Sugar is out, but scientists don’t know what’s in
Fortune
With sugar now blamed not only for diabetes and obesity, but also for Alzheimer’s and heart disease, the food industry is scrambling to find an alternative. For a while it seemed like stevia, the tropical plant whose leaves contain a chemical 100-350 times sweeter than sugar, was going to be the winner. But stevia has a bitter aftertaste and soda manufacturers say it doesn’t blend well in drinks. Some companies are experimenting with tree barks to heighten the sweetness of sugar itself so they can use less of it. Meanwhile, Nestlé is reengineering the sugar molecule to be hollow so that more of it dissolves on your tongue instead of wandering to your GI tract.
What an immigration ban means for the spice trade
Eater
If Trump’s immigration ban gets the judicial greenlight, it won’t just be refugees who are kept out of the U.S., but also exotic spices. “Under a travel ban, spice brokers who typically travel back and forth between the U.S. and the countries in question to do business could be barred from doing so,” says Eater. That could mean less cumin, sumac and saffron coming from Iran, fewer chilies and sesame seeds from Sudan, and less anise, coriander and Aleppo pepper from Syria. “Brokers are constantly moving from country to country talking to the producers, the farmers, the shippers — if they can’t get around, there’s going to be a lot of problems,” says Tom Erd, a second-generation spice merchant in the Midwest. “A lot of these deals can’t be done on cell phones, they can’t be done over email. You have to see this stuff [in person].”
For commercial beekeepers, Colony Collapse Disorder is real and terrifying
The New York Times
Bret Adee is one of the biggest commercial beekeepers in the country. But since Colony Collapse Disorder hit the industry in the last decade, he lives in fear that he won’t have enough bees to get through the pollination season. “In April 2016, 44 percent of the overall commercial bee population died. In a typical year before the plague, only 10 percent to 15 percent would have died,” says The New York Times. Most scientists say the mass die-offs are due to multiple factors, including mites, pesticides and climate change. But figuring out how to help the bees is more “complicated than trying to cure cancer,” said one expert, since the insects are affected by so many external factors. Last year, after Adee lost 90,000 hives, he joined other beekeepers in suing the EPA for allowing the sale of genetically modified seeds coated in pesticides that are known to harm bees. As that case awaits a verdict, the Trump administration recently set aside plans to put the bumblebee on the Endangered Species List.
The man who pioneered CRISPR says he owes his success to immigration
The Washington Post
Feng Zhang came to the U.S. with his family from China when he was 10. Now, at the age of 35, his research into the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 is rumored to be up for a Nobel Prize. With CRISPR, scientists use an enzyme to essentially cut out unwanted parts of a gene sequence, rather than inserting new genetic coding, as is the case with GMOs, for example. The technology can be used to breed heartier plants, as well as prevent human diseases. Zhang says his story — from a little kid who couldn’t speak much English to one of the world’s most renowned scientists — is proof that American immigrants contribute. “From my own experience, America has been an amazing place,” he said. “And it sort of gives opportunities for immigrants to realize what they want to do, to reach for their potential, and also, by doing that, make the world a better place.”
IKEA: the source for beds, bookshelves and … designer gardens
EcoWatch
The Swedish furniture company IKEA is making its first foray into urban ag with new build-your-own (sort of) “growrooms.” The spherical structures are being marketed as a neighborhood project, though all power to you if you want one for your backyard. So far, groups in Taipei, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco and Helsinki have bought them. Assembly requires taking the design plans to a professional woodcutter, but after that it’s only 17 steps. Simple, right? Just like that IKEA bookshelf you spent an entire weekend assembling—incorrectly.