FERN’s Friday Feed: Behold the ant, climate warrior
Welcome to FERN’s Friday Feed (#FFF), where we share the stories from this week that made us stop and think.
A secret weapon in ag’s fight against climate change: Ants
Grist
“Plant diseases cost the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year, with between 20 to 40 percent of global crop production lost to crop diseases and pests. Climate change is ramping up outbreak risks by morphing how pathogens evolve, facilitating the emergence of new strains, and making crops more susceptible to infection. Most farmers and growers increasingly rely on chemical pesticides to combat these emerging issues, but … [s]ynthetic pesticides can be harmful to humans and animals, and lose their efficacy as pathogens build up resistance to them. The production and use of synthetic pesticides also contribute to climate change, as some are derived from planet-warming fossil fuels. Instead of chemicals,” writes Ayurella Horn-Muller, “an army of ants may march right in. Though most people view the small insects as little more than a nuisance, colonies of them are being deployed in orchards across a handful of countries to stave off the spread of crippling infestation and disease.”
‘Teflon Joe’s’: Why your favorite grocery store isn’t what you think
Fast Company (three-part series)
“These articles are based on hundreds of conversations with current and former employees and industry experts, internal documents, and a trove of regulatory records and legal filings,” writes Clint Rainey. “The series will take readers inside Trader Joe’s secretive business operations, chronicle years of workplace safety issues and employee unrest, and examine the company’s marketing missteps and shaky record on product recalls—all while somehow remaining one of America’s most beloved and seemingly invincible brands.”
Why did we start drinking milk?
Literary Hub
“When the last ice sheet had finished riding roughshod over large tracts of the Northern Hemisphere and melted back to the Arctic Circle, animals and plants beyond number began moving into available ecological niches,” writes Anne Mendelson. “Grasses … were the family of plants that most dramatically seized the ecological initiative throughout the [Great Steppe of Eurasia] … They may be the most important reason that nonhuman milk ever entered human diets—starting with the fact that these regions are, or until modern times were, ideal environments for wandering herds of grass-eating animals. The herbivores in turn attracted an array of predators unequipped to digest grass themselves but able to profit from it in the flesh of nearby herbivores. The most effective of all predators would be Homo sapiens.”
‘Protein’ is the new ‘organic’—increasingly devoid of meaning
Taste
“The ‘Instagram-ization’ of how we eat has been widely discussed and analyzed. But there is another function of our phones that’s just now approaching something like ubiquitous critical mass: the calorie counting apps, the MyFitnessPals, and the macro trackers, which allow users to calculate in real time a best-guess estimate of carbohydrate and sodium intake, of fiber and mineral consumption, and, most important here at the dawn of the great quarter turn, one’s daily ingestion of protein,” writes Jordan Michelman. “Yes, protein, that building block of organic life, is enjoying an utter it-girl moment with no signs of slowing or stopping. The social media hellmouth apps in my phone are full of edicts—100 grams a day! One gram per pound of body weight every 24 hours! Fifty grams first thing in the morning!—with numbers functioning as the illusion of control. It’s not just me. This stuff is everywhere—despite the fact that “most people in the US meet or exceed their [protein] needs,” according to the Mayo Clinic.”
The enduring appeal of culinary car-industry crossovers
Atlas Obscura
“[W]e talk a lot about the food available on planes and trains. But what about cars, and their connection to food? It’s easy to think of a car as merely a conveyance to a restaurant, or as the place to eat an unglamorous fast-food meal while on the road,” writes Anne Ewbank. “But food and cars go way back. Some people are surprised to learn that the Michelin stars that celebrate the world’s greatest restaurants are doled out by the same company that makes tires. In the early 20th century, though, motorists needed places to go in their new vehicles. In 1900, French brothers André and Édouard Michelin began distributing a booklet of travel information to customers to help them navigate the roads, fill their tanks, and fill their stomachs. Over the years, car manufacturers also got into the game of publishing guides and, in the case of the Ford Motor Company, the occasional cookbook of recipes from restaurants along their recommended routes. But sometimes, car companies go one step further, lending their names to chocolates, sausages, and even iconic pieces of kitchen equipment.”