Welcome to FERN’s Friday Feed (#FFF), where we share the stories from this week that made us stop and think.
The promising future of the American truffle
FERN and Smithsonian Magazine
“Despite millions of dollars of investment, many American truffle orchards have never produced any truffles at all, and only a handful produce more than a few pounds,” writes Rowan Jacobsen. “If American trufficulture finally takes off, after several aborted launches, it will be because three outsiders from wildly diverse backgrounds were able to form a partnership as mutually beneficial as the one unfolding beneath our feet.”
The return of the no-tipping movement?
Eater
Several years ago, a slew of restaurants did away with tipping — but for the most part, their no-tip experiments failed. “Now, facing a potential reset of the entire restaurant industry, no-tipping could once again be on the proverbial table,” writes Kathryn Campo Bowen. “But if the post-pandemic restaurant industry stands any chance of successfully moving beyond gratuity and toward more equitable compensation methods, it is worth asking: What exactly went wrong before? What went right? And how, if at all, can sustainable change be made?”
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The true cost of food is higher than you think
The Washington Post
“In calculating the financial burden of environmental problems, the researchers evaluated direct environmental impacts of farming and ranching on greenhouse gas emissions, water depletion and soil erosion,” writes Laura Reiley. “They also looked at reduced biodiversity, which lowers ecosystems’ productivity and makes food supplies more vulnerable to pests and disease. They determined the unaccounted costs of the food system on the environment and biodiversity add up to almost $900 billion per year.”
Investigating the companies that staff poultry plants
Scalawag
“Across the country, poultry companies rely on staffing agencies to fill their needs for workers,” writes Tina Vasquez. “Many of these staffing agencies actively recruit undocumented immigrants, allowing poultry companies to outsource the liability of hiring undocumented workers directly. Though the contractors hired by these agencies often perform the same dangerous work on the production lines as poultry plant direct hires, they may not receive the same pay, paid time off, or benefits like health insurance or protections.”
‘Rewilding’ your gut for better health
The New York Times
“Rewilding the microbiome is now a rising area of study — combining microbiology, epidemiology and anthropology — with big money at stake,” writes Gina Kolata. But “[d]espite the enthusiasm for rewilding, there is no good evidence yet that adding microbes to the guts of people in industrialized societies will improve health.”