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Reader question: In this sentence – With snow at a premium, Olympics organizers at one Vancouver, B.C., venue are using bales of straw to augment the white stuff as they construct runs for snowboarding, freestyle skiing, and other events (At Vancouver Olympics, straw battles sun, rain, CNet News, January 29, 2010) – what does “premium” mean? My comments: “At a premium” is a fixed phrase and here it simply means that snow is scarce. This implies that snow is more valuable than usual – If snow is a commodity, it’ll fetch “premium prices”. This is due, obviously, to the upcoming Winter Olympics – all winter sports take place on snow-covered tracks and fields. View “premium” as bonus, “an additional amount of money, above a standard rate or amount: farmers are being offered a premium for organically grown vegetables” (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English). In this example, a “premium” is put on organic vegetables because they are considered healthier. This in turn means in supermarkets these vegetables will be sold at higher prices – or premium prices – than the more commonplace vegetables farmers grow using artificial fertilizers and pesticides. In short, anything “at a premium” is in short supply or is more valuable/expensive than usual, often both as short supply (or great demand) usually leads to greater prices. Familiarize yourself with this term through reading these media examples: | 
