National Editor Tom Karst Nobody important wants to become a sequester expert, I suppose, because that means the sequester will be long-lived and its unwanted ills will be visited on nearly every federal program.
The effect of the sequester cuts on the budgets of federal agencies is being debated on a day by day, hour by hour basis. The buzz this week is that President Obama “overhyped” the automatic spending cuts. However, as some of the cuts become more deeply felt that may well change.
In the stories I have read, I haven’t seen the link to the Office of Management and Budget’s master document detailing the administration’s cost-cutting plans for various agencies.
After asking in a Freedom of Information Act request for the USDA AMS plan for sequester cuts, the USDA FOIA officer sent me a link to fulfill that request. If you want every last detail on sequester cuts for all federal agencies, check out the 83-page document for the skinny on how government will cut the fat.
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My Twitter account is recently passed the 2,000 follower plateau, though some of my newest followers include an automotive shop, a youth pastor and yes, more ever-abundant social media marketers.
And so the adventure in social media continues. One useful Twitter tool I found this week is called Twittercounter ; useful for tracking the escalating number of my auto shop followers.
Speaking of social media, one poll question at the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group this week addressed the biggest weakness in Wal-Mart’s fresh produce departments.
And Wal-Mart, the market research is on me. I asked, ”What is generally the biggest weakness in Walmart’s fresh produce departments?”
The options are : out of stock, marginal quality, selection, freshness and identity.
Too early to tabulate the poll results, but early comments didn’t hold back on Wal-Mart’s shortcomings.
For all of Wal-Mart’s success and future aspirations to buy local and save consumers billions, it seems the chain still needs to up its performance at the department level. Drawbacks include lack of training for produce department staff and low quality produce in some stores. Lack of attention to RPCs on display also hurt their image, one observer said, and culling was not aggressive enough to removed bruised or old product. One reader advised,
“The better merchandising retailers focus attention on the display throughout the day. Putting out what sells on a timely basis instead of piling it up high is better for the product and quality for the consumer. Take a look at the attention that someone like Wegman’s gives at each item on display throughout the day.”
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