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    Whole Foods to Sell Designer Grocery Bags – Chaos Ensues

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update May 12, 2017 16 Comments

    Bag Sale Causes Riot in Taiwan

    From the NY Times:

    At 8 this morning, 15 Whole Foods stores in the New York area were to start selling $15 cotton bags by Anya Hindmarch, a London designer better known for bags that range to $1,500 and beyond. The bags, which read “I’m not a plastic bag,” are intended to be used and reused for groceries, in place of plastic. Whole Foods is selling 20,000, first come first served, limit three to a customer while supplies last. If offerings of the bag in other cities are any guide, the lines will be long.

    A stampede of would-be purchasers in Taiwan in June sent 30 people to the hospital and required the riot police. A similar outpouring in Hong Kong caused no injuries, but the police closed down the shopping mall. “Apparently they are not used to queuing,” Ms. Hindmarch said last week from a hotel in Tokyo, where she had just finished the latest offering of her bag. To avoid more riots, future events in Southeast Asia will take place on the Internet.

    “I’m NOT a Plastic Bag”? Yeah, I want to carry that around. Hmm… the perfect storm: the day Fred Meyer releases iPhones, the final Harry Potter novel, and designer grocery bags. The carnage! Oh the humanity!

    Related

    Category: Portland Food and Restaurant News and Discussion.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Betsy says

      July 20, 2007 at 7:48 am

      Buy grocery bags? Why, when I can get handfuls of cloth bags (sporting Henry’s Organic Beer logos) for free at the local Farmer’s Market?

      (It was the end of their promotion at the market and the young things staffing the booth clearly didn’t want to haul them out of there…)

      Reply
    2. becky says

      July 20, 2007 at 12:24 pm

      There have been lots of hurt feelings over these stupid bags. At one store in the UK, they let people get 10 of them, and only had sixty available, so basically the first six people bought bags and everyone else in line: out of luck.

      I say we should all buy canvas totes at the Goodwill, turn them inside out and use sharpie or paint to write “This is not a plastic bag” on them.

      Or you could do what I do: carry the most ironic bags possible. I love taking my “Open ANWR Now!” bag to the co-op.

      Reply
    3. salty ham says

      July 20, 2007 at 12:33 pm

      um is that bag local?

      Reply
    4. fuyuk says

      July 20, 2007 at 6:51 pm

      hotel deluxe is considered a large hotel???? i heard it was the red lion lloyd center, working on sharpening up their image with high priced talent from the east coast.

      Reply
    5. FrannyGlass says

      July 21, 2007 at 7:08 pm

      Last Monday was “free cloth shopping bag day” at Zupan’s, I not only got a serviceable, and subtly designed shopping tote, they also promised that they would take fifteen cents off of the order, or donate to (a specific) charity every time I used the bag at Zups. I know a lot of people in this town don’t love Zupan’s, but I really appreciate the effort, and they have good meat.

      Reply
    6. Simple Living PDX says

      July 21, 2007 at 9:21 pm

      Shuna was great… I really enjoyed her class. I was VERY DISAPPOINTED that we didn’t actually get to make a pie!!! This was a bit misleading. My pie crust is still sitting in the freezer.

      For $75 I would expect a bit more…

      Reply
    7. shuna fish lydon says

      July 21, 2007 at 11:48 pm

      Hello Simple Living PDX,

      Thank you for your honest feedback. In all truthfulness I would need to charge more for a longer class & the added cost of enough raw fruit for all 12 people to make a pie from start to finish though.

      Also there would be the issue of starting backwards because it is not until the end of the class when everyone has their pie shell in the baking vessel. So if everyone in the class were to bake a pie it would mean that first I would have to line 12 pie shells (and thus roll out 24), then the students would have to immediately fill & bake them and then we would all make dough, line more pie pans, and can you see where I’m going with this? That’s 4 hour class, at least.

      In the Bay Area I have charged $100 for the same class I taught in Portland for $75. I have never, nor has anyone who has ever reviewed my pie dough classes, said that students walk away with a hot pie at the end of the class. I’m sorry you felt mislead but I never wrote words to this effect.

      I teach the pie dough class because that is what people most often tell me they are afraid to attempt. I’m sorry you did not feel like you learned enough about pie dough making, I tried to be as thorough as I possibly could. I am always available to my students after the classes by email to answer any questions which I did not answer or problem-solve if they still need it.

      In a profession which pays an extremely low wage, I am attempting to make a living at teaching independently of a culinary school, where most are known for robbing the students. My hope is that people will walk out of my classes less afraid to attempt baking good, solid recipes, and even gain the confidence to do a bit of experimenting once they understand what role each ingredient plays in said recipe. My hope is that my students will become better bakers and appreciate the work of those in my profession who are attempting to become better at their craft.

