Thinly sliced: Pit-less avocado hit shelves, Wal-Mart and Buzzfeed team up to make sponcon, and more

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.

1. A lawmaker in Missouri is pushing to allow feral pigs to be processed for food, Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Hog wild, indeed.

2. Avocados had a bad 2017. They prevented millennials from buying houses and caused ridiculous “avocado hand” injuries. Fear not: A British grocery chain has released a pit-less, “safer” avocado for the new year, SF Gate has the story.

3. Beyond Meat has raised enough money to triple the production capacity of its plant burger, according to the Wall Street Journal.

4. Milwaukee urban farming non-profit Growing Power has dissolved, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Founder and MacArthur Genius grantee Will Allen announced his retirement last month as the company faced half-a-million dollars in pending legal judgments.

5. A future for Walmart-sponsored content? The mega-retailer has struck a deal with Buzzfeed that lets viewers buy its products straight from the media company’s popular “Tasty” videos, Food Dive breaks it down.

6. Scientists in Australia have discovered grass that tastes like salt and vinegar chips. Here’s NPR on the discovery.

7. If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em: Monsanto is offering cash-back incentives for farmers who use its controversial weedkiller dicamba, Reuters reports.