Woebegone Wednesday
Duh moment. The Japanese government admitted that auctioning off Strategic Rice Reserves had been ineffective at bringing down the price of rice. They didn't realize that an auction would bid up the price. They will now sell them directly to supermarkets at a fixed price. They are also importing rice from California, which is considered inferior but is a cheaper alternative.
U.S. cattle inventory hit a 70-year low in May. Sheep inventories are down, too. They've been going down since 1983 but continue to slide. Ranchers blame bad trade deals and call for country of origin labels on beef. Why on earth does our burger remain a mystery when we identify the country of origin of our underwear for all to see? Answer is the lobby power of Big Four packers who got it repealed in 2015. Those 5- and 10-pound tubes of burger you see with cheap prices are likely coming from another hemisphere, maybe two different hemispheres.
Deals today
• It's National Cheese Day, and both Trader Joe's and Aldis are recognizing it with discounts on top-of-the-line cheeses.
• Haiku (1315 31st St., Des Moines) lets kids 11 and younger eat free with adults on Wednesdays. Hot sour soup and eggrolls are comped today with lunch entrees.
• Waterfront's Wednesday special this week is King salmon straight from the legendary King Salmon Fish Derby in Ketchikan, Alaska.
• Wednesdays bring steak night to Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines). Steaks are cooked to order with salad, potato and bread, $14.99.
• Angry Goldfish (2301 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) offers hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy for $11.50 on Wednesday.
• Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Ankeny) offers traditional gyros for $7 Wednesdays.
• Wine bottles are half price on Wednesdays at Trostel's Greenbriar (5910 Merle Hay Road, Johnston). The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) also has half-priced bottles on Wednesdays.
• G Migg's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a special lasagna dinner today with salad and garlic bread for $19.25.
• Barntown's (9500 S.E. University Ave., West Des Moines) Wednesday specials are a pound of chicken tenders with fries and two sauces for $11.99, plus $13 core pitchers of beer.
• Wednesday is Biryani Festival at Chowrastha (5910 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines). Buy two and a third is free.
• Village Inns offer free pie with entrees on Wednesdays.
• It's lasagna day at Maxie's Supper Club (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines), breaded pork tenderloin day at Eastside Eddie's (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines), and barbecue ribs evening at G Migg's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction).
• Panka Peruvian (2708 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has live jazz Wednesday.
• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave.) offers $5 off pizza on Wednesdays.
• Bordenaro's (6108 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) has a Wednesday-Thursday only special on carryout pizza. They start at $6.50 for a 10-inch cheese pie. Each ingredient added is an extra charge, but this pretty much adds up to half-price pies.
• Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) has fried chicken specials tonight.
• Kwik Stars' Wednesday special is eight pieces of fried chicken for $10. Their fried chicken is ridiculously good for a convenience store.
• On Wednesdays you can get any burger, wrap or sandwich with fries for $10.99 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Dr, Urbandale).
• Jethro's have $9.95 BPT sandwiches, including side of choice, on Wednesdays. Because tonight is an Indiana WNBA game night, the West Des Moines Jethro's has a "Fever Reliever" special of any two appetizers on the Happy Hour menu and two pints of domestic beer for $22.
• Price Choppers have sales on cherries at $3.99/pound, strawberries and $2.50/pint and russet potatoes at $1.99/5-pound bag, through Monday.
• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) begins a week-long sale on avocados at six for $1.99, cherries at $3.99/pound and snow crab clusters at $9.99/pound.
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com | 
