MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Will the Girl Scouts' cookie sales crumble?

As a result of the supermarket strike in southern California, the Girl Scouts there are facing an unusual challenge.
Besides knocking on doors, one of the ways the girls sell cookies is by setting up tables in front of supermarkets where hungry shoppers are happy buyers. Last year, in southern California, several million boxes of cookies were sold this way. This year, the supermarket strike has posed a dilemma.
The scouts could possibly be put in harm's way if they set up tables near agitated strikers. Recent newspaper stories described the problem and merchants responded.
"We have received a great show of support from retailers who offered their stores as cookie sale locations," said a spokesperson for the Girl Scout Counsel of Greater Long Beach.
Please keep an eye out for the girls when they arrive at their new locations in March. When you are offered the opportunity to buy their cookies, remember you are doing more than buying cookies! Approximately 75 percent of cookie sale proceeds go to support programs that build character and life skills.
Letter
John Winkler of San Pedro, Calif., sent me this note: "The supermarket strike here in southern California has been going on far too long. It is a great loss to shoppers as well as the supermarkets and their striking workers. I would like to suggest that shoppers offer to help end the strike by agreeing to bag their own groceries. The money saved could be applied to worker health benefits. If this narrows the gap between the sides, perhaps they can come to a settlement."
As unusual as Winkler's idea is, perhaps a show of compassion and cooperation by shoppers would help to bring the parties to their senses. I would like my readers in California to respond to his idea. Would you bag your groceries in order to end the strike?
Write to me, Martin Sloane, The Supermarket Shopper, in care of The Vindicator. Readers in other states are also invited to comment.
In the middle of January, as previously predicted in this column, Congress passed a massive omnibus appropriations bill that contained a provision delaying for two years, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat and produce.
Consumer groups who believe people have a right to know where their meat and produce come from were disappointed. Industry groups, who claimed the labeling would be too costly, welcomed the delay.
The food industry groups who fought to delay COOL, have promised to create their own voluntary country-of-origin labeling programs. I'm skeptical, especially when I hear that one of the industry labeling suggestions is not really labeling at all. It would require a shopper to take an item to a customer service counter where a store associate would look up the country of origin on a computer.
Give us a break! Give shoppers the information they are entitled to!
Camera phones
Cell phones equipped with cameras are selling like hotcakes. I was recently told these camera phones could be used to rip off your credit card information. When a shopper uses a credit card at the checkout counter, another shopper with a camera phone could take a sneaky photo of the card. The photo could show the cardholder's name, card number and expiration date. So, the next time you are at the checkout counter and about to take your card out of your wallet, look behind you. If you see a cell phone, guard your card.
Should supermarkets ban cell phones at the checkout counter? What do you think?
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.