Monthly Archives: October 2013

Hot on the heels of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s examination of misleading “sell by” dates on food, Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, announces his plans to open a restaurant that sells expired food.

Before you cringe with thoughts of The Gleaner’s Kitchen, consider Rauch’s reasoning.

(Rest assured, there is no dumpster-diving involved.)

Dubbed “The Daily Table,” his restaurant will serve foods that have passed their “sell by” dates but are still perfectly safe.

Photo by thebittenword.com (Clagett Farm CSA Week 10), CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

He told NPR, “It’s the idea about how to bring affordable nutrition to the underserved in our cities. It basically tries to utilize this 40 percent of food that is wasted. This is, to a large degree, either excess, overstocked, wholesome food that’s thrown out by grocers, etc. … at the end of the day because of the sell-by dates. Or [it’s from] growers that have product that’s nutritionally sound, perfectly good, but cosmetically blemished or not quite up for prime time. [So we] bring this food down into a retail environment where it can become affordable nutrition.”

When asked how much of a problem he thinks it will be to sell this idea to the public, Rauch said, “Well, we’ll see, won’t we? I think that the issue here is really how you talk about it and how you educate … Most of what we offer will be fruits and vegetables that have a use-by date on it that’ll be several days out.”

Listen to NPR’s interview with Doug Rausch here, and share your thoughts:

How many dazzling ideas have dawned on you …

Photo by Greg L., CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

in the shower?

I’ve had more than I can count,

and I can almost always count on coming up with something creative any time I step into that

“stream” of consciousness.

But, why?

What is it about a shower that sends us into sudden throes of genius?

Is it the water?

The warmth?

The privacy, perhaps?

Actually, the shower phenomenon has a little to do with all of those things, which collectively culminate in a sweet state of distraction that illuminates thoughts often overshadowed by the daily grind.

“The shower is the perfect place to cook up big ideas,” explains Mental_Floss. “Research shows that we most often hit creative epiphany while doing super monotonous tasks like exercising or showering. Because these sorts of everyday ritual tasks don’t take up much brain space as you’re doing them (unlike working or investing in a good book), your mind is freed up to wander.”

According to Dr. Shelley Carson, author of Your Creative Brain, “Highly creative people share one amazing trait—they’re easily distracted. And that’s the beauty of a warm shower. It distracts you. It makes you defocus. It lets your brain roam. It activates your DMN (default mode network) and encourages wacky ideas to bounce around. So when the lather rinses off, your light bulb switches on.”

I would bet that businesses have been started, books have begun, and great projects have launched in showers around the globe.

Not to mention some super funny songs:

Dare to share your shower epiphanies?

Do tell!