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.

The way we were. Hey, New York readers: Ever felt like there’s an authentic New York that’s fast disappearing? And like it’s important to be there and experience that authentic New York before it disappears completely? But that your very presence in that authentic New York destroys what makes it authentic in the first place and necessarily hastens its demise? The New York Times covers the ontological nightmare of Forlini’s, an unassuming, old-school red sauce joint that’s a now a favorite among Instagram-happy models and trendsetters. At this place, it seems, blessings and curses taste pretty much the same.

Plant-based governance. First WeWork—now Berkeley? SFGate reports that the Berkeley, California City Council recently passed a “Green Mondays” resolution mandating that all city-owned and -managed facilities and programs serve exclusively plant-based food on Mondays. The City Council itself went ahead and pledged to offer only vegan food at all of its meetings. No, the city leaders aren’t a front for PETA: citing a report from the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) that found the livestock sector to be responsible for 14.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions originating from human activity, their resolution is part of a citywide pledge to be fossil fuel-free by 2030.

SNAP judgment. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said it will permit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) recipients in North Carolina to buy hot foods with their benefits through the end of October. Normally, that wouldn’t be allowed—SNAP purchases are limited to groceries. But the move is intended to help state residents who evacuated to shelters, or lack kitchens, as a result of Hurricane Florence.