Welcome to Food Week March 20. True maple syrup, false claims about environmental commitments, restaurant tech innovation and failure, animal rights activists criming their way to jury verdicts, more on gas stoves and Ozempic face. All this and other stuff. Enjoy!
MACRO
Is inflation cooling more rapidly than the headlines show?
So far, the banks that have failed been fairly specialized and small. But it gives regulators pause. As a result, many investors getting out of financial stocks and investors are moving to cash.
But at least the ‘city killer’ asteroid is going to miss us.
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
Walmart to lay off hundreds of employees in e-commerce. This is just a few weeks after they bragged that the e-commerce would be their biggest profit driver soon.
The pre-made cocktail is here to stay, boosted by drinking patterns developed during the pandemic.
Panera and Amazon open a new self serve concept in St,. Louis that allows customers to pay with the palm of their hand.
On the other hand, White Castle either did not understand or ignored an Illinois law against gathering of employee’s biometric data. In theory they are on the hook for $17 billion in violations.
Animal rights activists using tactic of putting ‘crimes’ – or as they describe it rescues – in front of juries. And they are winning.
Paraquat is one of the most used herbicides in agriculture in the US. despite its link to Parkinson disease. Law suits by farmers are causing the EPA to re-examine its use.
Slaughterhouses are some of the most dangerous jobs. And increasingly, migrant children are found doing these jobs.
Hurricanes, flooding and oil spills devastated Mississippi’s oyster reefs. State efforts to restore them have gone poorly.
China back to importing Brazilian beef – their largest supplier – after mad cow scare.
Public Health authorities know that indoor gas stoves are a problem. Hell, even the gas industry knows it. But the resistance is fierce, going so far as to blame the user..
Building your gut biome: 1. chew slowly 2. fermented foods 3. 30 different plants a week(!!) Or using diet to mimic the effects of Ozempic. Did you know there’s a thing called Ozempic face?
Pancake syrup vs. real Maple Syrup, in case you didn’t know.
Just add water: Some crazy German monks create the worlds first powdered beer.
