Alpaca Farm Girl » Walmart http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com Things That Make You Go Hmmm... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:52:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Home from Blissdom 09 http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2009/02/home-from-blissdom-09/ http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2009/02/home-from-blissdom-09/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:37:15 +0000 Katy http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/?p=1703 blissdom

Whew! That was a fun weekend. Went to Blissdom 09 in Nashville. Believe it or not I love blogging so much that I went to a blogging conference rather than the Florida Alpaca Show which I have attended for years this very weekend.

Met lots of cool people and got some nice swag. Thanks to Walmart for the Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation)
that I won in a raffle. Now everyone at my house is trying to convince me that they are the most deserving of this coveted prize. Should make for an interesting week while I figure out what to do with it. Keeping it is still a possibility.

We got a special sneak peek at this new concert/music series from Yanni and Disney Pearl. The girls went wild when the two male singers, Nathan Pecheco and Ender Thomas came out from behind the curtain and sang Happy Birthday to two lucky lady bloggers! Later in the day, we were treated to a performance from Sony Music’s Chris Mann. He was great, and has a super personality. You must visit his site and hear his music!

We had tons of Little Debbie 100 calorie snacks throughout the weekend. Thanks Little Deb! Nutty Bars are my favorites. The Geek Squad was around to help those of us with questions, and they had a rockin’ Guitar Hero set up for us to play. Thanks to Land’s End and Crocs for the awesome gifts! You can’t beat a Land’s End tote, and who knew Crocs had more than rubber shoes with holes in them? They do!

I learned about Care.com, which is a cool site for finding babysitters, nannies, pet sitters, etc.; and Ligit, which is a comprehensive search engine that works across your various sites. I think I will try it out on the blog.

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When I got home, the sun was getting low in the sky and the kids were outside playing. They were making mud Popsicles, climbing trees, and playing hide & go seek. While it was fun to have a few days without all the responsibility, it was also nice to be back at home on the farm.

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attamud

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Additional Thanks goes out to the following sponsors of Blissdom09:

RGM

New Line Records

Victor Records

Wind-up Records

Blog House Blogs

I look forward to going back next time!

]]> http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2009/02/home-from-blissdom-09/feed/ 4 Walmart Thought of the Day and Veggies for Kids http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2008/08/walmart-thought-of-the-day-and-veggies-for-kids/ http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/2008/08/walmart-thought-of-the-day-and-veggies-for-kids/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:36:00 +0000 Katy http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/?p=74 Max and Mitch

About a year ago a Super Walmart joined our town. It’s about a mile and a half from our farm. Since it is on the way to everything we do, we go there alot. Unusual I know, to have a farm so close to such a big box store. Our town is really growing. Farmers are being slowly squeezed out of the picture. I still go to Bruno’s every couple of weeks just to do my part to keep them in business. We really don’t want Walmart to put the other grocery stores out of business so they can jack the prices way up.
As I was shopping at Walmart today, I noticed something odd. Only about 60% of one side of an aisle was devoted to canned vegetables. Our other local stores have at least one whole side of an aisle for these products. Walmart does have lots of fresh produce, and I know that fresh is better, but I was looking for some things for recipes (diced pimentos, quartered artichoke hearts, etc.). I was surprised to see how little they stocked in the vegetable category. It took me forever to find the canned pumpkin (it was in baking).
The updated food pyramid is loaded with fruits and vegetables at the base and topped with fats. I would say that what is available in this store is an upside down pyramid with more space devoted to selling snacks and fattier foods than fruits and veggies. Ice cream gets as much space as green canned vegetables and more space than the frozen vegetables. No wonder Americans are so chunky.
But are we as a nation obese because we are targeted by the retailers and their clever marketing? I mean, no one has ever made cabbage nearly as popular as the Keebler elves or the Pillsbury doughboy. Maybe the vegetable farmers should hire some veggie tale characters. Or is Walmart just giving the public what they want? Let’s face it, ice cream tastes better to most of us than zucchini. (And if it doesn’t to you, count that as a serious blessing. My youngest child adores vegetables, seeking out carrots for breakfast. Lucky child will be thin as a rail her whole life. Watch.) I’d love to hear your comments about this. What came first the fat Americans or the corporate world with their fat-making marketing and products?
Speaking of eating vegetables, Jessica Seinfeld wrote a book on how to get your kids to eat vegetables by sneaking them into their food. Has anybody read this? Any tips on getting kids to eat vegetables? I saw a recipe in a magazine that added beets and spinach to brownies. Ugh! I wondered, “Couldn’t you just make them eat the brussel sprouts or lose the Nintendo?” Please let me hear your thoughts.
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