FREQUENT SHOPPERS TO BECOME FREQUENT FLYERS? 

If spare time is scarce for that second holiday with all those accumulated frequent flyer points, would you be willing to spend them for groceries? Don't laugh. This may be the next step in the latest south-of-the-border food promotion.

Customers of Giant Foods in the U.S. now can earn up to $150 every three months, as they and other grocery outlets initiate a sales program similar to the airlines, very successful frequent flyer promotion.

Frequent shopper discounts provide rebates to participating shoppers for some brand name items. Computerized check-out records verify purchasers and purchases.

What next? The Combo Deal. Food and flight coupons interchangeable at the grocery store or the airport counter.

This is no longer impossible. Some airlines are heavily burdened by the points outstanding on their books. Wouldn't they be willing to participate in a joint promotion program to unload a mountain of points in exchange for food? It would be a win-win situation for both grocery outlets and airlines. Airlines could advertise both outlets and their products on in-flight movie networks and on ticket folders. Supermarkets could provide similar advertising on shopping bags and on brochures enclosed in their own frequent-buyer monthly mailings.

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For shoppers with teenagers who are still worrying over the possibility that "the Bomb" may go off, here is reassuring news:

A Hiroshima University medical team has discovered that Japan's most popular soup, "Miso", made from fermented soybean paste, helps the body get rid of radiation. Surely this discovery will relieve the hearts of those seriously distressed over Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

The blood of rats fed miso and exposed to radiation were shown to have only 50 percent of isotypes in their blood compared to rats who did not receive miso in their diets and who were also exposed to radiation.

After the World War II bombing of that Nagasaki local physicians appeared to have unintentionally avoided such radiation poisoning by being regular devotees of miso soup.

Sales of the book "Food and Predisposition" by Dr. Shinichiro Akizuki have exploded in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster pointed out the miso phenomenon.

Subsequent sales of miso soup in Europe followed the same graph line as Dr. Akizuki's book and have caused other scientists to follow this line of research.

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As reported earlier, 'gator steak was a hot new food item. Now 'gator snacks are becoming even more popular. Ever since alligators were taken off the endangered species list in the U.S., alligator farms have been producing the delicacy in quantity. The latest offered by street vendors in New Orleans, is 'gator sausage-on-astick! Look for it soon on a local grocery shelf.

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A few months ago I also wrote on the phenomenon of bananas as a big crop in Iceland: now, peanuts in Ontario!

It seems that as Canada's sick tobacco industry fades, a healthy peanut industry is rising from the ashes around Dehli, Ontario. This latest in Canadian cash crops is seen as the desirable alternative for this formerly prosperous area in southern and central Canada. Located north of Lake Erie, the district's sandy soil and longer growing season make it the only place in Canada, (and the only other than the southern U.S.) suitable for this popular and healthy legume, which grows without fertilizer. Peanuts are dried in old, bulk tobacco kilns that still dot the Delhi area.

The idea for peanuts in Dehli is not new. As far back as 1960 the University of Guelph began such research (which suggests that tobacco's harmful effects were known then), but the first commercial crop didn't turn to cash until 1980. During the last few years a sound foundation has been established and more farmers are seeing the possibilities. Both the University of Guelph and Agriculture Canada have jointly produced two other types that are in small-scale production with a third type being researched.

A Canadian Peanut Growers cooperative was established two years ago in Vittoria, Ontario with Ron Adams as general manager. From a starting group of 19 farmers the cooperative has already reached a membership of 30. About 40 peanut farms are already established in the area. Crop sales exceed one million dollars already and peanut butter and other by-products are being developed along the way. Adams claims that the Valencia peanut grown in Ontario, although more expensive than U.S. peanuts, has a noticeably different taste and is premium quality. The co-op hopes to have their products on Canadian supermarket shelves in the near future.

Looks like they can grow the peanuts, now can they market them like Planter's?

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