Source: The Verge

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Following the ousting of Bon Appetit’s former editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, a series of tweets posted by Tammie Teclemariam led to Peter Meehan’s resignation as the LA Times Food Editor on Wednesday. The series of tweets alleged a pattern of verbal abuse and workplace harassment, both at his time at LA Times and as editorial director of Lucky Peach.

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Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Peter Meehan Resigns from LA Times Food Section After Allegations of Creating a Toxic Workplace Culture – Eater

A series of tweets from earlier this week alleged a history of yelling, aggressive behavior and other issues.

2. Postmates Is Deciding Between Going Public and Selling to Uber or Special Purpose Acquisition Company – CNBC

Uber’s offer is valued at $2.6b. The name of the special purpose acquisition company couldn’t be immediately identified. A SPAC is a shell company that acquires private companies for the purpose of transitioning them to publicly traded entities. Today, Fox News reported that Postmates plans to file an IPO next week.

3. Chipotle Launches Virtual Farmers Market for Suppliers – Grocery Dive

The fast casual chain has partnered with Shopify to help farmers in its supply chain sell meat, dairy and grain products directly to consumers online.

4. Specialty Food Sales Hit $158.4B in 2019 – Food Dive

Specialty foods, which now make up a fifth of all retail sales, saw growth nearly tripling that of the entire food sector. Refrigerated plant-based meat alternatives saw the biggest growth of any category, up 70% in unit growth and 112% in dollar growth.

5. Families of Three Workers Who Died of Covid-19 Sue Tyson for Allegedly Lying About Outbreak – The Counter

The lawsuit could test the limits of the Defense Production Act. It could also be thrown out.

6. Billions of Dollars Are Left in the Paycheck Protection Program—What Happens Now? – Food & Wine

The deadline for the loan program is here, while many restaurants are still struggling to make ends meet.

7. Food & Ag Anti-Racism Resources + Black Food & Farm Businesses to Support

Check out our list of resources to learn about systemic racism in the food and agriculture industries. We also highlight Black food and farm businesses and organizations to support.

8. Where Restaurants and Bars Are Closing Again Across the US – Eater

Here’s how cities and states have re-closed as COVID-19 cases spike.

9. Beyond Burger Arrives in Alibaba’s Grocery Stores in China – Techrunch

Beyond Burgers will be sold on Freshippo, Alibaba’s supermarket chain. China’s “free from meat” market, including plant-based meat substitutes, is expected to be worth $12b by 2023.

10. Crop Sustainability Developer Indigo Ag Raises $300M – Axios

The Series F round total is expected to be around $500 million, including an initial $200 million announced in January. Return backers include Flagship Pioneering and Alaska Permanent Fund, while Riverstone Holdings is a new investor.

11. Enko Chem Raises $45M to Develop Crop Protections Solutions with AI – VentureBeat

Funding will be used to expand the startup’s tech platform and ready its pipeline of crop protection solutions for field testing and regulatory trials. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation led the round.

12. Startup Behind Super Coffee Gets Valuation Topping $200M – Bloomberg

Kitu Life has raised $25m led by Skyview Capital.

13. Scientists Say New Strain of Swine Flu Virus Is Spreading to Humans in China – New York Times

A new study warns that the strain of H1N1, common on China’s pig farms since 2016, should be “urgently” controlled to avoid another pandemic.

14. Beyond Plant-Based: The Racial History and Future – Journey Foods

Our plant-based history and future needs to think beyond burgers. Our lack of acknowledgment of our roots in food is killing all of us, and killing black people faster.

15. Covid-19 Is Eliminating Many Consumer Brands That Americans Love – Bloomberg

Companies are paring down their brand rosters to cope with the pandemic. Amy’s Kitchen once sold 228 products – now it’s down to 71.

16. White People Own 98% of Rural Land. Young Black Farmers Want to Reclaim Their Share. – Mother Jones

Since Emancipation, Black farmers have had to fight for a share of this country’s fertile ground, due to a history of racist policies and land theft. But modern sustainable agriculture owes much to Black agriculturalists.

17. Food Media Must Work Harder to Fix Its Racism Problem – Grubstreet

Now that BIPOC food-industry members have uncovered the problems, what does change look like, in a pro-transparency, post-Columbusing landscape?

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