Why are some foods considered worthy of having their stories shared far and wide, while others are not?

In particular, why do we know so little about the much-beloved plantain? 🧵👇

thecounter.org/plantain-banan… One of the world’s leading banana experts once hypothesized that the plantain may have been the first-ever (!!) fruit crop on Earth.

Yet there are few—online or in print—easily digestible and accessible global histories that tell the plantain’s tale.

drive.google.com/file/d/1_M-Egr…

#THREAD Unions once represented broad swaths of the food-service industry. Now it's one of the least unionized sectors.

Lately, though, there’s been a wave of successful labor activism sweeping through coffee shops, both indie and corporate.

Why now?

thecounter.org/coffeeshops-st… The issues for coffee shop employees are common across food service: low wages, difficult scheduling, challenging work environment.

(All problems, of course, that have been exacerbated by a pandemic.)

But the reasons for their success are in many cases distinct.

#THREAD: Nothing has shaped the role of restaurant critic quite so dramatically as the pandemic.

Critics can no longer shy away from inequities in the restaurant industry and food media, writes former critic @piescarcega.

Here’s why.

thecounter.org/covid-19-resta… Dining critics—used to reporting on the aesthetic and culinary value of restaurants—faced nothing less than an existential quandary when Covid hit.

What is the critic’s role, if any, outside recommending—or panning—specific dishes and restaurants?

thecounter.org/food-writing-i…

#THREAD: Lab-grown meat startups are raising hundreds of millions of dollars to hack animal protein.

But new research comes to a stark conclusion: From biology to economics, the “meat without slaughter” model may be doomed to fail.

Here’s why.

thecounter.org/lab-grown-cult… First, there’s nothing new about growing animal cells inside bioreactors. Drug companies have done it for years to make vaccines and therapeutics.

It’s expensive, though.

Lab-grown meat can cost as much as $10,000 a pound to produce, according to @goodfoodinst.

#THREAD: Texas’ aggressive new border security initiative relies on the participation of ranchers and farmers. And that’s causing a push and pull between a need for agriculture workers—and a desire to criminalize undocumented immigrants.
thecounter.org/texas-greg-abb… Operation Lone Star, which allows law enforcement officers to arrest and jail migrants on state criminal charges—like trespassing—is causing a whole lot of confusion for those on the ground in Texas.
texastribune.org/2021/07/30/tex…

#THREAD: The extreme conditions of Antarctica make it an ideal place to test technology that could allow us to grow food in inhospitable settings like Mars. But plant scientists are testing something else there too: how fresh produce impacts well-being. thecounter.org/indoor-vertica… At a remote research station perched on Antarctica’s Ekstrom Ice Shelf, the "overwinterers," a 10-person skeleton crew that includes a cook, a doctor, and eight engineers and researchers, didn't see the sun—for almost 64 days. awi.de/en/expedition/…

#THREAD: Mexico is our single largest agricultural trading partner. That’s why their recent decision to phase out glyphosate and GMO corn could have enormous consequences here in the U.S. thecounter.org/mexico-phaseou… The introduction of NAFTA in 1994, which reduced trade barriers but also devastated rural economies in Mexico, flooded the Mexican market with cheap, government-subsidized U.S. corn and gutted domestic corn prices by nearly 70%.

#THREAD: Why isn’t the workforce returning to the restaurant industry? We asked a bunch of former and current workers in North Carolina for their thoughts. thecounter.org/restaurant-wor… There has been a spate of reporting about the reported labor shortage in the restaurant industry, but workers’ voices have been missing—especially those based in the South.

#THREAD: The SBA just rescinded another round of restaurant relief funds from women, veterans, and minorities, citing conservative lawsuits alleging discrimination against white men. thecounter.org/restaurant-rel… Last week, the agency sent out an email to an unspecified number of restaurants announcing that their previously approved grants would be canceled due to the ongoing litigation.

#THREAD: CO's “Farmworker Bill of Rights” will be a paradigm shift for farmworker protections. The bill is one of the nation’s first to address historically racist labor policies and consider the broader aspects of a farmworker’s well-being. thecounter.org/colorado-farmw… Bill SB 87 will require farmworkers to be paid CO's minimum wage—$12.32/hour—and mandate overtime pay when workers exceed 12 hours/day or 40 hours/week. Farms & ranches are currently only required to pay the fed. minimum of $7.25/hour & farmworkers do not receive overtime pay.

