More Food Notes: Restaurants Closing, Cows Farting...

Now for some real bread-and-butter, meat-and-potatoes, ketchup-and-eggs issues:

--The Madison area food economy is taking a hit. I pulled into the F&M parking lot the other day and found that the café run by Marlin's Roadhouse is lout of business. (I never did think their logo, a big jowly guy with sporting the teeny-bopper midriff look, was a big seller.) Paul Schultz, F&M Co-op manager, is advertising for new tenants for the café, so if you've got a hankering to cook some truck-stop grilled cheese, give him a ring (256-4516).

Unfortunately, the local restaurant economy overall isn't looking very good. Pelican Landing closed a couple months ago. We also hear that the Happy Hour has closed its doors again (so much for gizzards as a weapon of mass economic development), as has the classy Tailfeathers up by Oldham. We've also heard that Ricky Roy's and Rumors are both scaling back their operations.

Causes of this culinary decline? One local gourmand suggests a "perfect storm" of the minimum wage increase, higher food prices, higher gas prices, and spending cutbacks among a largely working-class Lake County clientele. It's also possible that the new Stadium Sports Grill (family dining and hard liquor) has crowded out competitors. Let's hope the 28 jobs Stadium said it would create will balance out the apparent losses elsewhere.

At least our favorite, the Moonlite on west Highway 34, is holding its own. They're doing well enough, they could afford that new roof this spring!

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update 2008.05.12 07:19 -- Friday's MDL carries an ad for Pelican Landing's reservations-only Mothers Day lunch. So it looks like they're not completely closed. MDL also carries a $1 "Happy Bucks Free Play" coupon for the Happy Hour. Local economist Jim Heidelberger (that's my dad) says the ups and downs in our local food service sector are caused by a labor shortage: Marlin's, says he, couldn't get enough staff to keep up with orders.
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--Ken Blanchard notes the same NPR Science Friday conversation Mrs. Madville Times and I heard yesterday about how cutting meat and cheese consumption does more good for the environment than eating locally grown food. I disagree just a touch with Blanchard's conclusion that "pleasing" solutions like eating locally "aren't producing." Eating locally won't reduce carbon emissions as much as lowering meat and dairy production will (local cows fart as much as those far away). But the study cited did not say eating locally is a waste of time. Reducing our economic dependence on long-distance transportation is part of the solution for carbon emissions and fuel prices. Eating locally also creates more opportunity for small local growers like Flying Tomato Farms and Glacial Till Farm to stay afloat without being beholden to corporate agriculture.

--South Dakota egg farmers made fewer eggs and more money last year. KELO reports the value of statewide egg production in 2007 almost doubled from 2006 to $51.4 million, even though production dropped 3%. Causes: increased feed and fuel costs.

--KELO also reports the Aberdeen public schools are cutting back on ketchup. No cost-cutting here, just an effort to cut down kids' salt intake. No word on what veggies Aberdeen plans to substitute to make up for the ketchup deficit....