Vegan Chocolates & Worker Pay

Today’s Press Herald promotes the positive health benefits of vegan chocolates. The article includes a list of local establishments where you can find dairy-free food of the gods.

Researchers say chocolate gives us a heart-healthy antioxidant boost, but only if we enjoy it without a side order of dairy. With Valentine’s Day on Sunday, the heart-shaped boxes will be flying off the shelves, but for those of us who want to cater to our loved ones’ tickers (and not just their sweet tooth), we’ll be seeking out chocolates made without milk.

Today’s paper also reports on the results of a study on worker pay in Maine’s restaurant industry.

Using a sampling base of 525 surveyed workers – 1.1 percent of the Maine restaurant work force – the study found that in 2008, 16.3 percent earned a living wage, defined as $17 or more an hour. The largest group – 59.7 percent – fell into the “low wages” category, defined as $8.46 to $16.99 an hour.

The study found that 20.9 percent of restaurant workers earned between $7.25 and $8.45 an hour – a rate that puts them below the poverty line – and 3 percent made less than the then-minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

3 comments on “Vegan Chocolates & Worker Pay

  1. I’d love to see a survey about how many people in the state, regardless of industry, make a living wage. Less than half of the people I know make $17 an hour or more.

  2. If I made $17 an hour I would be rich! What type of jobs in restaurants are paying that? Managerial positions, people who own the business? This survey sound like a bunch of BS.

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