5@5: Whole Foods attracts Prime members | McCain understood climate change

Amazon’s Whole Foods is starting to steal Trader Joe’s shoppers

Discounts for Amazon Prime members attracts customers to Whole Foods Market stores, but the online behemoth has yet to disrupt the $800 billion grocery industry, reports Sense360, a Los Angeles, California-based research firm. CEO Eli Portnoy says the company’s findings show that Amazon’s 2017 purchase of Whole Foods will, eventually, have an impact. Read more at Bloomberg …

John McCain was an American climate hero, too

U.S. Senator John McCain, who died Saturday, was perhaps the last conservative official who believed conservation is important and that human activity causes climate change. He began looking into the issue after his failed presidential campaign in 2000. In a 2008 speech, he urged Americans to stop arguing and start acting to mitigate climate change. Read more at Grist …

Farmworkers are dying from extreme heat

Farmworkers who are exposed to extreme heat while picking vegetables or spraying pesticides are at risk of developing heat-related illnesses that, if not cared for, can kill them. Nearly 70,000 workers suffered serious heat-related injuries—often damaging their kidneys and brains—between 1992 and 2016; 783 of those workers died. And that only counts the ones we know about, as undocumented immigrants are less likely to seek medical help. Read more at Mother Jones …

Meat group seeks regulatory compromise on cell-based meat

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture should share the job of regulating cell-based meat companies, the North American Meat Institute and Memphis Meats said. Their written request, sent to President Donald Trump on Thursday, pointed out that both agencies “have roles to play in regulating cell-based meat and poultry products.” Read more at DTN The Progressive Farmer …

Bye-bye vegan, hello ‘plant-based’

Companies trying to attract American consumers who want to eat lighter fare are scrapping the term “vegan” for the less-polarizing “plant-based” description. Even Impossible Foods urges restaurants to avoid using vegan or vegetarian on their menus. “Plant-based has a more positive connotation because it explains what is in a food,” said Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Food Association. Read more at The Columbian …