Welcome to Food Week July 3. A short week but a lot to talk about. Inflation and labor shortages continue to slowly ease. Forever chemicals are forever but there may be a few things you can do. Cargill believes in plant based proteins even if nobody else does. Honey bees are still dying but stupidity survives as witnessed by the latest outrage over plant- based beer. And much more. Enjoy.
MACRO
- Not just the US but the world economy has been remarkably resilient. The concern by soem is that central banks will tighten too much or for too long because…
- Inflation is not all that sticky. And so the fearmongers on Wall Street appear to have got it all wrong.
- Is this the coolest summer you will experience for the rest of your life?
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Early mistakes aside, Walmart is all in on e-commerce.
- While others are running away, Cargill doubles down on the future of plant based proteins.
- When opening a grocery store most depends upon access to water…
- Global food prices continue to fall.
- Cottage cheese comes back – a second life as a diet food.
- Canadian apples and the smoke from wildfires…
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- If this reviewer wasn’t paid for this, they ought to dine free 10 more times. REVIEW: Family Tries Ruth’s Chris for First Time, Worth $500.
- Restaurants finally catch up on their labor needs.
- In pursuit of the perfect sandwich
- The Bear shows us how to get an omelet right. And shows us girls love food,too.
- Gen Z loves chain restaurant merch.

The mania for adding line items to restaurant checks has hit a new high – or low.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- Public utilities are going to have to tackle the problem of ‘forever chemicals’ – here’s what you can do in the meantime.
- Can a city feed itself? Several are going to try.
- Mexican farmers regenerating their landscape. Science doesn’t have to mean big and knowledge can give us a lot of small solutions.
- The honeybee crisis is far from over. Nearly half died last year.
- Trying to prevent the next Avian Influenza outbreak.
FOOD WEEK JULY 3 LAGNIAPPE
- Welcome to stupidity corner. Plant based beer is apparently something that threatens our civilization. That’s why I stick with meat based beer. Another manufactured tempest in an imaginary teapot: no, venting regulations are not killing NY pizza.
- Buzzfeed has produced a AI chef-bot. It occurs to me as a user of AI that the usefulness of the answers is correlated to the effectiveness of the questions. And experts know the questions that need be asked.
- Cannabis company rolls out Stoneos, cookies resembling Oreos. FTC not amused.
- Some people take a while to realize that a well done steak is a waste of money and steak.
- From the Guardian – an awesome graphic on the sources of foodborne illness:
