Food Week November 8 – 14, 2021

Happy weekend and welcome to Food Week November 8. We at fork pitch are dubious. Dubious about Subway ‘tuna.’ Dubious about organic labels. Kinda dubious about the climate change pact. Terrified and dubious about the future of coffee. And peaches. Dubious about sushi now that I know the Moonies are involved. Dubious about Brussels sprouts, just in general. Enjoy our dubiosity (a real word).

FOOD WEEK MACRO

• More people quitting. More than 4 million quit their jobs in October.

• The US has a lower vaccination rate of any tracked country other than Russia. This will lead to more restrictions in some states and more deaths in others.

• There’s a new climate deal that no one loves.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Inflation panic remains with meat (and gas) leading the charge. See below for the reason meat is going up.

• The coffee supply crisis has seen an increase in price of almost 50%. But it might get much worse. Coffee as we know it is in danger. Yikes!

• The healthiest oil to cook with? Olive Oil.

• Climate and sustainability info on labels.

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• It is generally very hard for foodservice distributors to take price increases. Across the board ones are rare. Supply chain issues are driving these.

• Test of Subway’s Tuna shows 19 of 20 samples had “no detectable tuna DNA sequences.” Therefore, lawsuits filed.

• Did you know that White Castle has a holiday gift guide? It is actually some pretty stylish stuff.

• I am frankly surprised Cheesecake Factory serves brussels sprouts. For those of us sensitive to the smell, they can frankly ruin a meal.

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• Finally the port situation is improving.

• Climate change is changing the Georgia peach industry.

• Food Week November 8 saw Elon Musk called out on ending world hunger.

• Relatedly, Manufacturing in other sectors pays 17% higher than food plants. As a result, they are having trouble finding workers. (For some reason terrible, poorly paid jobs in the middle of nowhere that come with the threat of COVID can’t be filled. Huh.) Immigrants gravitated towards these jobs before but w/out immigration, plants lose labor supply AND wage leverage over other workers.

• In the meantime, COVID and Meat plants. The slow rolling health disaster continues.

FOOD WEEK LAGNIAPPE

• “The real difference, then, between a ton of organic soybeans and a ton of conventional soybeans is the story you can tell about them.” I wouldn’t go so far as to call organic labeling a fiction. But given the lack of testing, the certification process and the arbitrariness of the practies makes it closer to wish than fact.

• The story of the Moonies and the growth of Sushi in America. I guess we have to thank the cult….

• Black American food traditions are a lot more complex than most people – me included – think. Soul food and the stories.

• The pot maybe larger than my kitchen but here is how hot pot is made in a Chinese restaurant.