What The West’s Drought Means For Food, Why The Food Industry Needs Economic Justice And Have We Reached Peak Vegan Chicken Nugget?

I started Fresh Take to keep sustainability at the forefront of the conversation every week, not just when the newsletter falls on Earth Day.

That said, I’ve put together a particularly climate-focused edition for you today. A lot of climate reporting can be tough to digest. Instead of overwhelming you with data points and United Nations statistics, I focused on stories that I hope will bring you energy and inspiration. It will take everybody activated together to counterbalance what awaits us.

Little acts can go a long way. I hope you’ll join me in spending some time in nature this weekend, whatever that means for you. I plan to get my Lower Manhattan terrace garden into proper springtime shape while tending to my composting worms.

— Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer

This is Forbes’ Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here.

What’s Fresh

Dry Weather Forecast Calls For Higher Food Prices And Billions In Farm Losses. Nearly all of the American West is persisting through a prolonged megadrought that is providing a peek into a harsh future set to get worse as the planet warms. Story by yours truly.

Why Economic Justice Begins In The Food Industry. How do you quantify essential work in the U.S. grocery sector? It doesn’t translate into livable wages, writes Errol Schweizer.

Have We Reached Peak Vegan Chicken Nugget? The race is on for the best chicken nugget alternative, reports Michele Simon.

How To Make Plastic Disappear. Most of human history has been plastic-free, but it’s now become hard for some to imagine a world without it, writes Sofia Lotto Persio.

Why ‘Alt Protein’ Won’t Save The Planet. By promising a more sustainable and humane food system, the “alt protein” sector has been flooded with investment dollars and media hype. And while such well-capitalized merchandising guarantees serious consumer attention on store shelves, researchers continue to question their merits, reports Errol Schweizer.

Mars Overhauls Cocoa Sustainability Program To Focus Squarely On Farmer Income. West Africa produces most of the world’s cocoa. It is also a hotbed for deforestation, which is a major contributor to climate change, reports Shayna Harris.

Palestinians Could Run Out Of Wheat Reserves In Three Weeks In Ripple Effect Of Ukraine War. Oxfam says Gazans will be among the first to experience hunger related to shortages and price hikes due to Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. By yours truly.

It’s spring onion season here in New York, and I just had to stop at the farmer’s market. I usually try to have a stronger relationship with where my money on food is spent. But my neighborhood community-supported agriculture share is on hiatus until June, which means the springtime is when I indulge in an occasional farmer’s market trip. What’s been up for sale at your local market?

Chloe Sorvino leads coverage of food and agriculture as a staff writer on the enterprise team at Forbes. Her nearly eight years of reporting at Forbes has brought her to In-N-Out Burger’s secret test kitchen, drought-ridden farms in California’s Central Valley, burnt-out national forests logged by a timber billionaire, a century-old slaughterhouse in Omaha, and even a chocolate croissant factory designed like a medieval castle in Northern France. Her book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat , will publish in December 2022 with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books.

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