Oy Vey It's - The End of August
I'm on vacation and still in your inbox feeling overwhelmed, it must be Virgo season or something like that!
hi friend, happy friday!
holy shit I am busy (mostly good things) and a bit overwhelmed. my brain likes busy but I have a hard time planning ahead (clearly) and I also have a hard time shutting down to rest (even for regular shmegular night time sleep) when I have a lot going on. this is a good time to bring up kayla’s totally original law of physics: a kayla in motion stays in motion. i’m good when i’m going but once I stop I have a very hard time getting back to doing things. so my life is almost entirely me chugging coffee jumping from deadline to work to social commitment to deadline and being too stressed out to sleep, then spending most of my day in front of a computer trying to write all the things that need to be written. anyways, i’m trying! hope you’re taking care of yourself and remember that even if life hands you lemons you don’t have to make lemonade. did that sound deep?!
-kayla
what i’ve read
Black farmers say Inflation Reduction Act reneges on promises for debt relief - The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act was a bill introduced by Senator Raphael Warnock in 2021 to provide farmers of color $4 billion in financial aid through debt relief and other investments. This act was approved as part of the American Rescue Plan but the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has altered aid for farmers by removing race as a criterion for program eligibility since 6 white farmers have filed federal lawsuits.
Helping Institutions Support Sustainable, Diverse Farms - interesting article with a value chain coordinator representing BIPOC farmers in California.
Release the Funds of The American Rescue Plan to Black Farmers Immediately! - A Change.Org petition amplified by Liberation 360 on Instagram, welcome additional calls to action in the comments
Why it may be a good time to ditch dairy - Canadian cow dairy milk producer Lactalis Canada has recently announced they will stop producing cow dairy milk in order to produce plant-based products. Some good info and links that discuss the state of cow dairy in Canada and the general trend toward plant milks.
Op-ed: It’s Time to End the Poultry Industry’s Exploitative Contracts - I have only recently begun learning about the “tournament system” used in the U.S. poultry industry (basic explainer video) and I’m constantly astonished, but not surprised, at the horrible practices allowed to go unchecked for so long thanks to power accumulated by monopolies in agriculture and food production.
US Chicken Merger Spells End to ‘Abusive’ Pay System for Farmers - the DOJ is imposing some limit to the tournament pay system as part of the conditions set to allow Cargill and Continental Grain to acquire Wayne-Sanderson Farms
Low-income shoppers shifting purchasing patterns - how do IHOP and Applebees know the income demographics of their customers?? Also, of course people with lower incomes are adjusting their purchasing patterns because food, among everything else right now, is so expensive. I’m within the salary range discussed in this article and I am definitely feeling the strain even without consuming animal products and have adjusted my grocery and food purchasing behaviors. Are these market research companies paying for people to take these surveys, sign me up?
The most damaging farm products? Organic, pasture-fed beef and lamb - Data that pushes back on some of the talking points of regenerative animal agriculture, which is another newish area I have been learning about over the past few months since it’s a hard topic to escape in the food industry. Adding Regenesis, the book discussed, to my reading wishlist and saving some of the many references linked in the article to dig through later.
Report Shows Modern Consumers Demand Transparency from Brands - This article, about consumers wanting transparency and the opportunity for brands to give info beyond product labels, starts by pointing out that “cruelty free”, “cage free”, and “fair trade” attributes on products are up 26% according to NielsenIQ data. I am all for pushing brands to provide greater transparency and using online and omnichannel platforms to increase information availability for products as long as this type of transparency goes beyond marketing claims like “cruelty free”. Would also be nice for this type of transparency to be paired with regulations and legislation since a major reason for needing transparency is because private industry has shown it cannot be trusted.
You Are What You Eat… But Do You Eat What You Are? The Role of Identity in Eating Behaviors—A Scoping Review - Yay for open access articles! This review was conducted by a peer/friend and former professor of mine. They investigated existing literature on eating behaviors for mention of identity and it’s a pretty interesting read.
Come With Me as I Walk Around a CPG Farmers Market in the Metaverse - Taking the farmer’s out of farmers market, and also the market part is this virtual “pop-up” for CPG food brands. This is a pretty cool idea that can make networking and brand discovery more accessible than in-person markets but I already spend so much time on my computer looking at food I can’t eat. I want samples!
Why QR-code menus are still around - I guess I was ignorant to the fact that many people passionately hate QR code menus. I probably don’t care because I study the menu ahead of time strategizing my order and spend most of my time before ordering acting like I’m thinking about choices so the menu format isn’t front of mind. What about you, team QR-code or team physical menu?
Restaurant Meals Become a Relative Bargain as Grocery Prices Soar - In today’s food industry manipulates statistics for their own gain we have food brands, grocers, and meal-kit companies arguing that cooking at home is cheaper versus restaurants (mostly fast food chains) arguing that you can get a full meal for cheaper than cooking at home. Of course this is fully dependent upon what you eat, where you buy your food, geography, cooking ability, transportation cost to food stores or restaurants, and a myriad of other factors so neither group is universally correct.
Animal Sanctuary Founder Jailed After Taking in Wandering Cows - a pretty in-depth timeline about the recent arrest of Asha’s Farm Sanctuary’s operator Tracy Murphy that’s been all over vegan social media.
For more on this check out kombucha hour’s podcast episode where host Tyra (@tyrathetaurus) goes in deep on the timeline and discussion around the incident with guests Matt Albert (Tracy’s attorney) and Andrea (@torontoveganmom).
Breakthroughs for All: Delivering Equitable Access to America’s Research - There has been a precedent for public access to federally funded research but the White House just announced new policy guidance building on the 2013 OSTP Memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research. According to the press release the 2 most important additions to the 2013 Memorandum are: eliminating the option 12-month publication embargo for federally funded peer-reviewed research articles and strengthening data sharing plans by making data published in peer-reviewed research articles immediately available upon publication and other research data available within a reasonable timeframe. Obviously this is not food or nutrition specific but I love to see the government coming out strong in favor of open access and removing paywalls for science and research!
what i’m excited about
a couple upcoming projects, hopefully that i’ll be able to share more about next month!
going on a weekend trip (which is why there is no kvetch sesh this edition) to a place I’ve never been before!
starting another new book on said trip even though I have at least 4 books I’m also semi-actively reading…anyways the book is American Detox, I picked up a copy from a local bookstore a few weeks ago, if you’ve read it let me know in the comments!
Team physical menu! In truth I don't mind the QR codes — I actually like that they make paying easier — but the menu apps/websites the QR codes link to are often SO poorly designed and difficult to navigate. If they made those menu landing pages more user friendly I could probably switch to Team QR.
PS: Really appreciate the permission given not to make lemonade. Thanks for that one. Enjoy your travels this weekend!