Mushrooms and Chinese Rain

Welcome back Food Junglers. It’s been a hectic week with food news from all over the world - from Brazil to China - dominating headlines. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🐄 A Brazilian judge asks slaughterhouses to pay for deforestation.

🦞 Red Lobster agrees a restructuring deal in the US.

🦠 Bird Flu is spotted in cattle in California.

🌧️ Chinese farmers were unprepared for heavy rainfall.

🍄 Some factory farmers in Iowa would rather grow mushrooms.

POLICY
PAYBACK TIME IN BRAZIL

A judge in the Brazilian state of Rondonia has found two beef slaughterhouses guilty of buying cattle from a protected area of former rainforest in the Amazon.

The judge ordered the slaughterhouses to pay a total of $764,000, which will then be used to reforest 232 hectares of what is now pasture.

This is the first decision in several dozen lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in environmental damages from slaughterhouses - including the world’s largest, JBS - for allegedly trading in cattle that have been illegally raised in protected areas.

ZOOMING OUT: Although Brazilian law prohibits the existence of commercial cattle in protected areas, approximately 210,000 cows have been found grazing in Rondonia alone. So, if the settlement is paid, this could just be a watershed moment for Brazilian environmental lawsuits.

BUSINESS
THE TABLES TURN

Struggling seafood chain, Red Lobster, has received court approval for a debt restructuring deal that will allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy under the ownership of a coalition of lenders.

The deal will allow the restaurant to keep all 544 current locations, while also preserving jobs for 30,000 employees.

Damola Adamolekun, the company’s new CEO, said the new owners have committed more than $60 million in additional funding to “reinvigorate the iconic brand”.

ZOOMING OUT: Red Lobster’s restructuring deal comes after the chain filed for bankruptcy in May, seeking to address its $300 million debt. Now, as the lenders take control, it looks like shrimp may soon be back on the menu for millions of hungry seafood enthusiasts in the US.

SUPPLY CHAIN
BIRD FLU STRIKES CALIFORNIA

Cows at three dairy farms in California, the top milk-producing state in the US, tested positive for bird flu, the state’s agriculture department reported last week.

More than 190 herds have been infected nationally since March, with California now being the 14th state to report a bird flu outbreak among dairy cattle and poultry farms.

The virus’s jump from birds to cows has heightened concerns it could adapt to spread among humans. Federal officials, however, say bird flu is a low risk for the general public and milk pasteurisation inactivates the virus altogether.

ZOOMING OUT: While cows may suffer from reduced milk production, no human cases have been confirmed in California. But with every day the virus isn’t controlled, the risk for human transmission becomes ever larger.

CLIMATE
CHINA BRACES FOR RAIN

After weeks of drought, farmers in the agricultural belt of northern China were forced to adapt to torrential rain that has decimated eggplant, cucumber, and cabbage plantations.

The drastic weather patterns arrived two months earlier than usual, catching many farmers off guard with the northern and eastern Chinese provinces being usually more accustomed to drought than anything else.

As a result, prices for many vegetables have risen drastically, some by up to 40%, reaching their highest level in five years. 

ZOOMING OUT: For China, any crop failure is a major red flag as the country must feed almost one-sixth of the world’s population with less than one-tenth of the world’s arable land.

And, with heavy fertiliser use already degrading existing farmland, Xi Jinping’s government will have to come up with something quickly and soon.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
FROM PIGS TO SHROOMS

While I'm always excited to talk about some great technological innovations in the food industry, I also do love sharing some heartwarming stories that I’ve come across in the news. Today is one of those days.

For decades, Rand Faaborg was a hog farmer in Iowa, working long hours for some of the biggest protein producers in the US. However, the relentless demands of hog farming and the astonishingly slim profits, led him to make a major change. Faaborg decided to trade in hogs for mushrooms.

With the help of several federal grants and diving into his savings, Faaborg found a way to grow lion’s mane and oyster mushrooms, while also significantly increasing his profit margins beyond what he used to earn as a hog farmer.

Admittedly, this isn’t what I would consider a “juicy” story, but it shows that, at least in the US, it is possible to escape the highly mechanised and unsustainable factory farm and to create a profitable plant-based food production business. I would thoroughly advise you click the link here and check out the full article! Food Jungle approved ✅

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Walmart recalled nearly 10,000 cases of ‘arsenic-tainted’ apple juice.

• South Africa’s new 10-party coalition government has a plan to increase agricultural exports to China to forge closer diplomatic ties.

• Dunkin’ is the latest fast food chain to offer a brand new value meal deal.

• Tyson Foods has appointed Curt Calaway as CFO, effective immediately, succeeding company heir John Tyson.

• Ferrero has launched a plant-based, vegan Nutella.

• The Japanese parent company behind 7-Eleven convenience stores rejected a $39 billion takeover offer from Circle K stores, saying the bid is too low. 

TAKE A BREAK

Hi there everyone! If you’re interested in a little bit of escapism this holiday season, we would thoroughly recommend you check out CULTURE CURATED, written by our dear pal Neema Naficy.

From food recipes and art to cocktails and cool YouTube clips, Neema shares things from the creative world that are definitely WORTH listening to, trying out, and watching. Food Jungle approved ✅