Monday, April 21, 2008
Definitive proof of Wegmans distributor of Beef
I just found a review of restaurants and supermarkets beef supplies. Wegmans has its own line of ground beef as of 2001, the first supermarket to do so. While the meat man couldn't give me any straight answers (perhaps because the beef industry seems to be in turmoil right now) I seem to have come up with my own facts. An article put out in Buffalo regarding a major beef recall referenced Cargill Meat Solutions as Wegmans supplier. A visit to Cargill's website shows several brands that they umbrella over, including Excel Corporation. Below is an excerpt from a list of markets carrying irradiated ground beef: "the new line, produced at Excel corp.'s Dodge City, Kan. plant..." This refers to the Wegmans line of ground beef which is produced by this company. This shows that the beef line at Wegman's is not by any means "local" but very likely could be affected by FDA regulations.
More Wegmans Produce... and Meat dissapointment
Just back from Wegmans. Lots of things to talk about, including a particularly eventful trip to the meat department. First, the good.
I spoke with Jim Pepper (no, that's really his name), who is one of the more senior workers in the produce department, and he confirmed in great detail essentially what i heard over the phone from ann hyatt. i talked at length with him about local vs. imported and what wegmans does in that regard. the bottom line is this: as soon as a product is in season and they can stock it from local farmers, the warehouse shuts down that product, the buyers in rochester stop bringing it in from far away lands (save a small emergency supply) and those items which can be sold from local farms are. This was excellent news, because it really proves that wegmans is helpful to the community. they aren't just there to shut down local growers.
Some specifics:
the only local product they can stock all year is hydroponic basil because they have located a grower in Elbridge, NY (near skanaetles). Obviously it's a bit difficult to grow vegetables and such in the winter in CNY. That said, around the end of May is when the first local crops start appearing in the Dewitt store (which is the largest Wegmans, moreover the largest supermarket in the country). peas, snap peas, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn. It's all local as soon as possible in the season. And from personal experience regarding the corn, that is a good thing because CNY puts out some damn fine corn. all of the green beans come from Utica. The Reeves and Johns farms are two big suppliers as well. Demarco supplies all leaf lettuce (aside from that bagged crap) once the season rolls around.
Jim said that this is not only beneficial to the farmers, but also the shopper. the consumers want a one-stop place and it's great for them to be able to pick up diapers and walk a few hundred feet to get the local corn or tomatoes that they want, rather then driving to a local stand. For the consumer, convenience reigns supreme, and Wegmans is well aware of this.
Now, lets face it. This wonderful system simply cannot work all year round in this region. So, for that time, Wegmans does import a lot of goods. This means many other countries, especially South America. Jim also said that when this time of year comes they are very up-front with the customer about where a product comes from geographically. some customers may not want a product from mexico of Chile or wherever the place may be, and they respect this and are informative. That said, some people just prefer the farmers' market. And that is great for them. However, for the bulk of the American public, the supermarket is the place, and Wegmans does a great job of bringing that local farmers' market feel into their store. Just look at the produce section; it is totally reminiscent of a open-air market.
Did i mention the fact that there was some sort of field trip being conducted when i walked in? I was greeted by a swarm of wee children saying "Welcome to Wegmans!!!!!!" But I digress (or do I?)
Now, on to the bad news. After a wonderfully productive talk with Jim Pepper (that is so funny), I went back to the meat department. With the look and feel of a small-time butcher's shop, my hopes were high for a similar interview. I spoke briefly with whom I assume to be the meat dept. manager, and told him my name and intentions. He whipped out some sort of intra-wegmans communication device, and called up "Eric". My guess is "Eric" is the store manager or someone in a similar position. He said (and i paraphrase) "I've got an SU student here who would like to ask a couple of question about the meat department and regarding where we get our meat from. Is that OK? DEFINITELY NOT? Ok, thanks". He turned to me, apoligized that he wasn't authorized to answer my questions, and i was on my way. Maybe i'm a fool, but is it so difficult to tell a student whether your meat comes from local stock farms or the ranches of Argentina? I don't see why this needs to be classified. Certainly makes me wonder if they're hiding something. Or maybe it's just another silly store policy out of millions that corporations like this have. At any rate, all has not been lost in the hunt for where the meat comes from. Ann Hyatt told me on friday generally that the lamb comes from Australia. While she stated to know nothing about Cargill Meat solutions, I have seen from more than one source regarding a recall of Cargill Meat that Wegmans has been involved in said recall. That tells me that Cargill, located in Pennsylvania, is a big supplier of meat to Wegmans. This, however, is no local farm. Maybe farms from all over the Northeast supply cargill with stock, but this is yet to be uncovered.
