Yes, that’s right. One company is bringing jobs back to Detroit and electronic manufacturing back to the US and seeing great results. Element Electronics has begun manufacturing a line of LED tvs in the Motor City, bringing hundreds of jobs to many former assembly line autoworkers in the depressed capital. The line, which comes packaged in a box emblazoned with the American flag, is sold out until the end of the year.
I’m sure you’re assuming these televisions are more expensive than those produced overseas, but you should be pleasantly surprised to know you’re wrong. Element executives say that even though labor costs are higher, lower tariffs and transportation costs help stateside tv production make economical sense. And as said previously, people don’t seem to be dismayed by the price tag at all.
With enough success, hopefully consumers can sway Element to bring all their production to Detroit – and persuade other companies to do so as well!
Watch the NBC News segment on Element and their Detroit factory:
Fast Company is in the midst of their first ever “Jerky Week”. Their first interview is with New Jersey’s SlantShack Jerky‘s COO David Koretz. Read his interview and see the excerpt to see how he wants to bring healthy, artisanal foods to the masses.
“Your company’s mission is partly to take the values of the artisanal food movement, but to try to scale it and make it more widely affordable.
So much food is over-processed stuff. You look at the ingredients list, and it’s like going through a chemist’s laboratory. Artisanal food is great, but the question is, who is it serving? How can you get this well-made product on shelves not just at Whole Foods but also at the corner bodega, or in a food desert? Artisanal products are expensive. Well-made food is expensive; well-made anything is expensive. One question is, how can you create efficiencies? Also, we have different meat offerings at different price points: standard USDA industrially produced meat, and also 100% grass-fed beef.”
This debate may put New England locavores between a rock and a hard place. Who do you support? Whole Foods or local fisherman? The debate: Whole Foods in New England have stopped selling local catch that they consider to be not sustainably/over-fished. Unfortunately for many local fisherman who were supplying the green chain, this is bad news, as gray sole and skate, common catches in the region, are on WF’s blacklist. And if Whole Foods isn’t buying, your business could be hurting.
Whole Foods defense: It’s doing its part to address the problem of overfishing and help badly depleted fish stocks recover, using ratings set by the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Gray sole, skate, and the ever popular Atlantic cod are all on the list – and all common catches for New England fisherman. In fact, New England’s Atlantic waters are some of the most overfished regions. And Whole Foods is not the first to make this decision. BJs Wholesale Club is planning to sell only sustainable seafood by 2014. What does this mean for small fishing businesses?
Read the rest of the article from the New York Times. Who do you side with?
I’m a big TED talks fan. This talk by Mark Bittman is from 2007, but still extremely relevant 5 years (where does the time go!?) later.
New York Times food writer and author Mark Bittman discusses what he thinks is wrong with food today. Great summary of food in the U.S. and what we can do to be healthier and more efficient and productive with food.
NPR Morning Edition, ‘New Rules For Everyday Foodies’ aired on April 16th. Tyler Cowen, author of An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everday Foodies, was interviewedand to think that eating local is better for the environment, etc.
Some interesting ideas on what to eat. Do you agree?
Millenials – love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re here to stay and changing the world as well. Yes, they’ve forced the banning of texting while driving and pushed words like “LOL” into the Oxford English Dictionary. But they’ve forced some other changes which are much, much harder to hate on. Like the 4 eating habits that Millenials have adopted that are changing the way all of us eat. These are:
Healthy Options and Performance Eating For for a Multicultural Society Sensitivity to Food Allergies
…and our favorite, Ethical Eating. This references millenials concern with food production and ingredients (think organic and whole foods), and that “millennials value their communities” (think local). Just look at the rise in popularity of farmers markets among 20 and 30 somethings. It’s evidence that this generation is aware of the power of their dollar.
Check out the short article linked above to learn more about how millenials are making our dietary habits healthier, broader, and safer for ourselves and the planet.
