Food & Drink

White House leans on industry for bottled water push

"First Lady Michelle Obama is launching her new Drink Up initiative at an event Thursday in Watertown, Wisconsin. According to the White House, the American Beverage Association and International Bottled Water Association are both promoting the effort. The two associations are the major lobbying forces inside the Beltway for both the bottled water and beverage association. According to the visitor's logs, one of the American Beverage Association's lobbyists, Susan Neely, visited the White House several times. The American Beverage Association is a lobbying heavyweight that has spent $680,000 so far in 2013. The bottled water association has spent $60,000 so far in 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhite House leans on industry for bottled water push

Rooftop urban gardeners in Bangkok grow edible algae

"Three times a week, Patsakorn Thaveeuchukorn harvests the green algae in the barrels. 'The algae is growing so fast, normally the doubling time is around 24 hours,' said Patsakorn, whose employer EnerGaia uses Bangkok’s rooftops to grow spirulina. The empty space on top of Bangkok’s many skyscrapers provide suitable growing conditions for spirulina as the constant high temperatures and sunlight are ideal breeding conditions. The algae also helps combat carbon dioxide levels through photosynthesis, its champions say, and growing it in cities means it can reach consumers the same day it is harvested. The company says it is the only producer of fresh spirulina in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRooftop urban gardeners in Bangkok grow edible algae

McDonald’s Dollar Menu Is About To Become “The Dollar Menu & More”

"McDonald's Corp. says it has been testing higher priced versions of its famous value menu. The Dollar Menu & More that was tested has three price points -$1, $2 and $5 or 'shareable' items such as 20-piece McNuggets. Another version that was tested has prices of $1, $1.79 and $4.99. Earlier this year, Wendy’s revamped its 99-cent menu to a 'Right Price Right Size' menu, with prices ranging up to around $2. Sure looks like signs of price inflation, not deflation, to me." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcDonald’s Dollar Menu Is About To Become “The Dollar Menu & More”

Snapple Guy’s Overnight Success Took Decades

"A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Marsh was the child of Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a cobbler. Mr. Marsh and his brother-in-law Hyman Golden originally ran a Brooklyn-based window-washing and office-maintenance business. In 1972, they teamed up with Arnold Greenberg, who operated a health-food store in Manhattan's East Village, to create Unadulterated Food Products Inc. The company made juices and sold eggs and produce. After renaming the company after one of their early products, carbonated apple juice, the founders became known collectively as the 'Snapple Guys.' They built up the brand one cooler at a time in New York City's pizzerias and bodegas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnapple Guy’s Overnight Success Took Decades

Kentucky agriculture head: Grow hemp, we’ll see what Justice Department does

"Kentucky’s Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer said Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement last week of changes in the Justice Department’s marijuana policy could mean that the state can move ahead with industrial hemp farming. Comer intends to forge ahead with industrial hemp in hopes that federal policy will continue to mellow with regards to marijuana. 'This is going to happen sooner than many of us thought,' said Comer. Comer is sanguine enough about the outcome that he is already courting hemp processing companies in hopes that they will do business in the state. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) issued a statement supporting Comer on Wednesday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKentucky agriculture head: Grow hemp, we’ll see what Justice Department does

Tech-savvy Vietnamese coffee farmers brew global takeover

"From high-tech Israeli irrigation systems to text message updates of global prices for the commodity, coffee farming in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has come a long way since the French first introduced the bean over a century ago. By texting 'CA' to the number 8288 from any Vietnamese mobile phone, farmers almost instantly receive a message with the London prices of Robusta coffee beans and the New York price of Arabica beans. In 20 years, Vietnam went from contributing less than 0.1 per cent of world production in 1980 to some 13 per cent in 2000 – staggering growth that has been partially blamed for the collapse of global coffee prices in the 1990s. There is no tax on coffee exports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTech-savvy Vietnamese coffee farmers brew global takeover

Seized shark fins dumped in Marshall Islands ceremony

"The gesture underscored the progress made towards protecting the marine predators since the Marshalls declared a two million square kilometre (770,000 square mile) shark sanctuary in 2011. Villagomez said some commercial tuna fishermen still illegally cut the fins from sharks, even though they earned very little from the practice. 'Fishermen only receive a few dollars (per fin),' he said. 'But once they are processed in China and sold in Hong Kong restaurants, the price can be as high as US$1,500 per kilo.' The fins that were dumped off the capital Majuro were confiscated from a Chinese longline fishing vessel earlier this year that was fined $125,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSeized shark fins dumped in Marshall Islands ceremony

Peru devotes $35 million to protect coffee farmers from fungus

"Peru’s anti-drug strategy hinges on persuading farmers to grow coffee instead of coca, the raw material of cocaine, but low prices and plant disease are getting in the way. President Ollanta Humala’s government is allocating $35 million to help coffee growers pay off debts and cope with 'la roya,' a stubborn fungus known as coffee rust. Peru exports coffee to 46 countries, but the bulk — 60 percent — goes to Europe. Germany is Peru’s largest single customer. Peru ranks alongside Bolivia and Colombia as the world’s main producers of coca, grown exclusively in the Andes of South America, mostly on the eastern slope." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeru devotes $35 million to protect coffee farmers from fungus

Federal court upholds California ban on foie gras sales

"A US federal appeals court upheld California’s ban on the sale of foie gras Friday, 13 months after the block on the controversial delicacy came into force. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that the ban interferes with free trade, made in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by a group of Canadian and US foie gras producers. California lawmakers agreed the ban in 2004, but gave the western US state’s only foie gras producer seven-and-a-half years to comply before it came into effect on July 1 last year. Restaurants serving the gourmet item — made by force-feeding ducks or geese, a practice some animal rights campaigners regard as cruel — can be fined up to $1,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal court upholds California ban on foie gras sales

Air Force Bans Greek Yogurt With Hemp Seeds Over Anti-Drug Policy Concerns

"The Air Force warned personnel over the weekend to steer clear of a specific flavor of Chobani Greek yogurt that includes hemp seeds. Hemp contains trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient also found in marijuana, classified alongside heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug under federal law. The Air Force, as part of its anti-drug policy, added hemp seed oil products and hemp seed to a list of forbidden substances in 1999, over concerns that they could confuse the results of drug tests regularly given to service members. Chobani's Blueberry Power Flip is the latest victim of that prohibition. The Air Force made clear that yogurt flavors without hemp were still fine to eat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAir Force Bans Greek Yogurt With Hemp Seeds Over Anti-Drug Policy Concerns