This is the web version of a list we publish twice-weekly in our newsletter. It comprises the most noteworthy food stories of the moment, selected by our editors. Get it first here.
AB InBev ambush. The craft beer market may have just hit peak saturation in Colorado, where small producers are now bracing for declining profits and greater competition from beverage giant AB InBev, Colorado Public Radio reports. Predictably, when the craft beer market was still on the rise, AB InBev gobbled up many popular brands. Then it slashed their prices, thus undercutting independent brewers. Now, to top matters off, Colorado will begin allowing sales of full-strength beer (that’s anything above 4.8 percent alcohol by volume) at all grocery stores—a change which may allow AB InBev to dominate the market even more. After all, shelf space is precious and less affordable for smaller breweries and their smaller budgets. When it comes to suds, size does matter.
Gobble. Cargill, the nation’s third-largest turkey processor, is quadrupling the number of “traceable” birds on sale for Thanksgiving this year, The Star Tribune reports. More and more eaters are seeking a sense of transparency when it comes to their food, and producers are scrambling to meet that demand—often in interesting ways. Cargill is reportedly using blockchain technology to trace its birds, following in the footsteps of other companies like Walmart and IBM. Don’t you just love meeting your meat before eating your meat?
Read it and weep. Topping the list of words in the 2018 edition of the Collins Dictionary’s “Word of the Year,” “single-use” has seen a fourfold increase in usage since 2013, NPR reports. The annual shortlist, meant to capture “new and notable words that reflect an ever-evolving culture and the preoccupations of those who use it,” considers the rise of “single-use” an important chapter in the English speaker’s realization of individual plastic consumption and its impact on the environment. Wonder if next year will include “reusable straws”? Yeah. Too soon.
No recounts here. A vote to allow a Kentucky state park to sell alcohol ended in a draw, the Associated Press reports, after the initiative received 155 votes in favor and 155 votes against. Residents of Buckhorn, Kentucky flipped a coin to break the tie, and Matt Jones, founder of Kentucky Sports Radio, posted the results to Twitter. It landed on heads—yes to beer.