#THREAD: Food banks and food pantries are starting to radically shift their priorities. Instead of just handing out food, they’re trying to tackle the root causes of food insecurity and hunger, including systemic racism.
thecounter.org/new-research-s… Starting in late March 2020, food banks, pantries, and other charitable food organizations experienced a sharp surge in need. That’s around the time Covid-19 restrictions began causing rapid spikes in unemployment.

#THREAD: The Supreme Court will soon decide if U.S. chocolate makers can be held liable for child labor used in their supply chains.
thecounter.org/supreme-court-… The court will be reviewing a pair of consolidated cases—Nestlé USA, Inc. v. John Doe and Cargill, Inc. v. John Doe—involving two of the largest chocolate companies in the world. supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?fi…

#THREAD: Amid severe drought in the Pacific Northwest, a battle has erupted around the Upper Klamath Lake, which provides irrigation water to farmers, while keeping adequate levels to sustain vital fish populations for local Tribes & commercial fisheries.
thecounter.org/oregon-farms-w… On April 14, the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), a federal agency that oversees the Klamath irrigation project, announced that farmers would only get 33,000 acre-feet of water this year due to drought conditions—the lowest allotment in its history.

This all could change soon. The Biden administration, determined to make a dent in poverty, has proposed to boost funding for “critical nutrition programs,” including WIC. In addition, the WIC Act, which would expand eligibility for children up to age 6, is now pending in Congress. The legislation would also allow those eligible to enroll for a two-year period rather than requiring participants to recertify in person every year.

#THREAD: Low-income mothers and children have much better health incomes when they participate in WIC, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Experts say the program deserves more attention: thecounter.org/wic-enrollment… Unlike SNAP, WIC is technically a preventive health program. For mothers and kids up to age 5, research shows that WIC helps mitigate some effects of malnutrition, including anemia, childhood obesity, low birthweight, and school unreadiness. cbpp.org/research/food-…

#THREAD: As restaurants reopen across the U.S., owners are seeing an unheard-of labor shortage. Here’s how it’s affecting the industry—and why some workers are using this opportunity to re-enter the industry on their own terms.
thecounter.org/restaurant-own… As capacity restrictions lift, outdoor dining season starts, and vaccination rates rise, restaurants are trying to hire like crazy. But owners are getting few to no applications, and those who do apply often have little to no industry experience.

THREAD: We all stand to have our lives disrupted by climate change, this much is clear. But for farm workers, exposed to the weather and its myriad effects each day, those disruptions are having direct and immediate impacts on their health.
thecounter.org/climate-change… Climate change is upending traditional agriculture in many ways: Rising CO2 levels lead to less nutritious crops, for instance, and rising temperatures can lead to increased levels of dangerous bacteria in the water supplies used for irrigation and managing livestock.

#THREAD: No more microgreens for hotels. Gone are “boutique” items like edible flowers. One year after the pandemic sent supply chains into a tailspin, farmers are thinking differently about spring planting. thecounter.org/farmer-spring-… Once they grew a Carolina reaper for that one special chef. Now “Do they make the bet that they’ll start seeing sales from restaurants and hotels in the greater Boston and Portland areas?”

#Thread: Baby eels are worth more than actual gold, which is a) why there is such a thriving criminal market for them and b) why they could be heading toward extinction.

Is there a solution?
thecounter.org/can-one-maine-… Packaged, processed, and sold as unagi, eel is a delicacy around the world, and particularly in Asia. Unagi is valued not just because of its singular flavor, but because it can fetch shockingly high prices both as a wholesale and retail product.

#Thread: U.S. exporters are struggling to send food abroad as the global shipping system strains under unprecedented pandemic demand.
thecounter.org/pandemic-shopp… Potatoes are piling up in storage, grain is idling in bins, and hay is stacking up on fields, due to congestion at major shipping ports. “I had a lot of product that should have moved a month ago, two months ago—it's still sitting on the farm,” said one producer.

THREAD: Raw bars and "buck a shuck" oyster eateries largely shuttered last year, leaving oystermen with a) too many oysters and b) not enough income.

A multimillion-dollar coastal restoration project may be their salvation.
thecounter.org/oysters-raw-ba… 2020 was rough on the seafood industry, to say the least. This sector is particularly dependent on restaurant income, and with so many restaurants shuttered, well, where do you sell your catch? And oyster fishermen were particularly hard hit.