The UC Food Observer chooses a handful of important stories for you to read each work day. Typically, we offer this on Fridays, but with so many important and wonderful stories out there, we’ll be providing a wrap several days a week.

On the menu, in no particular order:

 

1. “We’re asking the tough questions on meat.” We’re very excited about this series – Meat: What’s smart, what’s right, what’s next – brought to readers by Nathanael Johnson (@SavorTooth) for Grist. Johnson is one of our favorites … and this should be both informative and thought-provoking. Here’s what Johnson says about the series:

“We’ll be asking three big questions to address each of those perspectives. Can meat be sustainable? Can meat be moral? And, given that people will continue to eat meat, whatever the answers to those first two questions, what’s the best way to produce it? Essentially, we’ll be trying on each one of those lens.”

 

2. ICYMI, another important piece from Ensia. How one small change could reduce your food waste. Infographic design (@annaegelhoff); research and writing by Danny Lindholm.

 

3. Lester Snow pens an opinion piece about California’s drought for the Sacramento Bee. “The real problem is what the drought has exposed – the fundamental weaknesses in how we manage water in the state.” Snow is the executive director of the California Water Foundation and previously served as secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency.

 

4. ICYMI, from NPR’s The Salt: ‘The Fried Chicken Capital’: Where Racial Progress Began Along the Rails. A fascinating piece from Maria Godoy (@mgodoyh).

 

5. Family + Food: When parents visit college. An essay about the miracles of food, family and growing up.

 

6. Modern Farmer is back. And the publication is trying a new approach. Kim Severson (@kimseverson) reports for the New York Times.

 

Have a great day!