Americans waste a huge amount of food every year. Should big brands be worried?

As big food and beverage companies watch the public conversation about food waste grow, some are (finally) looking for ways to address the issue. Anheuser-Busch InBev, for example, is funding a new company called Canvas that makes beverages using the spent grain from beer brewing. “For major food and beverage marketers, anti-waste marketing initiatives will not drive brand preference, but companies have to protect themselves from ending up as the poster child for the problem,” says Allen Adamson, founder and CEO of BrandSimple Consulting. But startups like Toast Ale and Misfit Juicery are steps ahead of them, upcycling would-be wasted ingredients and highlighting the less-than-perfect ingredients that go into their products. Read more at AdWeek…

Snickers owner finds trade group no longer satisfies its need

Mars Inc. confirmed that it will not renew its membership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, joining Campbell and Nestle in departing from the group. “We believe we can more effectively drive our business objectives and meaningful progress for our categories and consumers by working with other like-minded companies and through other sector-specific trade associations and collaborations," the company said in a statement. Read more at Politico…

Premium chocolate trends: Power through premium

The food transparency movement has fueled small-batch artisan chocolate. Sales of upscale premium chocolate, which IRI defines as products that cost $16 to $23.99 per pound, grew 9 percent last year. Super premium chocolate, which costs more than $24 per pounds, saw double-digit growth. Read more at Candy Industry…

Young farmers share their biggest concerns in a new survey from the NYFC

Sixty percent of farmers under the age of 40 are women, and 75 percent of them describe their farms as “sustainable,” according to a survey of 3,500 farmers by The National Young Farmers Coalition. Their biggest concerns? Access to land, the weight of college loans and access to skilled labor. Read more at Modern Farmer…

Junk food is cheap and healthful food is expensive, but don’t blame the farm bill

It’s often said that junk food is so much cheaper than nutritious food because of crop subsidies dictated by the farm bill. The real problem, though, according to columnist Tamar Haspel, is that produce is just much more expensive to grow than grains. The cost to grow and harvest 1 cup of broccoli, for example, is 14 cents, while a cup of strawberries is 32 cents. Meanwhile, a 1 ounce serving of wheat costs half a cent to grow—even without subsidies. Read more at The Washington Post…