Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mmmmm Good - Roti on Georgia Ave

Some of my favorite roti........ channa and potato at Rita's on Georgia Ave, NW, Washington, DC. Trinidadian roti is different from Indian roti - one Indian friend of mine can't relate at all to a roti as a sandwich, as in the first photo. She says she never saw anything like it. Clearly something was adapted in Trinidad which has a large Indian population - brought to the Caribbean as indentured servants. Another example of glocal or lobal - thinking globally and eating locally. Don't forget the hot sauce!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Bengies Drive-In Theatre In Baltimore County

Not organic, not completely cheap but a very good deal........ and my friend Rich's favorite theater!

Bengies Drive-In Theatre has been owned by the same family since it opened in 1956.

Drive-in theater a throwback to the '50s

Story Highlights
Bengies Drive-In Theatre hasn't changed much in its 53-year history
Owner says he's often surprised by children's fascination with drive-in
Each night features a double feature; admission is $8 a person
Onslaught of light pollution has been challenge to theater owner, moviegoers

By Bethany Swain
CNN

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- You know you've arrived at Bengies Drive-In Theatre when you first see the giant movie marquee, announcing the features showing that weekend. Each letter has to be placed and adjusted by hand, as it did when the theater first opened.

"As far as the operation of the drive-in goes, I'm kind of a die-hard. I try to make it run the way it did, to bring a little bit back of the '50s. ... the integrity and the innocence of that age," says Bengies owner D. Edward Vogel, who claims to have the largest outdoor movie screen in the country at 52 feet by 120 feet.

Vogel has spent most of his life trying to maintain the feel and charm of the Baltimore, Maryland, drive-in movie theater that his family opened in 1956. Vogel wants moviegoers to have the same experience as he did when he went to his family's outdoor theater as a child, although he knows that people today have many more entertainment options.

"Sometimes I'm actually taken aback with the amount of children that are fascinated with this," says Vogel. "Thinking of what their options are, with modern devices and videos and all that, that they are so taken aback . with what happens here."

Vogel started learning, at age 9, the secrets of running a movie theater from his father, Jack Vogel. He has worked tirelessly since to maintain the theater as it was in its glory days. Vogel even operates the same machines that he did as a child; the projection room is filled with the original projectors, which Vogel cleans and cares for each night.

And for each movie, threading the film is a complex process far removed from the simplicity of inserting a DVD into the player that we know today. Once threaded, the film spins around as each frame follows an intricate path from the tray, to the projector, until it is shown on the gigantic screen. Watch the drive-in come to life »

The scene immediately invokes a feeling of nostalgia, reminding us why they were called "motion pictures" way back when. Yet, Vogel is quick to tell you that keeping the 53-year-old business alive hasn't always been easy.

At Bengies, each night is a double feature, so guests can see at least two movies for $8 a person. Vogel estimates that Bengies makes 40 percent of its revenue from ticket sales, and the rest comes from concession purchases. There's a strict "no outside food" policy, and he's open about the fact that the food sales help keep the business open.

The waterfront property would be more profitable as condos, he says, and his father planned to build them before Vogel took over the theater in the 1980s. He was only able to avoid closing by cutting costs and staff.

"My parents had a union operator in the booth, they had a manager, they had a concessionaire. I am all of those things, so that has changed," Vogel says.

Vogel even acts as the host. Known only as "the voice" to his audiences, he starts each night by using the theater's speaker system to welcome everyone to his venue.

"When you see the sun setting, and the shadow being cast on that screen, no matter what has happened during that day, good, bad or indifferent, I become a different person when I turn the microphone on."

Besides the challenges of being a small business owner, Vogel's efforts to maintain the integrity of the movie-going experience is challenged by another intrusion of this modern world -- light pollution.

Between car headlights and brightly lit businesses nearby, a once-dark sky is now polluted with obtrusive light. Bengies asks that drivers turn their headlights off when entering the grounds of the theater. But over the years, it has been the outside light from other businesses that bleeds into the surrounding sky, making the giant screen hard to see.

For solutions to such predicaments, Vogel turns to the owners of other drive-in theaters that have managed to survive since the 1930s. He is an active member of a drive-in theater owners association and is working with other owners across the country to support each other.

"They would all have easier lives if they opened Laundromats in the right location, but they don't. They endeavor; there is a passion about it," Vogel says.

It is a passion that his audience seems to appreciate.

As the sun lowers in the sky and eventually sets behind the screen, the ticket booth is opened on a Sunday night in autumn. People make the trip to the last drive-in theater in the Baltimore area. They set up their chairs, and some sit in their classic cars to enjoy the show.

It's an experience Vogel hopes to keep around for generations to come.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/05/aif.bengies.drive.in/index.html

Bengies' web site -
http://www.bengies.com/

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Know Your Farmer In The Global Organic Food Market

From IndianExpress.com -

Coming soon, system to trace all Indian organic food to source farms

Surbhi Khyati Posted online: Monday , Oct 05, 2009 at 0437 hrs

Lucknow : In a few months, a consumer in the European Union should be able to trace an item of organic food on his table to the specific bit of farmland in India that produced it.

The Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which works under the central Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is set to launch, in January 2010, a nationwide system of traceability for organic food items.

“It is next to impossible to physically monitor all farmers in the country. Hence, the need for a system-based approach was felt. With the traceability system, which will actually be a massive online database containing real time information on production and export, we expect to make our system a lot more credible,” S Dave, Director, APEDA, told The Indian Express.

“We received some complaints about the certifying bodies of organic products who were accredited by us. On investigation, we found some of the land certified as organic farms were never visited before certifying. With this system in place, farmers will not only put their farming details and practices online, the certifying body too will need to put in the latitude and longitude of the farmland, which will be verifiable on Google Earth.”

The system was tested successfully in grapes in 2005-06, Dave said. “After this, the price of grapes shot up in the international market from 8.5 euros per case to 11 euros, and exports grew five times. We were also able to trace one out of 35,000 farmers who was dubious.”

“Now we will be introducing this system for around 4 lakh organic farmers, and will closely monitor not only the farmers and exporters, but also the certifying bodies.”

India, Dave said, will be the first country in the world to implement the traceability system at a national level. “We are planning to showcase the system at Biofach 2010 in Germany. Biofach, the world’s largest organic trade fair, is the gateway to the global market for organic products,” he added.

To prepare the stakeholders for the launch of the traceability system, APEDA is conducting capacity-building training programmes at 30 centres across the country. “We will also establish a call centre once the system is launched to assist the farmers,” said Sudhanshu, Assistant General Manager and in charge of IT and the traceability system.

Explaining the mechanism of the traceability system, Sudhanshu said: “Small farmers will come together to form an Internal Control System (ICS) which will get a unique identity and password in our system. The ICS and the certifying body will be responsible for putting all information about the product online, including the farmer’s name, farm size, production mechanism and practices followed, along with the longitude and latitude of the farm. This will enable importers worldwide to verify on Google Earth the location from where the product has originated, and get all details of the product.”

The same will be applicable to exporters and traders, so that any faulty product can be immediately traced to its origin, he added.

“Globally, the market for organic food is $40 billion, of which India’s share is a mere $123 million. The traceability mechanism will get farmers a better deal and build trust in European markets, where 70 per cent of our products are exported,” Dave said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/coming-soon-system-to-trace-all-indian-organic-food-to-source-farms/525106/

On the search for organic and cheap in Washington, DC - a city known as high budget. How low can a family of four reduce the food budget? Is organic food possible on a budget? What ways can the rest of the monthly budget be reduced while striving for healthy, fresh and organic products? Let's also throw in low carbon footprint, fair trade and cruelty free goals. And/or maybe it is the other way around - I am the DC organic and cheap shopper! I am organic, cheap and I have lived in Washington, DC, for 20+ years. I do travel and even on the road I am the DC organic and cheap shopper. So big picture and minute details can be found here. Thanks for reading!

FTC Sets Endorsement Rules for Blogs

By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Bloggers who offer endorsements must disclose any payments they have received from the subjects of their reviews or face penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday.

The agency, charged with protecting consumer interests, had not updated its policy on endorsements in nearly three decades, well before the Internet became a force in shaping consumer tastes. The new rules attempt to make more transparent corporate payments to bloggers, research firms and celebrities that help promote a product.

"Given that social media has become such a significant player in the advertising area, we thought it was necessary to address social media as well," said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the division of advertising practices at the FTC.

Consumer interest groups have long complained about the lack of disclosure. They say consumers often have no way of telling what corporate payments have been made to bloggers writing on parenting, fitness, dieting and financial services sites, for example.

Consumers Union, a nonprofit advocacy group that publishes Consumer Reports, launched WebWatch.com to monitor bloggers' ties to corporate sponsors. But the group shut down the site earlier this year after it ran out of funding.

"The revised guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement," the FTC said in a release. "Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

Rick Calvert, chief executive of the blogger conference BlogWorld & New Media Expo, said his organization believes bloggers should disclose compensation they receive from companies they write about, including when they receive free products.

But he said it would be difficult to enforce the FTC's policy with "tens of millions of blogs, podcasts and other forms of new media content out there and growing every day." And he said bloggers are divided about the rules, with some finding it perfectly acceptable to accept products without disclosure.

The new guidelines also affect how advertisers use studies by research institutes they help fund. Any financial ties must now be disclosed when companies cite the findings of a research organization they fund.

"We have for years tried to get the FTC to adopt fair disclosure of ties that provided financial support for studies that were submitted" to agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst at Consumers Union. "It's fine to submit those comments, we just absolutely believe they have to disclose if there are financial ties that led to the writing of those reports."

Punishments for violations will range from a warning letter to a fine of up to $11,000 per violation.

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