Family Farm and Food Bytes
WILL JARS OF SALAD SELL AT A DOUGHNUT SHOP? FARMER’S FRIDGE IS TRYING THAT AT DUNKIN’ (Chicago Tribune) – Farmer’s Fridge, best known for selling jars of fresh salads out of vending machines, is now hawking its healthy fare through an unlikely partner: doughnut titan Dunkin’.
PEPSICO PLANS TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS BY OVER 40% (Food Business News) – Through actions in areas such as farming practices, packaging materials and delivery vehicles, PepsiCo, Inc. plans to cut carbon emissions by more than 40% by 2030 when compared against a 2015 baseline.
ILLINOIS SEES MORE HEMP PROCESSORS BUT FEWER ACRES AS INDUSTRY MATURES IN AGRICULTURAL POWERHOUSE (Hemp Industry Daily) – The number of hemp processors in Illinois doubled over the last year as the new industry tries to establish itself in a state that’s already an agricultural powerhouse.
BILL GATES, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE CHAMPION, IS AMERICA'S BIGGEST FARMLAND OWNER (Newsweek) – Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland, making him America's biggest farmland owner. His investment in farming may be connected to his investments in climate change agricultural developments and Impossible Foods, a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products.
ROLLING MEADOWS HIGH GREENHOUSE SERVES FAMILIES IN NEED (Daily Herald) - Rolling Meadows High School in Northwestern Cook County utilized its agriculture program’s greenhouse after COVID - 19 closed Illinois schools last March. The high school used the greenhouse for community outreach by growing vegetables that could be distributed to the citizens from the local community during the difficult time. The school continues to conduct a once-a-week school meal bag pickup.
HOT AIR FROM BURGER CHAIN IGNITES MORE THAN A FIRESTORM ABOUT FARMING (FarmWeekNow) - a fast food restaurant’s (Burger King) attempt to distinguish itself by poking fun at cattle emissions led to a dialogue that some hope will lead to a preemptive, fact-based approach about farming and advertising. “Everyone keeps blaming counterparts for global warming and there’s so much more to it than that,” said Michelle Miller, I will farmer and social media maverick known as the Farm Babe. “Nobody ever questions the carbon footprint of their coffee. They never question the carbon footprint of their alcohol. It’s always cows, cows, cows”. Her assertions led to Burger King company officials to visit her and other farms in Iowa and Wisconsin.
TYSON FOODS TO PAY $221.5 MILLION TO SETTLE SOME CHICKEN PRICE-FIXING CLAIMS (Reuters) – Tyson Foods Inc said it will pay $221.5 million to settle litigation by three groups of plaintiffs that accused it of illegally conspiring to inflate chicken prices.
HIGH-TECH INDOOR FARMER APPHARVEST STARTS SHIPPING TOMATOES (Associated Press) – Greenhouses have been around for decades, but not until recently have they grown into such large-scale facilities. At the same time, consumers are increasingly looking for better-tasting, sustainably produced food.
PANDEMIC, LABOR WOES CHALLENGE PRODUCE INDUSTRY (Western Farm Press) – As restaurants and schools were forced by government edict to close due to coronavirus concerns, lettuce that otherwise could have sold for a profit was wasted. One of the largest marketers of fresh produce lost several hundred million dollars as a result.
ALBERTSONS REPORTS STRONG GROCERY SALES GROWTH AMID PANDEMIC (Wall Street Journal) – After booking strong sales to consumers who spent most of 2020 cooking at home, Albertsons and other grocers are working to keep sales momentum and hold on to customers who they hope will make some of their pandemic-era eating habits permanent.
FACING GREEN PUSH ON FARM, FERTILIZER MAKERS LOOK TO SEA FOR GROWTH (Reuters) – Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries Holdings Inc and Yara International Asa, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the United States and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships.
About Family Farm and Food Bytes: This is a collection of articles gathered from both mainstream and agriculture media and is designed to keep you informed as a member and leader within the Cook County Farm Bureau® organization. The articles summarized above are not intended to represent Cook County Farm Bureau policy or positions, but rather to provide members an idea of what is being reported regionally, nationally, and globally.