The most interesting oil in the world

This podcast out of Eater delves into how a tasteless, odorless vegetable oil made from the fruit of the oil palm tree came to infiltrate nearly every category across food and even beauty products. Interestingly, the globalization of palm oil is now attributed to the transatlantic slave trade, and European powers continued to exploit African nations for the product even after chattel slavery was made illegal. Demand for the ingredient is expected to quadruple by 2050 despite its horrific environmental impact thus far.

In the wake of floods, what’s next for salmon in the Pacific Northwest?

Washington state's salmon population has reportedly been on the brink of extinction for a while now, and The Counter writes that this year's severe flooding could be an unfortunate wild card presented to an already struggling species. Salmon already face numerous threats, including warmer waters caused by climate change, habitat loss, blocked migration routes and toxic stormwater runoff. And although salmon have evolved to adapt to some degree of flooding, atmospheric rivers are predicted to grow longer, wider and wetter in a warming climate, and their resiliency may wane as a result.

At an annual sustainability gathering, Big Ag describes its efforts to control the narrative

In November, representatives of the U.S. agriculture industry’s most powerful trade groups and agribusiness companies—along with farmers, scientists, and advocates—gathered in Las Vegas for the 7th annual Sustainable Agriculture Summit. Per Civil Eats, the conversations held during this event largely centered on communicating climate efforts to consumers and deciding how to reward farmers for switching to environmentally friendly production methods. Farmers themselves were concerned with the public’s growing attention to agriculture’s environmental impacts and their demands for more sustainable food.

Starbucks to drop upcharge on plant-based milk in 2022

Starbucks recently announced that it will stop charging extra for plant-based milk, and instead add an upcharge on dairy milk. The decision was based on the prevalence of lactose intolerance in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, according to Plant Based News. By switching the upcharge to drinks made with dairy from cows, the company believes it can incentivize consumers to try plant-based milk instead.

DoorDash enters ultra-fast grocery market, hires couriers in break from gig worker model

Today DoorDash announced it is entering the hyper-competitive ultra-quick grocery delivery market with the launch of a new DashMart location in New York City. The new location will stock up to 2,000 items and complete deliveries within 10-15 minutes of a customer’s order. The new initiative follows the launch of DashMart, DoorDash’s own branded dark grocery network, in 2020. The expansion into hyper-fast is a logical next move, especially for a company with as robust a nationwide logistics and delivery network as DoorDash. Read more at The Spoon.