Self-proclaimed " militant, yet peaceful, non-violent revolutionary vegan" activist Martha Devine aka Granny Green Genes writes alerting us to a segment on tonight's 6 p.m. KMUD news (Halloween edition) on the "Co-op Controversy," featuring interviews with Dana Silvernale, Co-op activist and Humboldt County Green Party Chair and Co-op Interim General Manager Howard Julien addressing, as Martha puts it, "the perceived corporatization of our Co-op" and presumably touching on the general membership meeting held Sunday at the Bayside Grange. (See Table Talk Oct. 25 .)

Martha also notes that Co-op management has "agreed to 'vent the meat' and will be installing exhaust fans (TWO of them) in the butcher shop next week.... We will finally get some relief and we'll ALL be able to enjoy a far more 'pleasureable shopping experience,' be we vegans,vegetarians, or omnivores...."

And speaking of omnivores. I've set up a Google alert for stories mentioning Michael Pollan, whose best seller, The Ominivore's Dilemma , is now in paperback. Yesterday's alert took me to a story posted on Grainnet , a feed industry newsletter, about the first Executive Leadership Summit for the American Feed Industry Association last weekend in Dana Point, CA.

One panel focusing on "Trends Driving the Food Business" included speakers from McDonald’s and the supermarket chain Royal Ahold . A couple of things jumped out. Larry DeVries v. p. of concept and menu development at McDs dropped a term I've not heard: "Glocal," which he "used to describe the world as becoming one interconnected neighborhood."

The reason the news item came my way was comments made by Alan Noddle of Dutch food giant Royal Ahold (a name with great pun potential), operators of Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains back east.

Grainnet reports:
"Noddle provided a detailed 'state of the industry' perspective on food retailing including the trend of consolidation, the growth of the discount sector, massive investment in technology, sustainability and food safety, nutrition and health as well as his predictions on what the future holds."

(See the Journal story, " Grocers and Lifestyles .")

What do these trends mean to the feed industry?

"[Noddle] provided several tips and insights, just a few of which included (1) product innovation is key to growth; (2) fund research for better products; (3) be proactive on the industry’s significance to the food chain; (4) invest in employee education; and (5) read Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan."