Vitamin World files for bankruptcy, closing 51 stores

In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Monday, Vitamin World said it plans to close 51 of its 334 stores. As part of its restructuring, Vitamin World hopes to renegotiate property leases for underperforming stores. If that fails, those stores likely will be shuttered, as well. Read more at Consumerist …

Head of USDA’s organic program steps down after 8 years

Miles McEvoy, the deputy administrator of the USDA’s National Organic Program, is retiring in October, he announced on Sunday. He plans to find other ways to be involved in the organic community, he wrote. Read more at Food Safety News …  

Whole Foods' foot traffic surges over 25 percent following Amazon price cuts

On Aug. 28 and 29—the first two days of the merger between Whole Foods Markets and Amazon—the number of shoppers visiting the brick-and-mortar stores was 25 percent higher than it had been a week earlier, Foursquare reported. Amazon cut Whole Foods’ prices as much as 40 percent after the takeover. Read more at CNBC …

The great nutrient collapse

As a graduate student in 1998, Irakli Loladze learned that algae that receive more light grow faster, but are less nutritious for the zooplankton that eat them. Since 2000, he’s looked at studies on how excess carbon dioxide affects the land-based plants that you and I eat. He’s connected the dots, but more research is needed. Read more at Politico.com …

The fate of NYC’s undocumented bakers could change the food industry

The food industry employs millions of undocumented workers, but the Trump administration is cracking down on those immigrants. Last week in New York City, dozens of bakery workers, union members and workers’ right advocates protested the firing of 24 undocumented workers at Tom Cat Bakery. What can—and what should—companies do to protect its workers? Read more at Civil Eats …