Category Archives: Food

The state of breastfeeding in Washtenaw County

By Mark | July 16, 2014

A few weeks ago, after a hard-fought campaign by public health professionals and women’s rights advocates across the state of Michgan, Governor Snyder signed into law the Breastfeeding Antidiscrimination Act (SB 674), essentially giving nursing mothers in our state the right to breastfeed publicly without fear of arrest. In celebration of this fact, I reached […]

Privatization of Michigan’s prison food service industry pays off in maggots, violence and increased corporate earnings

By Mark | July 15, 2014

Rick Snyder, the 48th Governor of Michigan, took office in 2011 pledging to put politics aside, and do what was best for the State. Unlike other Republicans, he said, his intention was not to push a hardline agenda of privatization and union busting. “I don’t believe in privatization,” the self-proclaimed ‘tough nerd’ said in 2012. […]

Also posted in Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Michigan, Uncategorized | Tagged AFSCME, anti-union, Aramark, for-profit prisons, maggots, Muskegon Heights, prison industry, prisoner rights, privatization, Rick Snyder, union busting | 12 Comments

Are iPhones, social media, selfies and other societal trends fucking up the restaurant business?

By Mark | July 14, 2014

My friend Rhonda Crosson, who left a career as a biochemist in Michigan to become a baker in the big apple, recently shared the following from Craigslist NYC. Personally, I suspect it’s fiction, but, as it raises a number of interesting issues concerning how personal technology is impacting the restaurant business, I thought that I’d […]

Also posted in entrepreneurism, Uncategorized | Tagged cell phones, restaurants, Rhonda Crosson, selfies, social media, surveillance, surveillance culture, video surveillance | 14 Comments

Chef Alex Young of the Roadhouse on his work at Cornman farms and the importance of preserving foodways

By Mark | July 7, 2014

In celebration of Zingerman’s making the front page of the New York Times business section this weekend, I thought that I’d post this recent interview I did with Zingerman’s Roadhouse managing partner, and James Beard Award-winning chef, Alex Young. Alex, as you may know, when he’s not serving up “really good American food” at the […]

Also posted in Ann Arbor, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Tagged Africa, Alex Young, American food, Amy Evans, Ari Weinzweig, cattle, Cornman Farms, country ham, Dexter, England, farm to table, farming, foodways, goats, Hilton, local food, local food production, meat, meat production, organic farming, oyster shells, Southern Foodways Alliance, Spaghetti Bolognese, tabby, vegetarianism, Zingerman's, Zingerman's Roadhouse | 5 Comments

Paul Saginaw sets the record straight on employee ownership and participation within an evolving Zingerman’s, contemplates the future without him

By Mark | June 24, 2014

As I suspect most of you know, a few days ago the Business Insider posted an article stating that, in the near future, Zingerman’s would be transitioning to a “worker-owned cooperative”. As you may not know, however, the folks at Zingerman’s quickly came out to say this wasn’t the case. While they were indeed planning […]