GRRRRRR...people are so dumb.

[Guest KrudKarver]

Eric J, others..

no intent to make waves with anyone here..

I am in full agreement with the plight of the small farmer. Monsanto is locking up the market with their "genetically modified" seeds so that yield/acre increases...

guess who gets the bulk discounts on this seed? It's not the small farmer..

I own a small, local coffee roastery, so I'm very familiar with fair trade, local vs foreign, etc. I do ok, but am consistently asked by both retailers (grocery stores, cafe's) and my new customers to bring my prices down because "brand xyz is selling their coffee for $8/2pounds." I happily tell them I could roast up some crappy coffee for them at that price, but that's not the business (and product) I want.. It does take a hard head (and a logical case) to keep my prices where they are.

Thankfully, even in a depressed market (PA), the locals are shifting more towards locally grown/produced/generated goods. Even the regional chain grocery stores say that it's really taking off well now.

Now what we need is a "AmeriMart"..made in usa only!

[Erik J]

Eric J, others..

no intent to make waves with anyone here..

I am in full agreement with the plight of the small farmer. Monsanto is locking up the market with their "genetically modified" seeds so that yield/acre increases...

guess who gets the bulk discounts on this seed? It's not the small farmer..

I own a small, local coffee roastery, so I'm very familiar with fair trade, local vs foreign, etc. I do ok, but am consistently asked by both retailers (grocery stores, cafe's) and my new customers to bring my prices down because "brand xyz is selling their coffee for $8/2pounds." I happily tell them I could roast up some crappy coffee for them at that price, but that's not the business (and product) I want.. It does take a hard head (and a logical case) to keep my prices where they are.

Thankfully, even in a depressed market (PA), the locals are shifting more towards locally grown/produced/generated goods. Even the regional chain grocery stores say that it's really taking off well now.

Now what we need is a "AmeriMart"..made in usa only!

My responses to your comments are nothing more than me voicing my own opinion. My wording is not meant to come off as confrontational in any way. I welcome disagreement to my statements as it helps to expand my own thinking. We probably have more similarities than differences anyway - I also sell food. What I sell is most certainly more expensive than others around me because I choose to make everything from scratch. I buy local, fresh, quality ingredients which makes my business very labor intensive. Sure I could buy canned and frozen, but so can everybody else and that's not my style. I couldn't be happy if I produced something I didn't care about.

So....no waves were felt here. I would love to see more comments on this subject.

[Dr D]

So I guess arab or persian(yes, there is a difference between arab and persian) muslims are buddies with skinheads now?

are the IRA and hezbolah in cahoots as well?

Terrorists claim their actions usually especially religiously motivated terrorist.

the whole point is to let people know why they are so pissed.

Has any muslim group claimed oklahoma city?

Terry Nichols might of come across some muslims but even info on that is very shaky at best. Face it, there are white christians that are very unhappy and are willing to kill as well.

Last I checked the IRA was a political party. AS to their history, they never took it beyond the british who were occupying their country. They were absolutely committing terrorist acts but they don't seem to have a religious mandate to wipe out the entire rest of the world if it won't convert.

I hope you don't think think this about race:nono: its about ideals.

I don't understand the resistance to the fact that we have an enemy that wants to kill us to the last man.

The palestinian israeli thing is understandable its the same scenario as ireland and britain but the current threat isn't about that its about religion.

all religions would like to increase their following but as far as I know the quran is the only one that mandates death to all who refuse to convert. ITs called JIHAD

[bobdea]

I do actually have one somewhere.

the old testament says it's okay to rape a woman so long as you marry her after the fact. all three books have some real unsavory morsels.

I realize there are people who are like this but you can't say it's only muslims as well as you can't say the reasoning is purely based on that we are not muslim. The Saudis who run basically a theocratic government get bombed all the time. The hostility towards the US has as much to with imperialism as it does with religion, it's just easier to make religion the catalyst to get people to do that ****.

Christians are not immune to religious zealotry, even vatican admits that.

Your reasoning on this is how the terrorist mentality starts, by polarizing issues.

for some background watch this but this documentary just scratches the surface http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=881321004838285177

[Steve Prokopiw]

I am a Christian(albeit a struggling one) and yet I could not agree more.

[roscoe]

The palestinian israeli thing is understandable its the same scenario as ireland and britain but the current threat isn't about that its about religion.

actually, I'd say that the current issue in palestine/israel is pretty much the same as the ireland/britain issue - it has much less to do with religion than people think. Really, its all about land -- yes, for religious reasons/history -- but its still all about a land conflict. the current fight is not that jews want to wipe out muslims and the muslims want to wipe out the jews, its about how the 3 major religions of the world have been fighting over the same piece of land for the last 2000 years.

I'm not saying this has nothing to do with religion, obviously the basic motivation to control the land is each group's religious history, but not in terms of a jihad to wipe out the opposition.

[skipuppy]

Just because I am a Muslim and you are a Jew doesn't mean our fight for Monica Lewinsky is a religious one.

I think the conversation has tracked far away from the issue of lower wage worker treatment in the US for positions typically associated with immigrant labor.

[Erik J]

So I'm taking a break at work right now. Crazy busy night - we cranked out a 5 course tasting menu on top of regular menu dining on top of our casual pub menu on top of prep'ing for a wedding on Sat. One of my dishwashers didn't show, no call, no show, nothing - happens to be a gringo - same old BS story. It shifts so much pressure onto the rest of the kitchen when someone doesn't show. I'm trying to plate food while running plates thru the machine for the next course.

I've never had a problem with the immigrants that I hire - never once. I get burned by American workers so much that I expect it now. This pattern has been going on (and getting worse every year for me) for 10 years now. Lame, lame, lame.

Just thought I'd share.

[Justin A.]

So I'm taking a break at work right now. Crazy busy night - we cranked out a 5 course tasting menu on top of regular menu dining on top of our casual pub menu on top of prep'ing for a wedding on Sat. One of my dishwashers didn't show, no call, no show, nothing - happens to be a gringo - same old BS story. It shifts so much pressure onto the rest of the kitchen when someone doesn't show. I'm trying to plate food while running plates thru the machine for the next course.

I've never had a problem with the immigrants that I hire - never once. I get burned by American workers so much that I expect it now. This pattern has been going on (and getting worse every year for me) for 10 years now. Lame, lame, lame.

Just thought I'd share.

Hey Erik...need an extra hand out there? :p ...5 course tasting menu...everything from scratch?? Sounds like my kinda place. When can I start?

[Erik J]

Hey Erik...need an extra hand out there? :p ...5 course tasting menu...everything from scratch?? Sounds like my kinda place. When can I start?

Anytime - especially today!! Tonight we did a fund raising dinner for a cookbook focusing on local foods. I bought everything that I could locally. We had local artists and farmers do a short presentation mid-meal highlighting what they do and why. It was pretty cool. The dinner doubled in size 30 minutes before the start time and with a missing dishwasher things got interesting. We're also in the midst of changing menus from late-autumn to early winter so there's lots of newness for the kitchen to deal with. Things always go well though - we have a great crew - except for the former new guy.