Food News: AI is Absolutely the Future of Food Except When it Isn't
The newsletter that's always thinking beyond milk.
hi hi,
so much stuff is going on and there are always so many things to do. as a little distraction from both stuff and things, i’ve been enjoying starting some very informal polls and discussions on the internet about food. this is something i used to do more frequently and is just for my curious food geeky self.
i asked people on threads and instagram what comes to mind when they hear “processed food” and got some interesting responses. my biggest takeaway is that people who think, “everyone knows what I mean when I say ‘processed food’” are full of it. in the 93 comments on my threads post, there were only a few repeats.
feel free to continue the discussion on my posts or add your thoughts to the comments below!
you can also check out my post on a brand new, totally original nutrition trend i came up with when i had trouble sleeping earlier this week. the fact that there has been about a 50/50 split between people on threads and instagram who think it’s genuine and people who think it’s satire is concerning but not totally unexpected, i fear.
there’s much more to say about how easy it is to spread nutrition misinformation and phony food and health claims, but i’ll save that for another time.
today, i’ll leave you with an actually serious nutrition tip: trust science but don’t trust all science-y things!
-k
What I’ve Read
All major grocery retailers agree to sign on to industry-developed code of conduct - Canada has been working on a Grocery Industry Code of Conduct since 2022 to promote “predictability, transparency, and fair dealing” in the food supply chain that brings together government, grocery retail, and food and CPG manufacturers. All major retailers, including Costco and Walmart, have voluntarily endorsed the code of conduct; however, Walmart stated it didn’t think the code was necessary and will need to discuss issues with the industry steering committee.
Although funnily enough one of the reasons the code was established was in response to “contentious fees being charged to suppliers by large grocery retailers, an issue that came to a head in 2020 when Walmart Canada and Loblaw each introduced new supplier fees to help pay for infrastructure investments.” I’m guessing there will be some heavy influence from bigger retailers, like Walmart, to ensure the Code of Conduct looks effective without cutting profits or significantly disrupting the status quo. But maybe they do things differently up north.After Years of Raising Prices, Food Companies Hit Consumers’ Limits - This just in, “Food executives have said they haven’t gouged consumers and are working to keep prices as low as possible.” Other food companies and restaurant chains, like Kraft Heinz and Olive Garden, say sure we raised our prices but we could have raised them more to match inflation and you guys didn’t even think to send a thank you card. Other food conglomerates and global chains are trialing this novel strategy called “leaning into lower prices” to help boost sales because, despite the record profits, companies are starting to notice that if they jack up prices too much people will not be able to afford to buy things. Expect to see more coupons and promotions as little treats to hopefully distract you from the fact that we’ve been spending a greater percentage of our income on food these past 2 years compared to the previous 30.
Halting the Bird Flu Outbreak in Cows May Require Thinking Beyond Milk - A recently published study that looked at H5N1, bird flu, outbreaks on 9 dairy cow farms across Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Ohio found that the virus was present in over 20% of the cows tested. The virus is also crossing other species barriers and infecting cats, raccoons, a skunk, and wild birds, which may be aiding the spread and worsening the outbreak. Since March at least 170 dairy farms have been impacted causing a significant increase in the number of cow deaths approximately doubling the mortality rate for cows on dairy farms. Along with infecting and killing cows, birds both in the wild and on farms, and other wildlife, farm workers are also contracting the virus. Despite the NYT article title, “thinking beyond milk” does not seem to apply to our farming and consumption choices and is instead about the virus spreading beyond cows.
USDA Proposes New Policy to Reduce Salmonella in Raw Poultry Products - Well thanks to the Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products proposed rule I now know what “comminuted” means, I fear. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) estimates that of the over 1 million human infections per year caused by Salmonella, 125,000 are associated with consuming chicken meat and about 43,000 with turkey. The proposed rule includes a framework for addressing Salmonella contamination at the slaughter and processing level and establishes final product standards of Salmonella presence in meat from turkeys and chickens.
Any meat products tested containing 10+ colony forming units of Salmonella and any detectable level of at least one of the Salmonella strains of public health significance will not be allowed to enter the marketplace. Among other requirements, microbial monitoring to minimize pathogen contamination will also be established. I will never personally condone industrialized animal agriculture, but I am in favor of harm-reduction strategies to improve public health. Since an estimated 50% of zoonotic diseases have been associated with agriculture since 1940, a stronger systemic approach is greatly overdue.
If You’re Going to Read One Piece in Full
Read Oxford Scientists Confirm Vegan Diet Is Massively Better For Planet by Michael Clark and Keren Papier
The conclusion that plant-based diets are massively more sustainable comes from “Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts”, a study published a year ago in Nature Food. The study sample includes “55,504 vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters with food-level data on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, eutrophication risk and potential biodiversity loss from a review of 570 life-cycle assessments covering more than 38,000 farms in 119 countries.” The participants’ dietary categorization came from self-reported food intake over 12 months. The meat-eater category is broken down by level of consumption so the findings differentiate between low-meat consumption and high-meat consumption.
Results account for variation in food production and sourcing through life-cycle assessments allowing for a more robust comparison of environmental factors and other variables. There are many interesting findings, including that when comparing high-meat-eaters to vegans, vegans had, “25% of the dietary impact for land use, 46% for water use, 27% for water pollution and 34% for biodiversity.” And low-meat-eaters have 70% of the environmental impact of high-meat-eaters. Overall the study found that the, “least sustainable vegan diet was still more environmentally-friendly than the most sustainable meat eater's diet.”
Headline Roundup - AI and Food
AI is everywhere these days and my inbox is flooded with conflicting headlines and subject lines declaring that the greater food industry is rapidly adapting AI technology and also dragging its feet with AI technology.
So here’s a brief but chaotic roundup of recent AI-related food news:
AI in crop development: The future is here - Experiments with sugar beet plants using laser scanning tech via a Light Detection and Ranging 3D scanner to aid in plant phenotyping to more effectively select for desirable plant traits.
Analysis: Why Has Adoption of AI Been So Slow in F&B? - Industry expert predictions site a slower adoption due to technology’s current lack of perfection and inability to solve problems like labor efficiency because AI needs to be closely monitored by humans. But greater adoption is coming soon.
Opinion: Here’s Why I Haven’t Given up on AI in Drive-Thrus - “Here’s the thing: no technology ever works as advertised.” Seems like a good enough summary. This opinion piece is a great bridge between the previous article and the following article both offering hilariously contradictory information.
Taco Bell to roll out AI drive-thru ordering in hundreds of locations by end of year - Enjoy getting into fights with Siri? You’re going to absolutely love it when fast food restaurants let voice AI replace human employees at drive-throughs.
‘We can recognize cows from 50 feet away’: AI-powered app can identify cattle in a snap - Facial recognition technology allows for simpler “cattle management”. This is a macabre way to remind us with video evidence that each of the approximately 293 million cows slaughtered annually are more than just meat, they’re unique individuals.
