Good Press

Last year, my 7-year-old planned a surprise birthday party for me because she learned that I had never had one. She secretly plotted with her aunt who helped her shop for decorations and food. And she got her father to rent a social hall and invite my friends. She wanted to make me feel special on my birthday. This year, my little Girl Scout is working to make a lot more people in our community feel loved on their birthdays. She had the means to throw me a party with all the trimmings -- cake, ice cream, balloons, matching plates and cups, banners and streamers, veggie and fruit trays, games with prizes. She realizes that not every mom and dad can give their children the kinds of parties she has or the party she gave me. We have talked to her about how our local food pantry gives groceries to the needy. Her Girl Scout troop's service project is to donate a birthday-party-in-a-box to the local food pantry. We are going to include all the elements of a birthday party -- cake mix, fro...

I heard a few months ago that some food makers were putting less food in the same-size packages and charging the same price. Their goal is to off-set the rising cost of raw ingredients without raising prices. One of the sneakiest examples was peanut butter manufacturers increasing the "punt" (the dent in the bottom) of the jar so it holds less peanut butter but on the shelf it looks like the same jar you bought before. Sneaky, I say! Within the last couple of days, Consumer Reports and NBC Nightly News reported again on these downsized products and also noted that consumers would rather pay more for the same amount of food than the same price for less. During the same time, I heard that Girl Scouts have put fewer Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs in their boxes this year. Far be it from me to slam Girl Scouts seeing as how 80 or so of my lovely friends, relatives and associates have cooperated to buy more than 330 boxes from my daughter. I am just pointing out that no one i...