Franklin Matters

Monday, August 22, 2011

"people want convenience"

Much of the expansion of farmers markets has come in the past three years, said Scott Soares, state commissioner of agricultural resources.

Public interest in buying local products "really caught fire," he said. In part, demand seems driven by worries about food safety.

"(Customers) get it here fresh," said Terri Kanief of Boston-based Globe Fish Company, who was in Framingham last Thursday selling seafood. "You don't (know) how long it's been in the grocery store."

Farmers markets give customers a connection to growers and their techniques that they can't find elsewhere, Cole said.

Shoppers also are increasingly conscious of how far their food must travel to get to their table, Soares said.

"Consumers are really recognizing those kinds of impacts that their food choices can make on the environment," he said.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x27462244/Farmers-markets-sprouting-up-all-over-Massachusetts#ixzz1VkVKUGIV

Related post:
Food Pantry grant doubles SNAP dollars at the Franklin Farmers Market
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/franklin-farmers-market-doubles-food.html

product warranties

It wasn’t until 1975 — when Congress passed the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act — that federal teeth were added to consumer warranty protections.

Among other things, Mag-Moss says that businesses offering written warranties to consumers have to clearly disclose the details. Over the years, to flesh out companies’ obligations, the FTC has issued additional compliance guidance in the form of rules, guides, and interpretations.

As part of its systematic review of regs on the books, the FTC just announced it's looking into how Mag-Moss is faring in today’s marketplace. What’s up for consideration? The FTC’s Interpretations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act; rules dealing with written disclosure of warranties, how warranty documents should be available pre-sale, and informal dispute settlement procedures; and the agency’s Guides for the Advertising of Warranties and Guarantees.

The FTC is interested in feedback about the rules' costs and benefits, as well as their overall effectiveness and coverage. If your company offers warranties — or if you can share insights into how warranties are working in today’s marketplace — you’ll want to be part of the conversation.

Read the full posting on the official FTC website here

"A waiver for Massachusetts could lift a burden"

It is a particularly high bar for Massachusetts, whose statewide standards for student attainment are among the toughest in the country. And the consequences of falling short are serious - including the possibility of the state taking over underperforming schools.

Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said in an interview last week that Massachusetts is giving serious consideration to filing for a waiver from the 100 percent proficiency rule, under a new program announced this month by the Obama administration.

“For me, the reason filing a waiver makes sense for Massachusetts is that [the rule] no longer does a good job of differentiating our strongest performers from our weakest performers,’’ Chester said. “We have many schools in the Commonwealth at this point that are failing the federal requirements but are not failing schools.’’

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here

"Economic inequality"

From the Boston Globe comes the stark realities of the gulf between the haves and havenots:

Shoestock, 29, is part of a forgotten economy. While family incomes across Massachusetts have generally risen over the past three decades, the state’s poorest residents have fallen behind. And nowhere have they fallen farther than here in Western Massachusetts, where families in the bottom fifth of the income scale have seen inflation-adjusted earnings drop below 1979 levels, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts economists.

The study paints a stark picture of two commonwealths, in which the gap between rich and poor, east and west is growing. For example, the inflation-adjusted median income of affluent families in Greater Boston has grown 54 percent since 1979, to $230,000 from $150,000 a year, largely due to high-paying technology jobs.

In Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley, where decades of plant closings have left hollowed-out economies, the inflation-adjusted median income of the poorest families fell 24 percent, from $21,000 a year in 1979 to $16,000 - on par with some of the most impoverished parts of Appalachia.

“No real income growth over three decades is what we’re seeing - no improvement in the standard of living,’’ said Michael D. Goodman, one of the study’s authors. “It’s a lost generation of families.’’

Read the full article in the Globe here

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Buddy Greene Classical Harmonica, Carnegie Hall

I do have a harmonica and some day I'll take some time to learn to play. Will I ever play like this? It would be a good goal to do so but this guy can play!

Enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view this video

"real housewives of Norfolk County box"

Despite the gym's opening in June at its current location, 33 Forge Hill Road, the women have been boxing with Keegan for years, and moved from the Adirondack Club without hesitation when she did.

"I didn't think twice about not going where she went," said Rossi, a stay-at-home mother of three in Franklin. Like the other mothers, Rossi explained that boxing is the first exercise that kept her focus and didn't bore her.

Keegan keeps the classes small intentionally, allowing her to make sure everyone has the right form, and she works one-on-one with the women. She is also a licensed personal trainer, and helps the women with nutrition questions and muscle aches.