Good morning … another busy week off to a start! We’ve selected some articles you may have missed that are worth a read. In no particular order:
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and your plate. There has been a lot of discussion about how the Trans-Pacific Partnership may impact American labor, the environment and more. But, as Tracie McMillan points out in this smart piece for NPR’s The Salt, trade deals have a way of changing what we eat, as well. She provides a “cheat sheet” that considers aspects such as food safety, GMOs, dairy, meat, alcohol and labeling. Great piece.
Mexico and the soda tax. Mexico has one of the highest rates of soda consumption in the world. As a result, the nation has increasingly grappled with obesity and the world’s highest death rate from chronic diseases caused by consumption of sugary drinks. Coca-Cola is a powerful force in Mexico, with a reach into politics, media and nutrition groups. Tina Rosenberg tells the powerful story of how some in the country decided to tackle the problem and take on the soda industry. The result? A soda tax. Lessons? Many, including the power of consumers and social movements. One of the best pieces we’ve read in a long time; it appears in The Guardian. #goodread #longread #mustread
Opinion: big food companies will have to change to survive. From the New York Times. Consumer behavior has changed in significant ways…and that’s presenting a major challenge for big food companies. Sales of soda, frozen foods and packaged cereal have fallen precipitously. The changes these companies need to make to survive “would require a complete overhaul of their supply chains, major organizational restructuring and billions of dollars of investment,” according to . A really informative and provocative read.
Opinion: the rural-urban divide threatens the nation. Professor/historian/author Victor Davis Hanson always provokes our thinking. In this piece, written for The Los Angeles Times, he discusses how the widening rural-urban divide threatens America. There is a lot packed into this op-ed. Hanson discusses water, environment and culture. If part of his argument sounds familiar, it’s because Hanson expresses concerns long-held by some … think Country Life Commission and Progressive Era discourse here. Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Why foodborne outbreaks are more complex, deadlier and harder to stop. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hit last week … in the midst of a massive E. coli outbreak that has sickened dozens of Chipotle customers in two states. The report’s conclusions are discussed in a fascinating blog post by Maryn McKenna for National Geographic. Spoiler alert: complex supply chains play a role.
Have a great day.