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The WaPo chronicles the demise
of "healthy" items at restaurant chains.
The national restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday added a low-fat Blueberry D'Lite yogurt parfait to its menu more than a year ago to capitalize on the apparent growing appetite among consumers for healthful fare. The parfait joined more than 40 better-for-you offerings, along with listings of calorie and fat contents for everything on the menu. … But diners didn't bite. So Ruby Tuesday has eliminated the Blueberry D'Lite, along with several other healthful dishes ditched after a lengthy period of slumping sales at the chain. Calorie and fat information was dropped except on the healthful items that survived and were moved to the back of the menu.
Not that I care what happens at Ruby Tuesday; I've been to one in Portland, Maine, and one in Orlando, Florida, got crappy service and mediocre food both times, so I won't be back. Other than that, however, when reading the article … it's like they're looking over my shoulder when I dine out. I think (or maybe I'd like to think) I'd look for healthier restaurant food if I did it more often. But if it's a once-a-week thing, I'm usually successfully tempted to spend my money on something I'll really enjoy. Which usually means something with lots of calories, fat, and salt.
- I usually have a less-than-ideal shopping experience
when I go to the local Wal-Mart, but (unlike Ruby Tuesday), I
always go back; good prices and decent
selection trump their inept and surly staff. (But, hey, if you
work at Wal-Mart, I'm sure I'm not talking about you. I've probably just
been unlucky.)
And I'm glad to
have Wal-Mart as an option. A good column
at Tech Central Station my Ryan Sager details how the good citizens of
New York City are being protected against the evils of Wal-Mart.
What Wal-Mart's opponents can't win through organizing or in the marketplace, it seems, they now seek to achieve through the raw exercise of political power.
Read the article to find out how that works, and how it works to the ultimate disadvantage of the little guys. (You mean the leprechauns? Why, yes I do.)
- Also at TCS, an excellent essay from Tim Worstall on
the proper attitude toward politicians:
My reaction to politicians tends to wander around a little between what I consider to be the only three possible options. Laugh at them, ignore them, or experience a (so far repressed) desire to have them tap dancing on air from the nearest lamp-post.
Read the whole thing, and then …
- Repeat after me: "Interfolded delicatessen paper."