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Friday, June 24, 2011
News Dumpster diver says Trader Joe's wastes too much food
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 8:00 AM
There is a lot to love about Trader Joe's: The grocery store offers lots of healthy, tasty food choices to people who care about those things, and for less money that you might expect. Then there's the fact that the company encourages people to bring their own grocery bags, the loud pop music and the seemingly blissful employees.
But, the company isn't perfect ... not by a long shot.
There's the tomato-slash-wage scandal, there's the reality that many of its products include entirely too much packaging (I about lost my mind over individual bags of organic green tea being plastic wrapped, for example), and, there's this, from Jeremy Siefert on Grist.org:
For many years now, I have fed my family food from the dumpster. It’s not because I can’t afford to shop at grocery stores like other, normal folks. It’s because supermarkets across the nation toss perfectly good meats, cheeses, eggs, and produce into the trash every single day.Some of the smaller stores, however, ditch perfectly edible food into dumpsters. The one I’m most familiar with is Trader Joe’s since it is, as the company’s motto says, my “friendly neighborhood store.” On many nights, my friends and I have filled cars with bags and bags of sprouted-wheat Ezekiel bread, fresh loaves of sourdough, packages of baby lettuce, cartons of eggs, whole chickens, and even a 12-pack of Irish Stout with only one broken bottle.
I enjoyed the fruits of my labor (literally), but think of how many hungry people could have benefited from that food if Trader Joe’s donated it instead of throwing it away. It’s why I started a campaign on Change.org asking Trader Joe’s to adopt a company-wide policy to end food waste at all of its 350+ stores. I hope you’ll join the more than 30,000 people who have already signed my petition.
Read the entire post to find out why this type of waste is such a bad thing for our community, our landfills and for the planet.
More from Grist.org: The indignity of industrial tomatoes
Jeremy's documentary on this topic, Dive!, drops July 19. Here's the trailer:
Editor's note: This issue actually makes me think about this skit from the TV show Portlandia:
Arts Today's Top 5: Friday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 24, 2011 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Suds for Studs at The Men's Club of Charlotte
• Uptown Charlotte Jazz Festival at The Fillmore
• Opening reception for Live and in Stereo(type) exhibit at Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
• Ragtime at Davidson College's Duke Family Performance Hall
• Keith Urban at Time Warner Cable Arena
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Bad Teacher - Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake
Buck - Documentary; Buck Brannaman, Robert Redford
Cars 2 - Animated; voices of Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy
Incendies - Academy Award nominee: Best Foreign Language Film
News Take a walk for equality
Posted By Web Editor on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 2:45 PM
A controversial campaign will be rallying for its rights as participants walk through the streets of Charlotte tomorrow.
The Faith Community Rally Against Homophobia and Transphobia is being held Friday, June 24. This rally is one of many others across North Carolina in attempt to gain support for LGBT supporters. The march is fighting back against the anti-LGBT amendment that NC state legislature is currently deliberating.
Around the Charlotte Convention Center at 4:30 p.m., supporters will march along the sidewalks where the Unitarian Universalist Association is holding its annual meeting,
Local, national and international clergies will be speaking in Marshall Park after the march. Speakers will share their opinion against the legislation that will discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Sponsors for the rally include Time Out Youth, the Unitarian Universalist Association's "Standing on the Side of Love" campaign, Human Rights Campaign, and Equality North Carolina.
The march and rally will be from 4:40 to 6:30 p.m. To give your support visit www.equalitync.org/faith.
