Grocery auctions have been growing in popularity as a way to get a lot of food for not a lot of money.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
Workers hold up five pound bags of frozen chicken nuggets before bidding opens. Grocery auctions have been growing in popularity since the recession as an outlet for food that's past its prime. Around 80 people attended this one at the Chesapeake Auction House in St. Leonard, Md.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
The auctions usually last four hours, and many bidders stay the entire time. The food they bid on won't be sold in stores because it may be expired or have damaged packaging.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
Betty Thomas types bids into the auction house's computer. Most of their grocery auctions bring in $10,000-15,000.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
Many of the bidders bring large coolers to carry home their haul, which often includes frozen meat.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
Kathy Cartwright of Accokeek, Md., is a regular at the grocery auctions. She says her family has stopped buying meat at the store, and relies on what they can get at the auction. Most of the meat is sold frozen.
Credit Matt Sindelar for NPR
The type of food at the grocery auction varies, but this one included frozen meat, chips, juice, laundry detergent and more. Auctioneer Larry Forman and his wife Kay (not pictured) have hosted the grocery auctions for 10 years.
Credit Matt Rourke / AP
Runner Tom Howard holds up the merchandise at a grocery auction in Dallas, Pa., in 2009. These auctions are becoming more popular as people look for deals on food that's past its prime.
Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, arrives to announce his choice of running mate aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., on Aug. 11.
Credit Max Whittaker / Getty Images
Then-nominee Barack Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., was carefully staged against a backdrop of classical pillars.
During the next two weeks, the major political parties will assemble their faithful in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate their presidential tickets. These conventions were once places of high political drama. But over the decades, as the primary system has determined the candidates well in advance, conventions have become political theater. With that in mind, there's much to be said on staging in politics — not substance, but style.
Amb. James Cunningham on the Afghan people's support
With "green on blue" attacks by Afghans in uniform increasingly in the news, Americans officials are being asked whether the people of Afghanistan are turning against the coalition troops that have been in the Central Asian nation since late 2001.
Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 8:32 pm
Cecilia Giménez, 81, thought she was doing a good thing. A 19th century fresco by painter Elias Garcia Martinez had slowly been battered by time. The masterpiece portrait of Jesus had faded. His tunic was splashed by bare wall and half his face had gone missing.
Giménez, a member of the church where the fresco is located, took it upon herself to restore it to its former glory. Except, well, her artistic skills weren't up to the task.
The pictures tell the story, so we'll just show you.
Originally published on Thu August 23, 2012 3:27 pm
Van Hunt is something like a cross between Thelonious Monk and Prince: throaty and suave yet artistic, bold and a little weird. His inventive style speaks to his strong will, a trait that propelled the college dropout to move from his home in Ohio to the music hub of Atlanta.
