The Dark Side of Dollar Stores

The Dark Side of Dollar Stores

January 20, 2019
Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.

Dollar stores have experienced tremendous growth since the Great Recession. Once perceived as low-cost options in economically depressed areas with few, if any, grocery stores, they now emerge as aggressive business ventures that perpetuate inequality and segregation.

Certain communities have started to push back against the proliferation of these stores.

Video Spotlight: Don’t buy these foods at the dollar store

This post is based on the CityLab article, The Dollar Store Backlash Has Begun, by T. Misra, December 20, 2018; and on the YouTube video Don’t buy these foods at the dollar store, by Mashed, November 12, 2018. Image source: ljupco/123RF

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of dollar stores?

Guidance: The primary advantages include: a) offering inexpensive grocery items in low-income communities, b) providing a variety of low-cost staples, c) hiring in depressed areas, and d) filling the void left by grocery chains leaving low-income neighborhoods for more affluent ones.

The main disadvantages include: a) offering low-quality, unhealthy foods, not always at the lowest prices, b) pushing other, small grocery stores out of business, thereby exacerbating the “food desert” problem, c) providing low-pay jobs, and d) inadvertently increasing segregation.

2. What Continue reading →

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Third Romaine Recall Hits Trucking Industry

Third Romaine Recall Hits Trucking Industry

January 13, 2019
Lisa M. Spencer

What do truckers do when told to dump 15 truckloads of lettuce two days before Thanksgiving?

Massive disruptions to the transport of potentially tainted romaine lettuce occurred as 43 people in 12 states were sickened by a particularly dangerous strain of E. coli.  This was the third such crisis to hit the romaine industry within the last 12 months.

Truckers working with Allen Lund Company eventually dumped tons of lettuce in landfills and dumps.  Because the CDC could not immediately track the source of the contaminated lettuce, both retailers and truckers tossed out the good with the bad.

Eventually, the tainted romaine was traced to growers on the central California coast, but only after lettuce from many other places was thrown out or pulled from store shelves.  In the meantime, the price for alternate varieties of lettuce rose quickly, as lettuce supplies contracted and many consumers looked for alternative greens.

Video Spotlight: Lettuce is Twice as Expensive, Thanks to Romaine E. coli Outbreak

This post is based on the Transport Topics article, Romaine Recall Causes Disruption in Trucking Industry, by Jim Stinson, December 3, 2018; and the Cooking Light video, Lettuce is Twice as Expensive, Thanks Continue reading →

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