All in all, it was a very successful trip to Wegmans, despite obtaining nothing but doubt and more questions from the meat department. At least we know the produce section is really helping the local economy.
I spoke with Jim Pepper (no, that's really his name), who is one of the more senior workers in the produce department, and he confirmed in great detail essentially what i heard over the phone from ann hyatt. i talked at length with him about local vs. imported and what wegmans does in that regard. the bottom line is this: as soon as a product is in season and they can stock it from local farmers, the warehouse shuts down that product, the buyers in rochester stop bringing it in from far away lands (save a small emergency supply) and those items which can be sold from local farms are. This was excellent news, because it really proves that wegmans is helpful to the community. they aren't just there to shut down local growers.
Some specifics:
the only local product they can stock all year is hydroponic basil because they have located a grower in Elbridge, NY (near skanaetles). Obviously it's a bit difficult to grow vegetables and such in the winter in CNY. That said, around the end of May is when the first local crops start appearing in the Dewitt store (which is the largest Wegmans, moreover the largest supermarket in the country). peas, snap peas, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn. It's all local as soon as possible in the season. And from personal experience regarding the corn, that is a good thing because CNY puts out some damn fine corn. all of the green beans come from Utica. The Reeves and Johns farms are two big suppliers as well. Demarco supplies all leaf lettuce (aside from that bagged crap) once the season rolls around.
Jim said that this is not only beneficial to the farmers, but also the shopper. the consumers want a one-stop place and it's great for them to be able to pick up diapers and walk a few hundred feet to get the local corn or tomatoes that they want, rather then driving to a local stand. For the consumer, convenience reigns supreme, and Wegmans is well aware of this.
Now, lets face it. This wonderful system simply cannot work all year round in this region. So, for that time, Wegmans does import a lot of goods. This means many other countries, especially South America. Jim also said that when this time of year comes they are very up-front with the customer about where a product comes from geographically. some customers may not want a product from mexico of Chile or wherever the place may be, and they respect this and are informative. That said, some people just prefer the farmers' market. And that is great for them. However, for the bulk of the American public, the supermarket is the place, and Wegmans does a great job of bringing that local farmers' market feel into their store. Just look at the produce section; it is totally reminiscent of a open-air market.
Did i mention the fact that there was some sort of field trip being conducted when i walked in? I was greeted by a swarm of wee children saying "Welcome to Wegmans!!!!!!" But I digress (or do I?)
Now, on to the bad news. After a wonderfully productive talk with Jim Pepper (that is so funny), I went back to the meat department. With the look and feel of a small-time butcher's shop, my hopes were high for a similar interview. I spoke briefly with whom I assume to be the meat dept. manager, and told him my name and intentions. He whipped out some sort of intra-wegmans communication device, and called up "Eric". My guess is "Eric" is the store manager or someone in a similar position. He said (and i paraphrase) "I've got an SU student here who would like to ask a couple of question about the meat department and regarding where we get our meat from. Is that OK? DEFINITELY NOT? Ok, thanks". He turned to me, apoligized that he wasn't authorized to answer my questions, and i was on my way. Maybe i'm a fool, but is it so difficult to tell a student whether your meat comes from local stock farms or the ranches of Argentina? I don't see why this needs to be classified. Certainly makes me wonder if they're hiding something. Or maybe it's just another silly store policy out of millions that corporations like this have. At any rate, all has not been lost in the hunt for where the meat comes from. Ann Hyatt told me on friday generally that the lamb comes from Australia. While she stated to know nothing about Cargill Meat solutions, I have seen from more than one source regarding a recall of Cargill Meat that Wegmans has been involved in said recall. That tells me that Cargill, located in Pennsylvania, is a big supplier of meat to Wegmans. This, however, is no local farm. Maybe farms from all over the Northeast supply cargill with stock, but this is yet to be uncovered.
All in all, it was a very successful trip to Wegmans, despite obtaining nothing but doubt and more questions from the meat department. At least we know the produce section is really helping the local economy.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Annotated Bibliography
Rizzo, Jenny, "Wegmans announces Beef Recall", Channel 7 News WKBW, 11/3/07 http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/10996916.html
This is an article that was published in early November regarding a beef recall at Wegmans. The recall was fairly extensive, covering a large number of their ground beef products and ready-to-cook products that they constructed from the beef. This article, more importantly than showing a rare example of Wegmans showing us all that they are actually "human", it provides a link to where their beef comes from, which is the ultimate goal here. Also important to my argument, it shows people that are actually scared of a wegmans product. This is a shock to me, since people usually are so infatuated with the place. But that also raises the question, why do they go back? This surely must be a miniscule flaw in Wegmans otherwise almost-perfect existence. But again, the most important thing here is the link to the beef supplier, which i will also be looking into when i go to the store later today.
