Water and Trademarks

Welcome back Food Junglers! This week’s themes revolve around water, for some reason, as well as continued farming protests in Europe. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🚱 Colombia starts conserving rain water.

🧑‍🍳 A famous chef tries to eliminate his competition in NYC.

🚰 Water is getting a detox in the United States.

🚜 Italian farmers are angry with the European Union.

🥩 There is a way to make meat sustainable in the US after all…

CLIMATE
A COLOMBIAN WATER CRISIS

Colombia’s capital - Bogota - will start rationing water to combat drought-related problems caused by the El Niño weather pattern that has resulted in falling reservoir levels.

According to Colombian sources, three reservoirs that make up the “Chingaza water system” and supply Bogota with 70% of its water needs are at just 16.9% capacity, the lowest in 40 years.

New rationing plans will affect up to 9 million people and should restart every 10 days with the measures re-evaluated every two weeks.

ZOOMING OUT: From California to Mexico, water shortages are widespread in the Americas with years of low rainfall, global warming, and a growing population making things worse. Whether this will end after El Niño passes, though, remains to be seen.

BUSINESS
TRADEMARK BULLYING IN NYC

Michelin-star chef - David Chang - received backlash after sending “cease-and-desist” letters to small companies using the term “chili crunch” on their condiment labels.

Aggressive efforts to trademark the term “chili crunch” - a popular Chinese-inspired condiment made with Sichuan chilis and garlic - have led some Asian-owned businesses to call this “trademark bullying” of smaller brands.  

Several companies have already submitted to David Chang’s demands to avoid any complex legal battles and costly procedures.

ZOOMING OUT: Ultimately, many Asian-Americans feel disappointed with a chef who helped push Asian cuisine into the mainstream. Of course, his “anti-hero” status will only be solidified if he actually receives his trademark.

POLICY
TAPPING INTO PURITY

The US federal government will now be requiring municipal water systems to remove six synthetic “forever” chemicals present in America’s tap water.

“Forever” chemicals - like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl - never fully degrade and have been associated with decreased fertility, birth defects, and cancer. So, banning the chemicals comes as a relief to more than 200 million American households.

Despite facing some obstacles in getting passed, the regulation marks the federal government’s most significant action to reduce chemical exposure in drinking water.

ZOOMING OUT: The Environmental Protection Agency calculates the health benefits of the new regulation at around $1.5 billion per year from reductions in cancer, heart attacks, and stroke complications.

Regardless of the costly implementation, I feel this is well-worth the money.

SUPPLY CHAIN
ITALIAN FARMING STRIKE

Thousands of Italian farmers gathered to protest “inauthentic product labelling by the EU” at a major agriculture conference in Italy.

The country’s largest farming organisation - Coldiretti Farmers - representing over 70,000 workers, argued that certain goods take advantage of Italian branding, despite not being produced in Italy.

Advertising Austrian bread or Chinese tomato paste as “Italian”, according to the protesters, puts the health of citizens and the future of Italian companies at risk.

ZOOMING OUT: Whether it is cheap Ukrainian grain imports or rising fuel prices, farmers all over Europe are expressing their frustration with large political institutions. With protests becoming more violent, let’s hope a compromise can be reached soon.

THE BRIGHT SIDE
BEEF: THE RIGHT WAY

For those who have been reading Food Jungle for a while, you’ll know that large-scale meat production is not the best for either our health or the environment.

Despite that, there ARE farms producing beef in the right way, caring for both the animals and the soil. Verde Farms is one such example that I have been following for a long time.

Based in New Jersey, and following the traditional “Gaucho” meat production methods of South America, Verde Farms produces beef that is 100% grass-fed, 100% pasture-raised, and has no antibiotics or added hormones. Amazing stuff!

They’ve even found a way to source over 16 million pounds of beef per year, without compromising their high standards of raising cattle, and deliver to providers like Amazon Fresh, BJ’s Wholesale, and True Food Kitchen.

Verde Farms really surprised me in showing that, if done correctly, beef production can be sustainable, regenerative, and commercially viable. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

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BEFORE YOU GO…

• Uber Eats now has 1 million merchants around the world on its platform.

• UK grocery giant, Tesco, has announced plans to make £500 million in efficiency savings in the year ahead.

• Cargill has announced a new commercial partnership with Voyage Foods to produce alternatives to cocoa-based products.

• South Dakota has become the eighth state to find the highly pathogenic avian influenza in a dairy herd.

TAKE A BREAK

If you’re interested in some quality ORIGINAL journalism on what’s been going on in the food industry, look no further than Green Queen.

Founded in 2011, by Sonalie Figueiras, the team looks to analyse and discuss the latest news in food, from cultivated meat to food waste. Thoroughly recommend! 🤩