Smoking Ban may SIGNIFICANTLY Lower Youth Smoking

5 05 2008

I’ve already made it clear where I stand on a public smoking ban.  This new data from Boston University published in this months edition of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Minds really makes a strong argument to outright banning smoking in public places.

Results  Youths living in towns with a strong restaurant smoking regulation at baseline had significantly lower odds of progressing to established smoking (odds ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.85) compared with those living in towns with weak regulations. The observed association between strong restaurant smoking regulations and impeded progression to established smoking was entirely due to an effect on the transition from experimentation to established smoking (odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.86).

Conclusion  Local smoke-free restaurant laws may significantly lower youth smoking initiation by impeding the progression from cigarette experimentation to established smoking.

You can read the entire study HERE.  More importantly, contact your local legislators and encourage them to ammend HB 4136 to ban smoking in all workplaces including bars and restaurants.  Contact Senators that sit on the Government Operations and Reform Committee (Senators Bishop, Patterson, Cassis, Kuipers, Schauer , Clarke, and Olshove, which hasn’t met since Nov. 2007) where the bill is sitting now and encourage them to call the bill and pass it on to the full Senate.

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Categories : Food News, Lansing, Michigan, Politics

Food Prices Still Rising

5 05 2008

ugh….this article was in the Lansing State Journal today.

Americans might be getting another helping of food inflation, and it seems likely to come from higher prices for chicken and pork.

Overall food inflation could double this year, lifted by the rising costs of fuel, corn and soybeans, some analysts predict.

Food inflation hit 4 percent last year, up from 2.4 percent in 2006. While beef prices were already high, chicken and pork prices didn’t reflect record costs for feed and fuel. That’s poised to change as chicken and pig producers who have been losing money slaughter more animals to decrease the supply and raise the prices they can charge.

UGH!  Again, this is pretty much do to the Ethanol myth.  Guess what?!  ETHANOL IS NOT A VIABLE ENERGY SOURCE!  All these E-85 vehicles have been a huge waste of money.  A 2006 University of Minnesota Study concluded that even if we used every available piece of farm land to produce ethanol for fuel it would only meet 12% of energy demand.  12%!!!  Does that sound like a good investment to you? 

My dad owns farmland in Illinois.  He made a lot more money last year off his crops than in year’s past so it’s hard for me to be critical of a cash cow for my family, but this is ridiculous.  Everyday we’re seeing higher food prices because politicians and the media are telling America that ethanol is the solution to ween us of Middle Eastern oil.  I don’t have a good solution to higher gas prices, but I know ethanol is NOT what we need.  Gas prices are high enough, we don’t need food prices getting higher because of an idea that is nothing more than a fad.


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Red Cedar Grill

5 05 2008
  • 5114 W. Saginaw HwyRed Cedar Grill
  • Lanisng, MI 48917
  • (517) 323-6300
  • Website
  • Menu

I first noticed Red Cedar Grill my first week in Lansing.  We found Lansing Mall looking for Younkers and Red Cedar Grill has a very prominent store front on the outside of the building.  Regular commenter John recommended Red Cedar, so we decided to make it a point to check it out.  My girlfriend needed to go to Younkers, so we made a pre-work trip with enough time to grab lunch.

There are two entrances to Red Cedar.  There is an entrance inside the mall, but the main entrance is the outside door.  We entered through the mall entrance and there was a sign that told us to go to the hostess station at the front of the store.  That’s a little weird considering you have to walk all the through the dining room to get to the front.  The space is gorgeous.  The dining room is dimly lit.  There are booths on a little platform that run the whole length of the wall plus there are tables between the booths and the bar.  There’s a patio out front and a sun room type space next to that.  The bar is also beautiful.  It’s a long L-shape made out of a dark wood.  The low lighting and dark colors make the place really cozy and relaxing.

Red Cedar GrillUsually at malls, you expect places like TGIFriday’s or Ruby Tuesday.  Red Cedar Grill is definately not one of those places.  The menu is much more upscale.  We stopped in for lunch and even the lunch menu was better than burgers and salads….but they did have both on the menu.

I ordered the BBQ, Bacon and Bleu burger.  Crumbled bleu cheese topped a juicy burger.  Bacon was layered on top of that then BBQ sauce was put on the onion roll.  The burger was nice and juicy.  The BBQ sauce sort of cancelled out the bleu cheese taste, but you could still get just a hint of it….and there was a lot of bleu cheese.  I don’t really like onion rolls, but I knew that when I ordered, so I’m not holding that against the sandwich.  The sandwich was good.  It was served with shoestring fries on the side and there was also some hot rolls and butter brought to the table before.  With all that food, for the first time in a long time, I was defeated.  I couldn’t finish everything on my plate….which is a good thing because I’m a big eater. 

My girlfriend ordered the Smoked Turkey Grill….which I almost ordered myself it looked so good.  Smoked turkey was stacked on rye bread with bacon, tomato, aged cheddar, and dijon mustard.  Her meal also came with a side of cracked pepper kettle chips.  For the first time, I almost wished my meal came with chips instead of fries.  These were really good.  The cracked pepper made the chips a little spicy.  The smoked turkey was delicious.  She didn’t say a whole lot about the sandwich other than it was good.  She did remark more than once that the chips were delicious.

Our bill with pop was $25, so it’s not a cheap meal, but the food is quality and the service was pretty good.  For a while, we were the only ones in the restaurant, but we hit them right as they opened.  The server disappeared come check time, but during the meal, he was always there when we needed another Coke.  The food came out pretty quickly and we probably weren’t there more than a half hour. 

Thanks, John, for the suggestion.  We’ll have to go back and try the dinner menu now.


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Categories : Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews