Welcome to Food Week April 11, 2025. Things you shouldn’t do: ingest micro-plastics, invest in Tropicana futures, trust cod liver oil, trade in restaurant reservations, eat oysters in a month with an r in it, brush with chicken flavored toothpaste, stop believing in climate change and, possibly, trust in US government securities. All these and more.
MACRO
- Bond market craters due to uncertainty, daily changes in trade policy
- Wholesale prices fell marginally in March ahead of the tariffs. But it was mostly gas and travel. There is a lot of concern over core inflation, particularly food.
- RFK JR. tells CDC to stop recommending fluoride for drinking water
RETAIL AND CONSUMER
- Tropicana pretty much on death’s door.
- Will increasing coffee prices make robusta beans acceptable to consumers?
- The re-positioning of soda as health-beneficial.
- Tariffs will hit these food items hardest. Even beer.
- Nutritionists are yelling at you: eat your veggies. And your berries.
- Cod liver oil which is possibly good for you but not always.
- Scottish Indian:
RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE
- Dining out is an experience, not a meal. But sometimes more attention is paid to the brand than the food.
- The Michelin guide moves into the American South.
- Reservation selling is reaching out of control proportions as someone paid $2138 for a reservation of four in NOLA during the Super Bowl.
- What is the “R” rule for oysters and why it actually should be followed. Also how to tell the diference between Creole and Cajun.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
- Italy struggling with invasion of delicious, delicious blue crabs.
- Farmers and the USDA were aligning regarding climate change. Progress is grinding to a halt.
- Trump Administration weighing farm bailouts to offset impact of tariffs. Disproportionate USDA cuts for small farms versus big ones. And China is one of thse biggest export markets, especially for soybeans.
- The costs and benefits to speeding up meat packing lines.
- Who’s afraid of the tariffs? Not corn futures. The administration’s commitment to bio-fuels likely a source of optimism.
- The future of Agrivoltaics on farms.
DRINKS
- California style whiskey makes its debut.
- What Soju is and how to use it.
- Angostura vs. Peychauds bitters.
- A team up between award winning chef and award winning bartender in Chicago in a new cocktail joint.
- The Tropical Itch. The Azalea. The Fitzgerald. And an old classic, the Rob Roy.
FOOD WEEK April 11 LAGNIAPPE
- Anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables may protect you from micro-plastics. But micro-plastics are showing up in crops because of their presence in fertilizers.
- Genetics has led to an amazing – and horrifying – broiler chicken.
- Hidden food additives linked to diabetes.