Organic Panache

   

I do not live in one of Denver's toney neighborhoods, but visit upscale Cherry Creek occasionally, to shop. I like the Whole Foods store there. People like me do not  provide Whole Foods with its captive, well-to-do, customer base. Ordinarily I wouldn't give momentary notice to the price the wealthy pay for the panache of organic, gluten-free, grass fed baloney. 
     I shop at Whole Foods despite the "Whole Paycheck" reputation, not because my lifestyle must set me apart from elders shuffling down the aisles of Walmart. It is because Whole Foods spread itself all over Boulder, Colorado, like cage-free eggs on a frat house. Whole Foods promised, at the time, it would bring a more competitive marketplace for organics. In fact, like the invasion of Starbucks, it left virtually no alternatives for consumers.
     Change is upon us, people, and I am ready! Never a hard- core Whole Foods shopper, I welcome Trader Joe to Denver.  As for Whole Foods, its corporate management is determined to disenchant. Now the chain has been fined for cheating California consumers, and some of the price inflating methods have a familiar ring. Here's a link to the Reuters/CNBC coverage:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/101787636#.
     A fine of $80,000 is teensy for Whole Foods, but this incident adds itself to the revelation that Whole Foods uses producers in China for it's 365 Organic brand. Corporate protestations that Whole Foods carefully monitors its Chinese producers weren't comforting. 
       The days of organic exclusivity are numbered. Established companies are trying a new business model resulting in widespread availability of organics. Discount outlets will be carrying organic and some gluten-free cookies. Even better, these rise above the Sawdust Special of bygone years!
   

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts

The Governor, Some Kids and Gun Control

 

     Colorado Governor Hickenlooper has dipped his big toe in pretty hot water. His vacillation and outright lying concerning gun control legislation do not elicit amazement on my part. I'll explain. Though unrelated to Colorado gun violence, this is not the first time I've been aware of the man's lack of integrity.
     How we do rely on image in electing public officials, and what boyishness John Hickenlooper exudes! He fits right into what I'd characterize as The Boulder Scene, geeky, bland, overly sincere, firmly planted on moral high ground.  
     Nonetheless our Gov can certainly astonish people. His decision to grant a reprieve in the case of Nathan Dunlap, the Chucky Cheese murderer, smarted. In one swell foop, as the saying goes, he snatched closure (not to mention justice for their dead) from families, friends and a community. Mr. Hickenlooper took the high ground, characterizing the death penalty as inherently flawed. Righto, Sir, and I'd characterize Nathan Dunlap as craven and deliberate. Although the Nathan Dunlap matter drew national attention, the uproar soon died down.

 A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. -Oscar Wilde    

     A minor scandal, while Hickenlooper was the Mayor of Denver, drew brief local attention. The mini-scandal did not involve the Mayor directly, 'though it did offer me a brief look into his character. Denver's Channel 7 aired a report in early 2005 concerning juvenile offenders in Denver County. It seemed the youngsters were being removed from school to perform community service projects. The projects, however, served no educational purpose. Conflict of interest came into play. The juvenile work crew cleaned up after a party, presumably a drunken affair, at an Elk's Club. Oooops, two Sheriff's deputies belonged to the Club. Although the Order of Elks is a non-profit, its members could easily have cleaned the club after themselves or afforded to have the work done.  
     A former Juvenile Probation Supervisor, I'd managed work crews in actual community service projects. Our clients were assigned, as a third-strike measure (i.e., each client had been convicted of two prior offenses. None was in school, because all had been suspended indefinitely, expelled or had dropped out of school.) Clients were paid to work. Pay not used for restitution went directly into individual trust accounts for future educational needs. Every assignment was dedicated to preparing clients to complete probation, and return to community. The program attempted to ready clients for work and further education, or both. It was, by no means, a perfect program, but considerably ahead of its time.
     When I wrote Mayor Hickenlooper, asking him to comment on the educational and remedial values of Denver's juvenile offender work crews, he couldn't be bothered. His reply was non-responsive. In any event the uproar was short-lived, although the Denver Sheriff took some flak. In spite of his indifference, the Mayor publicly sounded sincere in his desire to see the right thing done, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 
     Since Mr. Sincerity has become our Governor, I've written more than once to his Consumer Affairs people, and to the Governor himself, to no avail. Colorado and federal taxpayers continue to pay for the Department of Human Services computer system, which has been seriously flawed since its inception. Backdoor fixes do not work; the experts all agree. That fact has not staunched the money hemorrhage, nor has it improved the lives of Colorado's low income households.
     In recent years CDHS erroneously denied 68.7 per cent of applicant households food assistance, terminating or suspending them from benefits. People, that is nearly 70 per cent. Yet the funding requests keep rollin' in, unchecked, and Director Bicha is keeping his job. 
     Meanwhile no DDHS client initiates a call to a technician. One phone number is available to clients, that of the Customer Service Call Center. Wait times are outlandish, sometimes hours long (as are wait times for personal interviews.) People re-certifying for benefits or reporting changes to their households are routinely booted. Clients who receive "snail mail" from the Department, do not get notices timely, often finding the window for appeal expired, before the notice arrived. Worse yet, DDHS appears to use its processes to lighten client and budgetary loads. Whether this is true or not, Colorado has been aptly termed, draconian by struggling citizens.      
     Every one of these instances should have drawn a rapid response from the Mayor-turned-Governor and his staff. Doesn't it seem a bit late in the game for Colorado voters to catch on?