5@5: Whole Foods employee calls for hazard pay | Coca-Cola slashes 2,000 jobs

A Whole Foods employee sent a mass email calling on Amazon to reinstate policies like hazard pay and health benefits

A Whole Foods employee in Detroit sent a mass email to fellow workers on Dec. 16 that highlighted parent company Amazon's responsibility to protect its workforce through health benefits, hazard pay and transparency about confirmed COVID-19 cases. Despite the company's ardent antiunion stance, many current and former Whole Foods employees believe that unionizing is the best way to achieve these policy changes. Head to Business Insider for the full story.

Coca-Cola to cut 2,200 jobs

Coca-Cola expects to save between $350 million and $550 million after restructuring and reducing its U.S. staff by 12%. It will be cutting 2,200 jobs globally. Coke also announced this year it would be narrowing its beverage portfolio to products with growth potential, which is why brands like Zico and Tab got the axe over the past few months. The Wall Street Journal has the scoop.

Foreign-born workers were blamed for spreading COVID-19 in meatpacking plants. Their behavior was not the issue, new research suggests

While some media reports indicated that foreign employee lifestyles, such as living together in close quarters, were largely to blame for the spread of COVID-19 in meatpacking plants and other workplaces, new research indicates the opposite to be true. Foreign-born workers reported visiting fewer gatherings and businesses than their U.S.-born counterparts despite living in households with other processing plant employees and commuting with coworkers. The Counter explains how, once again, poor meatpacking plant management is at fault.

Pea, soy, fungi: An overview of the main ingredients used by alternative protein companies

Get ready for a potato-based chicken alternative and more peanut protein in the alternative meat space. Beyond those newcomers, protein sourced from wheat, peas and soy as well as umami-boosting fungi and mycelium ingredients will still be red-hot well into 2021. The Spoon breaks it all down.

Is farming with reclaimed water the solution to a drier future?

CoCo San Sustainable Farm of Martinez, California, is successfully using reclaimed water (AKA treated wastewater) to make the vegetables its farmworkers produce more affordable. And the implementation of so-called "free water" in a state that is notoriously water-strapped is a huge deal, foreshadowing the processes farmers in other states will have to undergo as droughts become more widespread and common. Civil Eats reports.