— Cannon Miller
Boomer with Attitude / News Afghanistan troop withdrawals: No hope, little change
Posted By John Grooms on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Last night’s speech by Pres. Obama on Afghanistan was the latest disappointment from the Hope and Change President. Personally, I was hoping for a quicker withdrawal from Satan’s Catbox, er, I should say Afghanistan. By quicker, I mean “They’ll all be home by Christmas, bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda has been marginalized, and hallelujah, we won.” Instead, we’re bringing home a measly 10,000 troops by the end of the year (how about by the end of the month, Mr. Prez? Surely they can pack up and get on a plane in that amount of time). The other 23,000 troops who are still there as part of Petraeus’ “surge” will return by the end of next summer, which will leave us with around 68,000 troops and 100,000 military contract workers. So much for a real change in Afghanistan. As Rachel Maddow pointed out last night, Obama’s so-called withdrawal will leave twice as many troops in the Catbox as there were before he took office. On top of that, he plans to leave 25,000 U.S. troops, pretty much permanently, it seems, even after we have officially “withdrawn.”
In other words, we will be spending around $2 billion per week in that hellhole for years, while our economy and infrastructure at home circle the drain. The only word that comes to mind right now to describe Obama’s “plan” is the overused term “insane” — but what else is there to say?
Film / Film News Bad Teacher trailer
Posted By Laura Camilo on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Hasley, a recently dumped, junior-high teacher whose enthusiasm for her profession is eclipsed by her enthusiasm for the blue-blooded Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake). In scheming to score Scott, she finds herself competing with another teacher (Lucy Punch). Opens this Friday, June 24.
Arts / See & Do: The Weekender / News Weekender, June 24-26
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Check out these events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area this weekend— as selected by the folks at
Creative Loafing.
Friday, June 24
The Comedy Zone at N.C. Music Factory
It’s grand opening weekend for The Comedy Zone at N.C. Music Factory, which means laughter is in order. Actor/comedian Rob Schneider — known for his goofy roles in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Hot Chick, Grown Ups and other flicks — to perform.
• Benefit Local pet non-profit charities — Hounds for Heroes, The Coalition to Unchain Dogs and Project Halo — need your help. Suds For Studs, a benefit car and bike wash to generate funds for the organizations, is happening at The Men’s Club of Charlotte. Those attending can have hotties in bikinis wash their rides (the dirtier the better) and watch them splash in dunking booths. A buffet with food and drinks, music from guest DJs and more will also be provided. more...
• Music The smooth sounds of jazz will once again be resonating at the N.C. Music Factory when the Uptown Charlotte Jazz Festival hits town tonight for the second straight year. And this time around, the festival has expanded to a two-day event — plus, it features music from heavyweights like Michael Franks, Marcus Johnson, Jeff Lorber, George Duke, Marcus Miller and David Sanborn, among many other performers. more..
Saturday, June 25
Duke Energy Theatre
Forget the summer-matinee likes of Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz and Johnny Depp: An all-star cast of a different sort can be found populating the new movie Fear of a Black Republican. Filmed over the course of six years, this documentary from filmmaker Kevin J. Williams takes an in-depth look at why so few African-Americans belong to the Republican Party, and it further explores how this discrepancy affects both major parties as well as the country as a whole.
• Music Needing a quick flashback to the ’90s? Then head to the Pavilion at EpiCentre on Saturday night to hear Sugar Ray with lead singer Mark McGrath live in concert. In case you need a refresher, Sugar Ray struck it big with its 1997 single “Fly” from their sophomore album Floored, followed up with several more top 10 hits, including “When it’s Over” in 2001. more...
• Theater Classic Broadway aficionados couldn’t be happier that Will Rogers Follies: A Life In Review is coming to CPCC’s Halton Theater. The show focuses on the story of Will Rogers, famed humorist, performer and quintessential overachiever of the 20th century who had successful careers as a vaudeville actor, movie star, newspaper columnist, touring lecturer and radio broadcaster (just to name a few). more...
Sunday, June 26
Double Door Inn
• Music Charlotte Symphony’s Summer Pops series continues this evening with a program titled "Big Band Bash." Albert-George Schram conducts the concert held in Symphony Park. more...
