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.
One man’s hurricane is another crabber’s treasure. Some good news after a bad storm: Floridians may be able to thank Hurricane Michael for—at least there’s this—a bountiful stone crab season. According to a report from The Tampa Bay Times, local fishermen say stone crabs are the metaphorical rainbow after the storm. And good thing, too. Monday is the official start of their season. It’s been a rough year for Florida’s stone crabbers. Last year’s category 4 storm, Hurricane Irma, demolished their traps. That meant fewer catches and higher prices. Next, they were beset by toxic blue algae and a historically lengthy Red Tide. But the way Michael churned and whipped up the sea will make stone crabs less vulnerable to predators who prey on them in calmer, clearer waters. And that means the tiny fighters can leave their underground dwellings to hunt for food—and be caught! Crabbers have to be willing to take some potentially high-cost risks, like leaving their traps vulnerable to the storm’s gusts, which can drag them for miles. But, hey, that’s what they do.
To CBD or not to CBD. Food Dive reports on a recent survey of 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Canadians that showed more than 41-percent of U.S. eaters “would try recreational cannabis [CBD] in foods such as candy, chocolate snacks and packaged foods if or when it becomes legal.” That should light a fire under FDA, which has been unequivocal in saying that it is not legal to sell foods or beverages containing added CBD, and is still considering how to regulate it. But as Food Navigator reports in its regulations explainer, there are plenty of companies making everything from CBD-boosted smoothie kits to soda that appear to think otherwise.
For he’s a jolly good soda. Ten years ago, Wisconites lost a beloved, homegrown sugary drink. Jolly Good Soda was launched in the 1970s by a family-run beverage packaging company and came in classic flavors like cream soda and root beer, as well as funkier ones like “sour pow’r.” Jolly Good met its untimely demise in the aughts, when it was pushed out of stores by national brands that could afford to pay higher costs for prime grocery shelf placement. But all was not lost. In 2016, the soda was resurrected—original recipe and all—by a devoted nephew of the company’s owner. And today, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports in a delightful, good-news story, business is booming. Jolly Good, as ever.
Sex for supper? What’s so sexy about fast-casual? We’re not so sure. But Eater NY aims to find out with a probe into New York City’s fast-casual culture and its super sexed-up Instagram feeds. Our best guess is that some social media marketing strategist, in some office somewhere, said that millennials who see pictures of their produce in bondage (yes, that’s real) are more likely to buy burritos from a restaurant that features such things on its Insta feed. Next thing you know, New York’s fast-casual posse gets nasty. Trigger warning: figs in compromising positions.
