These companies’ deforestation promises went up in flames

While 2020 was supposed to be the year we collectively solved the problem of falling forests, deforestation actually hit a 12-year high. Only four out of hundreds of big companies followed through with their 2010 pledges to help stop deforestation by 2020, according to nonprofit CDP. Toilet paper company Essity, cosmetics giant L’Oréal, chocolate titan Mars and food packager Tetra Pak were successful in setting up “no-deforestation” certification schemes and informing suppliers that they could no longer engage in destructive deforestation practices to produce cocoa and paper. Head to Grist for the full picture.

Eat Just has raised another $200 million

Eat Just, a pioneer in eggless eggs and lab-grown chicken, raised $200 million in its latest round of funding. That makes the total amount of accrued capital roughly $650 million since the company was founded in 2011. Eat Just has used the funding primarily to build out capacity for its egg replacement products and new line of lab-grown meat. Tech Crunch reports.

How Starbucks plans to make its coffee carbon neutral

Starbucks is finding innovative ways to reach its goal of making the production of its raw coffee beans carbon neutral by 2030. For instance, the company is trialing a new app that can scan soil and instantly give farmers details about the health of the soil so that fertilizer can be targeted to only the places it's needed. This new technology can also track how much more carbon is stored in the soil over time as regenerative farming practices are integrated. Read more at Fast Company. 

Factory farming regulations have all but vanished in Missouri, but one rural county is fighting back

Missouri eliminated local control over large animal feeding operations some time ago, but rural residents say the state's Department of Natural Resources isn't examining the effects of these operations on the surrounding areas closely enough. Studies have shown that human proximity to CAFOs leads to to exacerbated asthma symptoms and allergies. “Industrialization and corporate takeover of our livestock markets would not look the way it looks without a lot of unintentional backing by taxpayers. It’s all a setup game for them to control our food system," one concerned citizen stated to The Counter. 

Cancer in context: What role does sugar play?

This WebMD interview delves into the relationship between sugar and malignant tumors, which emerging studies indicate thrive primarily off of glucose. Historically, humans' addiction to sweet things helped us gain weight before starvation periods in winter, for example. But now that sugar is both widely available and added into many everyday food products, the likelihood of accelerating those mutations that can become various cancers is higher than it has ever been.