Lab-Grown Meat Gets FDA Approval, Industry Leaders Form Fungi Protein Association + More

Image Credit: Upside Foods

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.

And this week, we are excited to announce launch of our new podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast and check out our first two episodes:

#1: Introducing: New Food Order
#2: Is the world better with your business in it? With Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever

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In other news, Upside Foods has just received approval from the  U.S> Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell lab grown chicken. This first approval of its kind is a major win for the cultivated meat industry and could pave the way for other companies to follow suite.

The outcome of the midterm elections will determine what gets included in the farm bill and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act as well as whether the Biden administration will be able to move forward many of the anti-hunger initiatives unveiled at the White House Conference in September.

Industry leaders have come together to form the Fungi Protein Association (FPA), which will advocate for fungi as a sustainable protein in public policy, conduct consumer research and more.

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1. Upside Foods Gets FDA Greenlight For Cultivated Chicken – Food Dive

This is the first regulatory approval for any cultivated meat in the U.S.The “no questions” letter from the FDA indicates regulators have found nothing unsafe about the cultured chicken the company makes. Upside Foods now awaits approval from the USDA in order to serve its chicken products to consumers.

2. All-Star List of Global Industry Leaders Unite to Form Fungi Protein Association – Vegconomist

The FPA will represent the interests of its member companies, including advocating for fungi as a sustainable protein in public policy, conducting consumer research and more.

3. How the Midterm Elections Will Impact Food and Agriculture – Civil Eats

Who wins in this election will impact key federal legislation including the farm bill and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

4. Farmland Values Hit Record Highs, Pricing Out Farmers – New York Times

Small farmers are now going up against deep-pocketed investors, including private equity firms and real estate developers.

5. With New Federal Funding, Has Agroforestry’s Moment Arrived? – Civil Eats

USDA’s new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding program will invest up to $2.8b in 70 projects, including $60m to advance agroforestry.

6. Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous Work. The People Who Do It Have Few Protections. – Civil Eats

Federal OSHA protections don’t apply to 96% of the animal agriculture operations that hire workers in America. When people die on the job, the federal agency doesn’t respond 85% of the time.

7. How to Reduce the Climate Impact of Food: Increase Quality of Life – Sylvanaqua

Chris Newman argues that plant-based diets and grass fed cattle will not save us from climate crisis. The most practical things we can do to improve our personal and planetary health are planning meals, cooking at home and affording good food – all of which are actively contested by our economic culture.

8. New Zealand: A New AI Tool Says It Can Generate Vegan Content Such As Blog Posts and Recipes in Seconds – Green Queen

VEG3 has announced the release of what they describe as the “world’s first artificial intelligence marketing assistant for vegans.”

9. Colorado’s Vote May Boost the Gray Market for Magic Mushrooms – Bloomberg

Colorado’s legalization of magic mushrooms last week was just one of three ballot box initiatives that shifted the US toward wider use of psychoactive drugs — but it could be the one with the most impact.

10. How José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen Went to War – WSJ

After 12 years in operation, the humanitarian organization knows how to mobilize quickly and adapt to all kinds of disasters. But the war in Ukraine presented a new set of challenges.

11. Amazon Is Said to Plan to Lay Off Thousands of Employees – New York Times

The job cuts of approximately 10k, which would start as soon as this week, would focus on the company’s devices organization, retail division and human resources.