This is an article that was published in early November regarding a beef recall at Wegmans. The recall was fairly extensive, covering a large number of their ground beef products and ready-to-cook products that they constructed from the beef. This article, more importantly than showing a rare example of Wegmans showing us all that they are actually "human", it provides a link to where their beef comes from, which is the ultimate goal here. Also important to my argument, it shows people that are actually scared of a wegmans product. This is a shock to me, since people usually are so infatuated with the place. But that also raises the question, why do they go back? This surely must be a miniscule flaw in Wegmans otherwise almost-perfect existence. But again, the most important thing here is the link to the beef supplier, which i will also be looking into when i go to the store later today.
Wegmans Produce
Looks like Wegmans goes to chili or farther for some of their produce. From their website:
- How does Wegmans know that the produce they carry is safe?
-
Answer:
-We take a number of steps to ensure the safety of produce and many other products, but the most important of these steps are the following:
-We get to know our suppliers, and visit their operations, even if that means travelling to California or Chile. We make sure they understand our high standards.
-Wegmans is also working with farmers who use Integrated Pest Management(IPM) to grow healthy crops. IPM uses methods like crop rotation, natural predators (bugs that eat other bugs), genetic engineering, and other less invasive practices to control pests. Pesticides are used only as a last resort.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Proposal for Wegmans Study
For this project, i plan to look at some of the products of Wegmans. My aim is to find out exactly what the effect on the community and/or local economy is with Wegmans selling these products. My particular interest is in meat and produce. Are these things brought in locally? How much is shipped from some weird far off place just to keep prices down? If not much produce or meat is brought in from local "little guys", then what affect does Wegmans have on the little guys? Do Wegmans produce or meat sales vary in places where there is ready access to many local farmers or do people do people simply make their one stop and buy everything they need? These questions are important to understand part of the bigger Wegmans picture: the company seems nearly infallible on the surface, but maybe deeper down there are some not so obvious ways in which wegmans can actually hurt a local community. only research will show whether or not Wegmans is the wonderful company so many people make it out to be or if it is like a giant economic vacuum in the communities in which it resides.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wegman's: Some Preliminary
So I've read up on a couple of different things about this place that CNY loves so much (and I admit, I'm quite partial myself). Seems that Wegman's is quite the class act. Have a look here https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&krypto=G2fxk6p%2BKn%2BeE9bnEUF7GRJdnChDC8uNd8tSQ4l%2B5riGF6IVCI32He54hrMyRvpQ&ddkey=https:EventsMainView#believe
to see a few of the things they've done. Quite interesting. notably, they have been on the list of the best companies to work for since said list began in 1998. They seem to be, quite simply, a superior institution, both as a place to shop and a place to work. They offer a wide array of foods (anyone who's ever been in one knows this), and of special interest, an extensive international foods section. This is excellent, because I'm quite a fan of the McVitie's digest
ive biscuit, which is of scarce supply outside the UK. Note the biscuit depicted at right. It's superb, but I digress.
ive biscuit, which is of scarce supply outside the UK. Note the biscuit depicted at right. It's superb, but I digress. Food, however, is not the extent of Wegman's class. They are quite a charitable organization, donating 4.5 million dollars to employees for scholarships every year, according to their website. You can see on LPGA.com that the chain sponsors a 72-hole women's golf tournament annually, beginning in 1977. the 1.8 million dollar purse went to Disabled Children of Monroe County in 2007. A look here www.sjfc.edu/pharmacy will show you that in January of 2005, Wegman's donated 5 million dollars to St. John Fisher College for the construction of a 37,000 square foot pharmacy building. These are among just a few of the ways Wegman's is reaching out to the community.
But with the good must come the bad. Although, it's not THAT bad. There have been a couple of food recalls, including one wegman's brand cat food recall on several of their different feline delights. Some vegan group at U of Rochester is starting a petition because of wegman's inhumane egg farm. See this site http://urveg.org/campaigns/wegmans/petition/ for a look. There's not much information, but if you're looking for a daily overload of bias, this would be a fabulous venue. I'll have to do more real research on this, but I'm certainly skeptical of what a vegan group has to say about cruelty to animals. That said, I know plenty of vegans and they are wonderful people, so don't hate me vegans. Thanks.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Coldplay - Amsterdam
Maybe the only relevant part of this is the mention of visiting "maketradefair.com", but this song is killer. so have a look.
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