our favorite finds from the front lines of food
image via Washington Post
Huge, once-hated fish now seen as weapon against Asian carp
"Persecuted by anglers and deprived of places to spawn, the alligator gar (above) — with a head that resembles an alligator and two rows of needlelike teeth — survived primarily in southern states in the tributaries of the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico after being declared extinct in several states farther north. To many, it was a freak, a “trash fish” that threatened sportfish, something to be exterminated."(Washington Post)
Where the girls (chefs) are: Why are so many women chefs drawn to the coast of Maine? “While male chefs tend to follow the money and status, women chefs are in search of appreciative, knowledgeable audiences, a sense of community, and a more balanced life outside the kitchen.” (Boston Globe)
Meal kits an eating less meat continue. Restaurants enter the meal kit space. Operators who have been following the growth of delivered meal kits are now experimenting with their own. "And while more than 100 meal kit delivery companies are attempting to differentiate themselves by offering niche categories such as vegan, paleo and even Southern food, restaurant operators are beginning to see the wisdom of offering a grab-n-go meal kit or quick delivery kit that’s prepared by local chefs who consumers know." (Restaurant Hospitality)
Grill Concepts launches new Laurel Point seafood-focused restaurant with Millennial appeal. “We saw a void in the marketplace...Few restaurants are going in this direction and doing it well, though people are eating less meat.” (Restaurant Concepts)
A super-cute new video for Chipotle. Guess it take a lot of cute to make people forget about e. coli.
A futurist on food: Farming on the moon, lab-grown meat, and old fashioned boring stuff like greater transparency. (Washington Post)
A Space-Age Food Product Cultivated by the Incas "What did the Incas and NASA have in common? They both faced the problem of long journeys through harsh, forbidding territory" (New York Times)
The Curious Appeal of ‘Bad’ Food In the age of Instagram-perfect dishes, why are there so many sites and blogs dedicated to culinary disasters? "Feeding yourself or others is a success, an act of love, even when the meal resembles unappetizing brown mush." (Atlantic)
Bycatch is no small matter. A shameful death on the part of we humans for an animal that had lived so long: 400-year-old Greenland shark is the oldest vertebrate animal (Guardian)
