E. coli and Rebel Murals

Welcome back, Food Junglers. As so often happens, the US is in the spotlight with a monumental presidential election, a crop surplus, and another McDonald’s slip-up. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🖼️ A Brazilian artist rebels against an American agriculture giant.

🍔 McDonald’s suffers an E. coli outbreak.

🤑 Agriculture attracts the attention of the World Bank.

🥖 The US is growing too many crops.

📰 A plant-based company fights misinformation in the US.

CLIMATE
REBEL ARTS

A popular Brazilian street artist painted a giant mural in São Paulo, last week, depicting an indigenous leader holding up a sign and urging one of the largest agricultural companies in the world, Cargill, to eliminate its supply chain of crops grown on recently deforested land.

The artist, Mundano, and his team used paints made with ash from fires in the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil, mud from floods that destroyed acres of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, charcoal from charred Amazonian trees, and clay from drought-plagued river basins across the country.

The mural was initially painted in response to a broken promise that Cargill made in November 2023 to set 2025 as a deadline to eliminate deforestation and land conversion from its supply chain of soy crops across South America. It doesn’t seem as though Cargill is anywhere near that.

ZOOMING OUT: Despite Cargill’s pledges, the company more than doubled its profit in Brazil from 2022 to 2023 and remains one of the largest exporters of Brazilian soy. Sadly, though, I doubt that a mural will change Cargill’s underlying motivation to maximise shareholder value.

BUSINESS
MCDONALD’S SLIPS UP…AGAIN

McDonald’s experienced yet another PR-related nightmare as an E. coli outbreak, linked to their famous Quarter Pounders, prompted the chain to stop serving the burgers at a fifth of its restaurants.

Food safety officials are examining both the onions and beef patties used in the Quarter Pounders, which led to one death and dozens of illnesses across 10 US states over a roughly two-week period.

McDonald’s is also working with suppliers to replenish its Quarter Pounders in the near future, with many other products – like the Big Mac and the Double Cheeseburger – still being available for consumption.

ZOOMING OUT: Aside from the health disaster that this has caused, investors grew fearful, as the company’s shares tumbled 5.1% since the announcement, cutting $11 billion from the company’s market value since last Tuesday.

But, given the company’s incredible size and influence, I feel that it’ll recover soon.

POLICY
MONEY FOR AGRICULTURE

The World Bank is set to double farming investments to $9 billion by the end of the year to increase its agricultural finance and agribusiness commitments amidst a changing agricultural sector that is trying to adapt to climate change-related risks.

The bank is also looking to mobilise businesses to increase investments to $5 billion in 2030 to take advantage of the emerging job gaps in the developing world.

World Bank President, Ajay Banga, stated that he wants to use new tools that enable private capital to flow to the sector, while digital progress and supplier organisations can help ensure that finance reaches more farmers.

ZOOMING OUT: This might just be the right time to get into agriculture investing as food demand is set to rise by more than 50% in the coming decades. And, with climate change gradually threatening the health of arable land around the world, this is one investment that I would love to see pay off.

SUPPLY CHAIN
AMERICAN OVERSUPPLY

US farmers are harvesting two of the largest corn and soybean crops in history at the fastest pace in years, straining their physical capabilities and their grain storage capacity.

Warm and dry weather across the Corn Belt this autumn and competition for global export sales, especially with US elections underway, has led to a radical oversupply of crops that is making prices hit near four-year lows.

Nearly 2.5 million metric tons of US soybeans, for example, were inspected for export, last week, including almost 1.7 million tons bound for China, which is the most in a year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

ZOOMING OUT: Harvesting crops this quickly is going to force some farmers to sell at a lower price than it cost to produce them. And, with farming incomes down 23% from a record high just two years ago, some crop producers will be in BIG trouble.  

THE BRIGHT SIDE
BATTLING MISINFORMATION

Plant-based meat producer – Impossible Foods – has launched a new platform to educate consumers on the safety of eating their products and to clear up any misinformation surrounding eating plant-based meat alternatives.

Called the Health Hub, the platform shares the nutritional benefits associated with eating plant-based, while also trying to resist the pressure meat lobby that has invested so heavily in discrediting companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.

Through the Health Hub, the company wants to explain how chemicals, commonly found in Impossible products, like dextrose or methylcellulose, are also used everywhere in the food industry, from sausages to ice cream.

I see this as a huge win, since the market for plant-based meat alternatives hasn’t been doing so well lately. Perhaps it’s too soon to tell whether a centralised hub of information, like this, can work, but this is a great initiative and I’m happy Impossible Foods is on the offensive, instead of reacting to endless misinformation. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Chipotle makes minority investment in fast casual concept - Brassica - as part of its $100 million Cultivate Next venture fund.

• Pork producer - Danish Crown - is set to cut approximately 500 salaried positions as part of a major restructuring plan.

• John R. Tyson, the former finance chief of Tyson Foods, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and careless driving after his June arrest on the charges.

• A report by ReFED found that food waste is responsible for 14% of US methane emissions.

• Keurig Dr Pepper has struck a deal to acquire energy-drink maker - Ghost - for more than $1billion.

TAKE A BREAK

If you’re interested in some quality ORIGINAL journalism on what’s been going on in the food industry, look no further than Green Queen.

Founded in 2011, by Sonalie Figueiras, the team looks to analyse and discuss the latest news in food, from cultivated meat to food waste. Thoroughly recommend! 🤩