Welcome to Food Week September 20, 2024. Happy first day of Autumn. It’s 87 in Chicago which is…perfectly fine. Lots to learn about this week. Zebra striping chaos wheat, the imminent labor shortage, the benefits of full fat milk. The same for baking soda. Why a bag of Cheetos can mess up a whole eco-system. And a lot more. Enjoy

MACRO

• Momentary euphoria after rate cut and all time stock market highs settled down. And the dollar fell which is good for exports but much of our food is imported and there fore more expensive.

• The US is poised for the largest labor shortage in history as boomers are retiring and Gen X is right behind. Related perhaps, there has been a marked increase in employment of disabled individuals since the pandemic

• The FDA wants to place warning labels on food to fight obesity.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Government lawyers urge FTC not to approve Kroger Albertson’s merger.

• Michelle Obama launches a line of healthy drinks. Speaking of healthy drinks, how about full fat milk?

• Companies like Target refuse to differentiate actual retail theft from other forms of shrink but love to use shoplifting as grist for the PR mill. Also, everyone loves Aldi. Except this person.

• Tupperware files for bankruptcy. If they close up, will you hear a burp?

• Trader Joe’s mini-tote bags area big deal, apparently.

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• New York City school food administrator sentenced to jail time in bribery case involving tainted food.

• Renowned cocktail bar in Oakland now cutting a swath with its bar food.

• A rant about phone lights in restaurants and the solution to this is people should generally be more considerate. But I can tell you I’ve had situations, most notably at a very high end cocktail bar (OK. Kumiko) which was so dimly lit that I had to use my light continuously as I read about the very complicated ingredients in my drink. It didn’t quite ruin the experience but it didn’t help

• The most unhealthy fast food burger in America. But Dunkin’ Donuts new fruit smoothies are actually healthy.

• Casa Bonita is a wacky restaurant in Colorado made famous by the show South Park. Now the writers want to save it.

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• Drought in Brazil will push coffee prices higher. Just in time for a surge in pour over coffee drinking.

• Plastic companies want to define what is recyclable. Which seems sub-optimal but not at all a conflict of interest.

• Processing and packaging food shown to cause toxins to migrate into our bodies.

• Is chaos wheat an answer to mono-culture and climate change? King Arthur is experimenting with their version called Climate Blend.

• Potential strike by dock workers hits perishable food imports hardest.

• 1000 pigs die in barn fire.

DRINK CORNER

• The espresso martini has become the new IPA – the drink that some people love and many others scorn. Instead try a Japanese Lemon Sour

• Resurrecting the flaming Dr. Pepper. And I love daiquiris and I love a good Chicago style hot dog. But why mix them?

• Top rated wheated bourbons. And how to make whiskey bourbon cream sauce.

• Zebra striping – alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages is a trend.

• Mistakes people make when ordering wine.

FOOD WEEK September 20 LAGNIAPPE

• A food memoir from a travel writer.

• More on the health benefits of baking soda.

• Himalayan blackberries are invasive but they are also delicious,

• Finding uses for those pink peppercorns.

• The consequences of food trash in an eco-system. Even Cheetos.

• Buying a food processor? Start here.

• Salt and Pepper are the most common seasonings. But why?