      I do not feel that $25 hour is too much to charge for my skill set. Although I’m not sure which words mislead you, I apologize if you felt mislead. But I cannot apologize for charging what I felt was a fair wage for teaching thoroughly, passionately and compassionately.

      I hope that if I get the opportunity to come to Portland again to teach you might be able to give me a second chance to inspire you through my craft, but if not I wish you well in your kitchen and beyond.

      Sincerely,
      Shuna Lydon

      Reply
    8. Marshall Manning says

      July 22, 2007 at 10:28 am

      Shuna, I know nothing about the class, but if you’re getting $75 from X number of students for a 3 hour class, you’re getting more than $25 per hour. If you had 10 students, for example, you’re getting paid $250 per hour.

      Reply
    9. sidemeat says

      July 22, 2007 at 11:19 am

      If you read the original post https://portlandfoodanddrink.com/?p=995
      it mentions FORTY students and
      “EAT OUR SEASONAL FRUIT AND FLAKY, BUTTERY SPOILS”
      Hell yes I want pie.
      Some ‘skill set’s are worth more than others I guess,
      but if I spent three hours and $75 to get a pie crust, I’d be pissed.
      The OLCC server class is the only comparison I can think of.

      Reply
    10. sidemeat says

      July 22, 2007 at 11:37 am

      Oh fine, meat learns to link and it gets his comment moderated.
      Snark is a fresh product, it has to go out fast.
      The original post,(look it up yourself) is for a PIE CLASS.
      It mentions FORTY people, and, ‘EAT OUR SEASONAL FRUIT AND FLAKY- BUTTERY SPOILS”
      Hell yes I want pie!

      Reply
    11. choux says

      July 22, 2007 at 2:03 pm

      I went to the class and it was worth the $75. I would take another class from Shuna and willingly pay that amount.

      I did get pie at the end — a yummy slice of berry pie that she had made before the class.

      I had a pie crust in my freezer for about two days. Fill it and bake — you’ll be glad you did!

      Reply
    12. Katie says

      July 24, 2007 at 9:31 pm

      I took Shuna’s class, and I learned SO MUCH. We talked about flour, fats, the protein in the flour, ovens and so on. There was really a lot covered. I’ve done tons of reading about pie dough, and while mine have always been flaky they’ve never been very aesthetically pleasing. Shuna taught me the details, and I feel very confident about baking in general now, and especially about experimenting more. I’ve always been kind of a black and white baker, now I feel good about exploring the gray areas. I thought the $75 was well worth it to learn from someone with such great experience, and just to be hanging out with a bunch of other bakers — learning and chatting. It was such a blast for me. Thank you for coming, Shuna!

      Reply
    13. jo says

      July 27, 2007 at 11:07 am

      Sidemeat: The point of Shuna’s class was to learn how and why a superior, delicious pie crust is made. Which is, indeed, what she taught us . If you just wanted a pie, you could have saved yourslef the time and simply gone out and bought (several) pies from a good bakery for $75.

      Give a man a pie, he stuffs his pie hole for a day.
      Teach a man to make pie crust, he bakes beautiful pies for a lifetime.

      Reply
    14. jo says

      July 27, 2007 at 11:09 am

      Oh yeah,
      Shuna: My two cents for a next class: EGG WHITES/MERENGUES!

      Reply
    15. sidemeat says

      July 27, 2007 at 9:20 pm

      Jo:
      Meat did not take the class, Meat was writing in response to Simple Livings’ comments, as well as those of Mr Manning. Shuna’s reply to Ms. (?) Livings Meat thought a tad condescending. Which, god knows, Meat does not mind, but, like pie, it’s best left in the hands of professionals.
      Perhaps Meat will offer a class.
      Anyhow, Shuna just can’t understand how Simple Living expected a pie from a pie class, since she ‘never wrote words to this effect.’
      From her website,’all classes will be filled with delicious fruity, buttery, flaky, warm stone fruit and berry desserts.’
      Set Meats hole to watering for pie.
      Meat get crust? Three hour, $75.00 crust?
      Meat pissed.
      Or, perhaps, Simple Living simply disappointed.
      Good luck with that egg white class, your two cents leaves you with
      $74.98 due.

      Reply
    16. sidemeat says

      July 27, 2007 at 11:14 pm

      Choux:
      Fill it and bake?
      Easy as pie!
      I make the check out to…..?

      Reply

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