How to Stretch Your Warehouse Club Membership Fee
"Shopping at warehouse clubs is convenient -- but I'm not sure that I actually save money there... what bugs the heck out of me is the membership fee. In my mind that negates any savings earned. I grudgingly pay it for the convenience but believe me, I make the most of it. How?" Posted at 7:48 AM Central Time

Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Carts #1
Check out this amazingly mundane yet eerily beautiful photograph of shopping carts. Captured by Kate Bingaman-Burt of Obsessive Consumption fame, archival prints are available at 20x200. Posted at 7:59 AM Central Time

Free books: It's the October GLC giveaway!
ANOTHER FREE BOOK! | Update: The book is gone! Back so soon? Yes! And you know the deal: The first person to write in and request the book linked below gets it for free. Limit one per person and send me your mailing address — although we won't use your email or postal address for anything other than sending you the book. And hey, if you've won a book here already give someone else a chance! Email me for a free book while they last.

Gone! Sent to Chris of St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew | "In recent decades, organic food — the idealistic, natural alternative to industrial agribusiness and processed packaged foods — has grown into a multibillion-dollar business. Fromartz's portrait of the adolescent industry reveals that that success has prompted an epic identity crisis. Big corporations like Kraft and General Mills own the bulk of the market, and half of all organic sales come from the largest 2% of farms, alienating those most committed to producing chemical-free fruits and vegetables on small family farms, and selling them locally. Business journalist Fromartz uncovers the trailblazers' tactics: how Whole Foods Market developed a religion of 'moral hedonism,' how Earthbound Farm launched a revolution with bagged salad mix and how Silk soy milk became 'the number one brand in the dairy case, among all milk and soy milk brands.' But if big business is now the muscle of the organic industry, Fromartz demonstrates that small growers remain at its heart." By Samuel Fromartz —Publishers Weekly (List price: $14.00)

Update: The book is gone! Posted at 8:40 PM Central Time

Grocery Shopping Out of a Vending Machine
"Japan is truly the innovator behind the vending machines, having invented them about 80 years ago. Now the new news is the fact vending machines are popping up all over the country selling beer, underwear, fried foods, potted plants, sexual lubricants, and anything else you could possibly imagine. In fact, it is quite possible this year that a Japanese consumer could complete their entire grocery store list just by hitting the vending machines if they knew where to go." Posted at 7:39 AM Central Time