Research
What Question Will You Ask?
Facebook’s question feature is in beta testing right now, but they promise they’ll launch it to the rest of us real soon. While the idea of being able to post a question to a social community is hardly new, I don’t believe the functionality has yet been experienced by such a large and active community as Facebook. Until a little of the shine has worn off the new toy, we’re potentially looking at millions of questions posed and answered each day. Crowd sourcing run amok.
So what question will you ask first?
I’m going to ask “Why can’t you eat Beefaroni every day?” since I can’t seem to come up with an answer my daughter deems credible.
What’s in YOUR Easter basket?
Most of us have fond remembrances of rushing around on Easter morning hunting for the elusive Easter basket. All I ever wanted was a Fanny May white chocolate rabbit. There’s something oddly fun in peeling off the eyes, biting off the ears and breaking apart the body … especially when you’re not actually eating a real animal.
As with all simple things, times have truly changed. Now, the options for types of chocolate and flavors are seemingly endless.
Let’s see … organic bunnies? Fair trade candy eggs? Gluten-free ? Vegan? Heart-healthy 80% cocoa or go for the store brand sugar buzz?
A few fun facts about Easter candy:
- More chocolate candy is sold the week prior to Easter than the week leading to Valentine’s Day.
-Last year (2009), 120 million pounds of candy were sold for Easter, of which 71 million pounds were chocolate … vs. 48 million pounds for Valentine’s Day and 90 million pounds for Halloween.
- US chocolate sales are up 2.6% vs. last year.
- Vosges Chocolates,a personal favorite, offers “Bacon & Eggs” … 55% dark chocolate with a creamy caramel/bacon center as well as their Amalfi bunny … white chocolate, pink peppercorns and lemon zest.
- The most popular non-chocolate Easter candy in the U.S. is the cute little Peep, only 32 calories each and no fat! Americans ate 600 million Peeps the last Easter season.
- Our friends in the UK eat an average of 3 Cadbury Crème Eggs per person! The Cadbury Créme Egg plant at Bournville can produce more than 1.5 million eggs per day.
And good news out just in time! The European Heart Journal found that people who ate a half bar of chocolate per week had lower blood pressure … therefore, a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. Wait … a half a bar per week? Unfortunately, more than that and you get the high calories and sat fat linked to weight gain and raised cholesterol … therefore, a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Reading the fine print is just not any fun. Still, I’m heading over to the Vosges boutique with a quick stop at Fanny May to compare white rabbits. I’ll let you know how it goes!
What we Eat
1. A decade revealed
For a fascinating reveal of America’s eating trends, check out Guess Who’s Turning 100?
The answer is, the USDA’s Economic Research Service’s time-series data on US food availability, now spanning a century. You’ll find insights into how technology, policy, social and economic forces have changed the way America eats. You should note that “availability” doesn’t necessarily equal “consumption”, and that the data measures the flow of raw and semi-processed commodities through the US marketing system … not accounting for waste and spoilage.
However, it can be used to assess the health of Americans and forecast direction of eating patterns.
Such as:
- Milk availability, which grew from 31.3 gallons per person in the 1910s to a peak of 44.7 gallons in 1945. Now? 20.8 gallons, thanks to soda, water, fruit juice and the desire to choose lower fat foods.
Universities Champion Economic Revival
Leveraging every dollar of appropriations to generate ROI has always been a core goal for most state universities. But in light of today’s economic downturn, many colleges and universities are stepping up their efforts to do even more. That is, they are relentlessly focused on turning around struggling state economies.
One extraordinary example is taking place in Michigan. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have joined forces to make available their tremendous resources including faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research facilities and more to assist business development. What’s more, they are relentlessly exploring innovative opportunities to develop new technologies, research emerging industries such as alternative energy and transform the internet to be speedier, more secure and spam-free.
Consumers and their supplements, part two
In my previous blog post, I mentioned some information regarding interesting new findings on dietary supplements; cautionary findings in particular. Potential risks are more understood these days, tipping the risk/benefit scale from “it can’t hurt” to “maybe I better think twice.”
Has that message reached the “common consumer”? Are people really concerned about potential side effects of their daily intake of vitamins?
Survey says, “yes”.
Consumers and their supplements, part one
Europeans eat nutritious food. Americans pop pills. Or, that’s what some of my industry friends on the continent like to think. Are we really that bad? A quick fix for a bad diet?
I’ve been a supplement taker on and off for years, albeit randomly. Someone sneezes on the train, grab some Vitamin C. Have leg cramps, reach for the Calcium. I’m not sure what prompted a month of sipping noni juice – maybe I was feeling exotic.
I’ll be speaking this year at Focus on the Future , and wanted to “supplement” my company’s consumer food behavior survey with one on vitamins/minerals/herbals. What do people look for? Are they loyal to a brand? Are they faddists or do they swear by particular nutrients? And does anything worry them about taking supplements? Continue reading
