In the past few years, the USDA has started paying more attention to farmers markets. They now conduct a yearly survey asking all market managers in the country to stand up and be counted: It’s safe to say that farmers markets are booming. They have more than doubled in the past decade (151% growth), …
Continue reading “Farmers markets continue strong growth – 10% this year, 151% this decade”
An interesting graphic from NPR’s Planet Money series on the cost of college. That’s a 37% increase in financial aid per student since the 2000-2001 school year. The increase is largely paid for by more federal loans, with smaller contributions from federal grants and private loans. Everything else seems unchanged.
If everything is a competition, then which baseball team has the most Facebook fans: New York Yankees – 5.9 million Boston Red Sox – 3.7 million Chicago Cubs – 1.7 million San Francisco Giants – 1.5 million Texas Rangers – 1.4 million Data pulled from a great post on iStrategyLabs: As we cross the …
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As Independent Booksellers Week gets into full swing, the Booksellers Association has released figures to suggest outlets with cafés are likely to have higher sales than those without. Figures based on a survey of 40 BA members reveal that bookshops with cafés saw a 3% growth in overall turnover in 2011, whereas those without experienced …
Continue reading “Modern world: Bookstores with cafés increase sales – those without decrease”
A final summary of the major changes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (aka Obamacare): – Kids can continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26. – Insurers cannot impose an unreasonable premium increase without justification (generally anything less than 10% is ok). – Insurers have to tell customers …
Continue reading “Simple summaries of the Affordable Care Act – aka Obamacare”
The 2011 obesity report from the Trust for America’s Health just came out and the news is as bad as ever. Every state has a minimum obesity rate of 20% and not one saw a decrease, while 16 saw an increase. “Twenty years ago, no state had an obesity rate above 15 percent. Today, more …