aren’t warm and fuzzy (nor do I expect them to be) they are friendly, courteous, and respectful.

Any question I have, no matter how bizarre, annoying, or strange, is answered without any hint that they find the question to be bizarre, annoying, or strange. Almost every visit, I ask which meat is locally raised, what’s the difference between the cuts, and just how I should cook a bottom round roast anyway. At least once a month I ask about other meat from Simply Grazin’ Farm in Skillman, NJ. Yet, there is no sense that they are tired of my pestering, which, of course, I’m sure they are.

A specific example: Last time I was there I asked (for maybe the bazillionth time) about the local pork. The butcher couldn’t answer my question and called over the Head Butcher Guy who said he said he’d get the information from upstairs. Then, he actually got me information and had it waiting for me when I came back around at the end of my shopping.

The Bad: The Union Whole Foods butchers.

Well, not all of them, just the woman has been helping me for the past three visits. For some reason, I always feel as if I’m interrupting her with my annoying beef needs. With her curt replies and poorly hidden disdain for grass-fed beef, she likes to begin her answer before I finish asking a question. Her favorite response? “It’s all the same.” Which, quite frankly, I find hard to believe.

Her demeanor is so off-putting that it’s no exaggeration to say that I buy less meat when she is “helping” me. On my last visit (see below), I even didn’t buy everything I needed. In fact, she single-handedly cut my meat purchasing by two-thirds. Luckily for our protein intake, the fish guys are friendlier.

A specific example: When I asked for a pound of the grass-fed ground beef, she turned to her fellow butcher and said “I think for lunch I’ll go outside and eat some grass.” To which I replied “It might make you more palatable, too.” Well, I didn’t really, but only because she continued talking.

The Ugly:

Okay, even I’m not snarky enough to comment about the butchers’ attractiveness. And anyway, the real hotties are in the fish department.

catbird :: Mar.02.2009 :: customer service, food :: Comments Off

It’s true. I’m addicted. I update my status at least once a day. I obsessively read friends’ status updates. In the evening, I often leave my computer tuned to “Live Feed” so I can keep up with people while I watch TV. And, it’s true, I have lost hours of my life looking at photos of people I don’t know at parties I wasn’t invited to.

I’m also out there pushing for the Facebook kingpin. “Just do it. Everyone is on there. You’re not cool unless you’re on Facebook.” Okay, maybe not that last one. Maybe.

Being addicted to Facebook isn’t just about the time you spend online. It’s also about how active you are. Some say that Facebook makes people a little too uninhibited and prone to oversharing. Well, okay, maybe that’s true. But I say if you don’t want to know what I’m doing every moment of the day, select “less about Cat” in your feed settings. If you don’t want to know 25 random things about me, don’t read my notes. If you don’t want me to comment on photos of your family, use friend lists. And if you aren’t truly interested in connecting with me, well, don’t friend me in the first place.

The problem, as I see it, isn’t that people overshare, it’s that people don’t know they are oversharing. I’ve read enough private conversations posted on public walls to know that people don’t know I can read their private conversations posted on their public walls. Just like that sloppy drunk at the office Christmas party who thinks everyone wants to see his Xeroxed butt, people on Facebook often forget that some things are best kept private.

If you do nothing else to manage your FB addiction, do this:
1. Use friend lists. Does your old co-worker care about your photos from high school? Probably not.

2. Set your application settings. Are you sure you really want all your friends to know how often you play Scramble? I didn’t think so.

3. Change your photo tag settings. Because, really, just because someone has an incriminating photo of you shouldn’t mean they can tell all your friends about it.

Most importantly, if it’s not in a private message, it means you don’t mind if anyone else reads it.

There is an upside to my addiction, though. As a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM? Some acronyms just weren’t meant to be), Facebook is like my happy hour hangout where I can commiserate with other moms, chat with friends, and yes, when I log on, everybody knows my name.

It hasn’t decreased my real-life socializing, since I wouldn’t otherwise be out with friends. It has, however, given me a low bandwidth way to keep in touch with old friends, continue conversations with current real-life friends, chat with family members I rarely get to see in person, and reconnect with friends that I truly wish I had never lost touch with in the first place. Rather than make me more isolated, it has actually made me more social.

As anyone who has ever celebrated their 21st birthday with a pitcher of red death knows (I won’t name any names), self-control is very, very important. But anyone who has ever gone to happy hour with friends knows a little socializing is good for the soul. I figure, as long as I remember to log off now and then, this is one addiction I’ll keep.

catbird :: Feb.07.2009 :: socio-pop, technology :: Comments Off