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39 votes
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Recent French research indicates that certain food emulsifiers may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes
18 votes -
The food that makes you gay
27 votes -
Fast-food owners, squeezed customers test limit of value meal economy
32 votes -
Nearly 80% of Americans say fast food is now a luxury because it’s become so expensive
43 votes -
I ate the Subway Footlong Cookie so you don’t have to
22 votes -
‘Deny, denounce, delay’: the battle over the risk of ultra-processed foods
26 votes -
Swiss scientists invent a new type of chocolate using more of the cocoa plant, reducing need for additional sugars
31 votes -
Meet the Finnish biotech startup bringing a long lost mycoprotein to your plate – proprietary single-cell fungus-based protein was originally developed by local paper industry
5 votes -
Rice has a methane problem that a startup is promising to fix
15 votes -
French post office releases scratch-and-sniff baguette stamp
27 votes -
I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up
38 votes -
Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics
18 votes -
The economics of $15 salads
11 votes -
Bread, how did they make it? Part IV: Markets, merchants and the tax man
7 votes -
Behold, the $400 red pineapple
20 votes -
Cold brew coffee in three minutes using acoustic cavitation
20 votes -
Florida is the first state to ban lab grown meat - Ron DeSantis
37 votes -
Big farms are under pressure to address the problem of dying salmon in Norway's vast fish-farm industry
9 votes -
A Reddit-led boycott of Loblaws, one of Canadas largest grocers, begins today
46 votes -
Why don't we do more food-based activism?
In the past few months I have been reading a lot about historical food culture. It's kind of amazing how much things have changed here in the US. Over the last century or so we have basically...
In the past few months I have been reading a lot about historical food culture. It's kind of amazing how much things have changed here in the US. Over the last century or so we have basically eliminated communal eating and massively changed the economics of prepared meals. At one point we had automats and cafeterias which skipped out on most of the "front of house" service and focused on serving large volumes of people to keep prices low. There were also diners, which are much different from what we consider to be a diner today; they were very small places that only prepared simple things that needed very little labor to prepare; things like hash browns, sandwiches, or pancakes, so the food was still very cheap. But because they were small, they were able to serve smaller markets that other restaurants were not able to capitalize on. Compare that to today, where diners are just restaurants that have 50s style decor.
But the thing I think is much more unusual is how rare we see food used in service of a message. It's something that has a long history across the globe. Most notably, religions operate food kitchens that help to bring poor people into their folds. Some religions actually have a built-in food culture that includes feeding your neighbors. It's really effective too; there's a small chain of restaurants where I live that has inexpensive food which has some bhuddist texts at the dining tables, and honestly it had me considering joining a religion for the first time. If I spoke Chinese they might have got me! Eating food requires a baseline of trust, so if you can get someone to eat at your restaurant you will bypass a lot of the caution that people approach the world with.
With that being said, why isn't food-based activism a lot more popular? I'm sure that it would work for much more than religion. A restaurant that acts as a messaging platform doesn't necessarily need to be funded by food sales, so they can undercut the competition on price and reach an even greater audience. Given the ways I have seen religions use food to further their means, I think that it could even go farther than changing people's minds about topics and actually motivate people to take action and join communities who are actually making real change. Food is both relatively inexpensive and it's something that everyone needs to survive, so it seems to me that food-based activism is the single largest missed opportunity for community organization.
20 votes -
On-demand nutrient production system for long-duration space missions
12 votes -
Ten times as much of this toxic pesticide could end up on your tomatoes and celery under a new US EPA proposal
29 votes -
Farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice in Vietnam
14 votes -
Cocoa price swings are the craziest since the 1970s
14 votes -
What the first astronauts (and cosmonauts) ate - Food in space
3 votes -
Artisan roastery based in the Finnish capital has introduced a coffee blend that has been developed by artificial intelligence
5 votes