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News & ArtsMonday, February 2, 2009
Chow / Economy Eighty-Sixed: Restaurant Layoffs Loom
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 4:53 PM
PSBJ:
More than half of restaurant owners and managers who responded to a recent Washington Restaurant Association member survey said they expect to lay off staff in the first half of 2009. With 13,000 restaurants in Washington, the number of laid-off restaurant workers could easily exceed 6,900....
General Mills Inc and other food makers are benefiting from a sharp rise in home cooking in the United States and to a lesser extent in Western Europe.... "We are seeing some very interesting changes in consumer behavior as we plunge deeper into the recession," Chairman and Chief Executive Ken Powell told a panel at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.Two or three years ago, around half of the $1 trillion spent by Americans each year on food went into the tills of restaurants and fast-food outlets. But the fashion for eating away from home—a strongly growing feature of the U.S. marketplace for the past 35 years—has now been thrown into reverse.
"What we see now, over the last year and a half, is a very, very significant change in the direction of that trend," Powell said. "Basically, consumers in North America are rediscovering the grocery store and cooking at home again, clearly to the benefit of some and the disbenefit of others as many restaurants really struggle in the U.S. right now."
No numbers from Reuters on what, exactly, "a very, very significant change" is.
2
If I want cock roaches running on my food in the kitchen I'll damn well have them be from my kitchen. I rarely eat out because I don't know the roaches in those strange kitchens. Of course with everything being deep fried at most eateries, I don't suppose I have much to worry about. D.F. cock roach is a delicacy in some countries.
3
As a single person who cooks for himself all the time, the one thing that irks me is that all the packaging and pricing is for a family of six. Half the time it's just as expensive or cheaper to eat out (well, at the places I go to like all you can eat Indian or Old Country Buffet).
Yes, I know, you can always have leftovers, but if I make a tray of lasagna that means eating it every night for like 4 nights!
My other strategy, which I've been employing for a while is simple to eat like a pig -- I mean, I'm a pretty good cook, so scarfing 4 portions while watching a Sopranos episode on DVD is a likely scene at apartment GG304...
As a single person who cooks for himself all the time, the one thing that irks me is that all the packaging and pricing is for a family of six. Half the time it's just as expensive or cheaper to eat out (well, at the places I go to like all you can eat Indian or Old Country Buffet).
Yes, I know, you can always have leftovers, but if I make a tray of lasagna that means eating it every night for like 4 nights!
My other strategy, which I've been employing for a while is simple to eat like a pig -- I mean, I'm a pretty good cook, so scarfing 4 portions while watching a Sopranos episode on DVD is a likely scene at apartment GG304...
4
Next thing you know, people will discover they can grow much of their own food - right in their own yards! General Mills will be so FUCKED then...
5
@3, you could make the lasagna and then freeze half of it to eat a few weeks later. then you'd save money AND not have to eat it every day for a week.
6
@3: As another single person cooking for himself, buy yourself a fucking cookbook and make enough for one serving (or possibly two if you want leftovers). Stay away from packaged food--that stuff is gross.
7
I'm also a single person, but I use my leftovers for lunch the next day. It stretches my food budget and encourages me to actually cook for myself- otherwise, I have to eat at Subway, which is all that's around my office.
Since I've started my job I've become a much better cook.
Since I've started my job I've become a much better cook.
9
I realize the ginormous, family-sized packaging looks intimidating, but if you go just a little further down the meat section, you'll find these people - who will actually give you single-serving portions - just for the asking!
You should totally check them out sometime!
You should totally check them out sometime!
10
"No numbers from Reuters on what, exactly, 'a very, very significant change' is."
And that's as it should be-- Reuters doesn't invent the news! I'm inferring that Ken Powell doesn't have a magic crystal ball o' numbers that would let him answer that question. :)
And that's as it should be-- Reuters doesn't invent the news! I'm inferring that Ken Powell doesn't have a magic crystal ball o' numbers that would let him answer that question. :)
11
I read in Queen Anne News that Metropolitan Market's sales were up 11% in the last quarter.
That's a good thing for a cool local business.
That's a good thing for a cool local business.
13
hopefully all the douchy, arrogant, "I'm doing you a favor" servers in the area get the boot first...
...but that would leave about 24 waitrons in the city.
...but that would leave about 24 waitrons in the city.
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