5@5: Big food brands innovate in DTC | Californian farmworkers most affected by COVID-19

Big brands are trying everything to keep you eating and drinking their stuff at home

Big food brands are pivoting to serve the growing number of consumers cooking at home by offering their products in new, creative ways that emphasize a do-it-yourself approach. This includes selling product via vending machines, meal kits and using restaurants to resell products in bulk. Impossible Foods is now doing the latter in Hong Kong, reselling its 10-patty packs of alternative burgers in an effort to support the city's local restaurants in addition to boosting its own sales. Read more at CNN…

 As California struggles with COVID-19, farmworkers are among the most affected

The largely immigrant workforce in the Central Valley region of California are falling victim to COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate, largely due to the fact that social distancing measures are difficult to introduce in an agricultural setting. Furthermore, many immigrants working without legal U.S. authorization are hesitant to seek out medical help or report their symptoms. To combat this, some U.S. farms are offering temporary hotel or otherwise separate housing for workers infected with the virus in addition to using mobile testing stations to mitigate the virus' spread. Read more at The Wall Street Journal…

Just Fruit? Yeah, right, says class action against Kroger

A Kroger jam product labeled "Just Fruit" is the subject of a new class action lawsuit that states the wording is misleading to shoppers. The product is, like most conventional jellies and jams, primarily comprised of fruit syrup, added sugars and additives such as calcium citrate. Consumers said that they would not have paid as much as they did for the product had they realized how little actual fruit was in it. Read more at Legal Newsline…

Why mushrooms are a miracle material—and might be your new favorite meat

Because some varieties of mushrooms have a similar cellular structure to meat, scientists are beginning to cultivate mushroom cells to mimic parts of meat that companies like Beyond Meat have yet to successfully replicate. One such startup, Atlas Foods, is planning to launch its own mushroom bacon this falling using the innovative technology before supplying it to other companies as an ingredient. Read more at Fast Company.…

Kids in the US are eating more fast food, CDC reports

A new report from the CDC shows that American children and adolescents got an average of 13.8% of their daily calories from fast food in the years spanning 2015-2018. Black and Hispanic kids consumed more fast food than their white counterparts during this period. Experts say the pandemic will exacerbate this as more cash- and time-strapped parents rely on the ease of fast food instead of the cost and time commitment that cooking from home entails. Read more at Today…