by Christopher Paul on July 29, 2014 National Geographic did some research into what hunger looks like in America today:
In the United States more than half of hungry households are white, and two-thirds of those with children have at least one working adult—typically in a full-time job. With this new image comes a new lexicon: In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where, sometime during the previous year, people didn’t have enough food to eat. By whatever name, the number of people going hungry has grown dramatically in the U.S., increasing to 48 million by 2012—a fivefold jump since the late 1960s, including an increase of 57 percent since the late 1990s. Privately run programs like food pantries and soup kitchens have mushroomed too. In 1980 there were a few hundred emergency food programs across the country; today there are 50,000. Finding food has become a central worry for millions of Americans. One in six reports running out of food at least once a year. In many European countries, by contrast, the number is closer to one in 20.
It is not what I thought it was. In fact, I can’t say I even had an idea of what to expect because you don’t even think that with the abundance of food, the U.S. would have people starving because they can’t afford even processed foods. And the physical appearance is also deceiving; many of those who go hungry are over weight because what little food they do eat is not all nutritional.
by Christopher Paul on July 29, 2014 by Christopher Paul on July 29, 2014 by Christopher Paul on July 28, 2014 The New York Times wrote up an interesting story of how the two biggest coconut water companies have battled it out for the top spot in a $400m market.
Michael Kirban, who with a buddy founded Vita Coco, and Mark Rampolla, who founded its archrival Zico, happened to start selling nearly identical brands, in the same neighborhoods of New York City, at almost the same time — a week or two apart, in late 2004.
Those in the fray called it the coconut water wars. Each side quickly bulked up with sales teams and tried to win over Manhattan, one grocery store and yoga studio at a time.
The fighting quickly got ugly. It included simple acts of retail vandalism, like tossing the competition’s signs in the garbage, as well as attempts at psychological point-scoring that could charitably be described as sophomoric. Mr. Kirban sometimes placed a container of Zico beside a sleeping vagabond, took a photograph and then emailed it to Mr. Rampolla. And on more than a few occasions, the Zico sales force showed up outside Vita Coco’s offices, then near Union Square, and handed out free Zico samples.
I never knew that New York City is where the trend (as well as other major beverage brands such as Vitaminwater, Snapple and Arizona) got its start. Another fascinating tidbit is that these companies got started by going to bodegas at night and negotiating with the owners directly to stock their product. It makes me wonder if I’ve seen (or bought) the next big trend or brand without knowing it.
by Christopher Paul on July 28, 2014 My dreams are coming true!
The Simpsons and Family Guy have a crossover episode! From the About page of the video:
In the special hour-long episode, The Griffins become sidetracked and find themselves in Springfield, where they make fast friends with The Simpsons based on their obvious similarities. But said similarities threaten to tear Peter and Homer apart when an argument over accusations that Peter’s beloved Pawtuckett Patriot beer is nothing but a lesser knock-off of Homer’s equally-beloved Duff (Peter: “It may have been ‘inspired by’ Duff, but I’d like to think it goes in a different direction.” – GET IT???) escalates into a citywide brawl. Also glimpsed in the footage: Bart and Stewie have… “different” interpretations of a prank phone-call, and Peter teaches Homer how to do a cutaway gag.
In fact, there will be two crossovers — a Simpsons/Futurama episode as well:
Simpsons Guy Will actually be the first of two crossovers for the iconic animated family – a subsequent November episode of their own series, titled “Simpsorama,” will see them encounter the time-traveling cast of Futurama.
Can’t wait.