• Theater There’s nothing like company bankruptcy to put one on the edge. Add to that a failing marriage and the stress-o-meter rises, finally topping off with the discovery of an unplanned pregnancy. Undine, the main character of On Q Productions’ final show of the season, Fabulation or The Reeducation of Undine experiences all of this and more. When forced to leave her highfalutin lifestyle and return to her humble family, she learns a valuable lesson about kinship, love and life. more...
News / Democratic National Convention 2012 Democratic National Convention 2012 Notebook: Will Charlotte’s economy be ready for prime time?
Posted By Mary C. Curtis on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 10:22 AM
The backdrop for Mayor Anthony Foxx was impressive. He stood with other U.S. mayors — White House in the background — after a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday to discuss economic challenges in American cities. Politico included Foxx on its list (along with Philadelphia's Michael Nutter, Oklahoma City's Mick Cornett and Los Angeles's Antonio Villaraigosa) of “regular visitors to the White House.” (Cornett is the Republican.)
It came after a good weekend for Foxx, who, during a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Baltimore, was appointed to the advisory board of the executive committee. He has served as chair of the group’s small business task force.
In the White House meeting, officially and optimistically called “the State of American Cities and Signs of Hope,” Foxx — according to a statement from the mayor’s office — outlined the obstacles of “reducing unemployment rates, increasing government revenues and assisting small businesses secure access to capital.” Foxx used some Charlotte achievements as examples. On the day the mayor met with the president and his advisers, the hospitality services company Compass Group USA Inc., announced plans to bring 200 jobs to Charlotte.
So far, so good for the mayor who has been a visible point person as the Democratic National Convention 2012 team arrives in Charlotte.
Then, a report from the IHS Global Insight research firm had mixed results for the city. It predicted the region would return to its pre-recession employment peak by mid-2014 — ahead of Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas but lagging behind Raleigh and Dallas. Still, the mayor noted that in the first quarter of 2011, 268 new or expanding firms have created more than 2,300 jobs.
With the goal posts set to 2012, 2014 and beyond, it’s easy to look past Foxx’s re-election bid in November, unless you’re the candidate.
This week, Foxx heads to Seattle with Charlotte businesspeople, though it’s doubtful the trip will result in as interesting a photo-op as last week’s New York breakfast with Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes and former Mayor David Dinkins. It takes a convention to bring that trio together.
Mary C. Curtis, an award-winning Charlotte, N.C.-based journalist, is a contributor to The Root, NPR, Creative Loafing and the Nieman Watchdog blog. Her “Keeping It Positive” segment airs Wednesdays at 7:10 on TV’s Fox News Rising Charlotte, and she was national correspondent for Politics Daily. Follow her on Twitter. http://twitter.com/mcurtisnc3.
Film / Film News Cars 2 trailer
Posted By Laura Camilo on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Owen Wilson reprises his role as the voice of Lightning McQueen in this sequel to the 2006 hit. This time, Lightning and his friend Mater head to Tokyo to race in the World Grand Prix. Opens this Friday, June 24.
News Free movie: Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 8:23 AM
Interested or skeptical about living an environmentally sustainable life, or in helping Charlotte to become a "green energy hub"? Then you should check out the free PBS movie airing at CPCC tonight, Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, which is part of its "Journey to the Earth" series.
The documentary is based on a book by Lester R. Brown, who PBS describes as an "environmental visionary."
From CPCC:
Based on the book by environmental thought leader Lester Brown, this documentary reports on the most important environmental and sustainable development issues of the 21st century, and offers audiences hopeful solutions outlining a roadmap to an emerging economy based upon renewable energy sources and realistic strategies.“Plan B” also features case studies that clearly show signs of an emerging new energy economy. Learn how you can become part of a solution that seeks to restructure the economy.
Wanna go? Doors open at 5:30 p.m., the movie will air from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. in Tate Hall in the Overcash Center, 1206 Elizabeth Ave. The event is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Charlotte, and admission is free. Light refreshments will be served.
Here's the trailer (where Matt Damon also calls him an "environmental visionary"):
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