On 2/22/2012 12:02 PM, Nancy2 wrote:
> On Feb 21, 6:03 pm, > wrote:
>> Good book review......good article. Think I'll check it out. Not
>> surprsed at what she found in WalMart at all.
>>
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/bo...-writes-the-am...
>>
>> (snip)
>> The produce sold at the Walmart where she works is second-rate, often
>> slimy, mushy or merely bland. “Walmart doesn’t always have the
>> freshest stuff,” one manager says to her. “That’s how we keep the
>> prices low.” The produce management is so sloppy that “the newer among
>> us are still working our way from recognition to acceptance, as if
>> advancing through the stages of grief.”
>>
>> Much of her time in Walmart’s produce department is spent trimming
>> rotted leaves (small bunches of lettuce have usually been trimmed many
>> times) and “crisping,” a method of rehydrating limp greens so they
>> appear to be fresh.
>>
>> At Applebee’s, almost no actual cooking is done: premade food in
>> plastic baggies is heated in microwaves and dumped onto plates. Ms.
>> McMillan deplores this practice while also finding it fascinating. “I
>> watch an endless assembly line,” she writes, “a large-scale mash-up
>> that hits the sweet spot between McDonald’s and Sandra Lee’s ‘Semi-
>> Homemade Cooking.’ ”
>
> I'd take it all with a grain of salt. All the franchises (Applebees
> and the like) and WalMarts have individual managers/owners. So "one
> size fits all" doesn't work here.

The whole point of a chain is to have totally consistent product by
using the same materials and procedures in all locations.


>
> Anyway, I'd like to see something like a steak at Applebees that was
> "premade in a plastic baggie and heated in a microwave." LOL.
>
> N.