Nostalgic for 80’s NYC, Longing for Cannoli & Thoughts About NYC Green Festival
Maybe its because I used to drive a cab in Manhattan in the 1980’s when the city was broke and tranny hookers and sex clubs commandeered the late night meat market streets long before the Apple Store, Japanese designer boutiques and oh-so-haute hotelier sprouted from the loins of the 1%. Like more and more of […]
Dangers of Tweeting While Eating Thai Noodles and Pondering GMOs; But Monsanto Still Sucks
A funny thing happened while reading the NY Times opinion page and eating my favorite noodle soup at King of Thai Noodles #2 on Clement Street. (Which Yelp unfairly gives only 3.5 stars but that is an issue for another time). NBN tweeted about a NY Times piece detailing Monsanto’s efforts at convincing Vietnam […]
SPINS Study Shows Strong Growth for Natural Retailers Despite Recession
While we’re still fuming from a study by Stanford researchers , news from the market research firm SPINS reminds us once again that consumers often ‘speak’ and think with greater clarity than the increasingly hazy world of science not to mention what brand managers in Northfield, Illinois, Battle Creek, Michigan and Purchase, New York would like us to […]
Mackey, Obamacare, Fascism and Why He’s Still A Vision for the Future
As anyone who knows NBN understands, we’re not in the habit of defending people who say incredibly stupid things about an incredible simple issue such as national health care. Yet as more and more people consider whether shopping at Whole Foods is like feeding Sheldon Adelson Beluga caviar, it’s important to come to Mackey’s defense even while […]
Austin Business Journal on Whole Foods’ Mackey’s Real Message
Okay its been a busy week and the weekend is here, but before you start blathering your opinions about Whole Foods John Mackey and his blundering book tour at that dinner party tonight, make some time to look at this story in the Austin Business Journal. Read it and perhaps you’ll understand why we still admire […]
Green Cleaning Deal: Ecover Acquires Method
San Francisco based Method was purchased by Belgium based EU leading green cleaning products manufacturer Ecover on Tuesday. The combined company will be the largest green cleaning company in the world. Method transformed the Plain Jane green cleaning category with its trendy packaging and product colors, appealing to everyone from Martha Stewart fans, climate change deniers […]
Organic Study Claims Reasons to Buy Organic are Unclear
While a review of current studies on the benefits of organic food by researchers at Stanford University and published in the Annals of Internal medicine offers a few nods of the cap to organic, primarily less pesticides, they even question the value of this benefit. Really? As noted in CNN the report states that “no studies have […]
Lawsuits Over ‘Natural’ Claims More about Predatory Lawyers Than Consumer Clarity
If you haven’t been following the details about the many lawsuits against a slew of food giants ranging from General Mills to ConAgra and Pepsico you might be mistakenly excited over a new era requiring honesty in food labeling. Yet most of these have less to do with consumer rights and more to do with […]
Is Peet’s Coffee A Billion Dollar Baby?
While some believe Peet’s is a sweet billion dollar deal for the German JAB Holdings, NBN has some doubts. Yet the price for Peet’s might get even higher. Bloomberg News reported that some investors think Starbucks is considering making a rival bid to keep the Northern Californian based coffee company from making the struggling coffee giant’s headaches even […]
USDA’s Alfalfa Policy is For the Birds, Where Monsanto Rules the Roost
The ruling by the USDA allowing the use of Monsanto’s genetically modified Roundup Ready alfalfa reminds NBN of breakfast meeting with Thai rice farmers sponsored by the fair trade certified Transfair trade and fair trade food marketer Alter Eco. Farmers that had been growing rice for many centuries were persuaded by the government to utilize […]