Family Farm and Food Bytes
17% OF FOOD PRODUCTION GLOBALLY WASTED, UN REPORT ESTIMATES (ABC News) – Food waste has become a growing concern because of the environmental toll of production, including the land required to raise crops and animals and the greenhouse gas emissions produced along the way. Experts say improved waste tracking is key to finding ways to ease the problem.
GROCERY STORES' PANDEMIC BOOM IS OVER (CNN) – Last year, people were stockpiling food and essentials at stores and ordering a lot more groceries online. That was great news for America's biggest grocery chains, who now say the pandemic-time boom is over.
LESSONS IN LOCAL: FARMERS’ MARKETS HOPE TRENDS CONTINUE (FarmWeek) - As a new season opens, farmers markets across the state are hopeful consumers remember and apply what they learned about locally produced, fresh food during the pandemic. Farmers markets proved to be a safe way to buy food in the open-air with social distance.
CHINA UNVEILS ROADMAP TO ENSURE FOOD FOR 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE (Bloomberg) – China rolled out a roadmap to boost crop production in the world’s most populous nation, highlighting concerns over food security after the country imported record amounts of meat, corn and soybeans last year.
FOOD-DELIVERY REGULATION IS A DRAMA WORTH WATCHING (Wall Street Journal) – The tussle between delivery platforms and regulators is heating up, and the drama seems to be hurting the platforms, restaurants and eaters alike.
U OF I RECEIVES GRANT TO DEVELOP ORGANIC SEED CORN (FarmWeek) - a new $2 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture Organic Agriculture Research and Initiative will support University of Illinois scientists, and collaborators to develop improved seed corn tailored to the needs of the rapidly growing organic industry.
PRAIRIE FARMS RECOGNIZED FOR FASTEST GROWING BRANDS (FarmWeek) - Customer loyalty to the Prairie Farms brand was recently reflected in an IRI report, “Year End 2020 Trends, 2021 Emerging Growth Pockets,” in which Prairie Farms was recognized as one of the fastest – growing medium brands among all generations and income groups. Prairie Farms Gary closed 2020 with significant volume growth in nearly all dairy categories at the grocery stores and other retail outlets. This was partially driven by the sizable change in eating- at-home versus away-from-home habits consumers developed during the pandemic.
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.