A hopeful food hall
What I talk about when I talk about San Francisco's new food hall, an uptick of bird flu in US fluid milk, and how a beekeeper saved a Major League baseball game.
Hello to all of my new subscribers. This is Technically Food, a bi-weekly newsletter full of news, tidbits and thoughts on how technology is changing the foods we eat. (I have a book with the same name, which you can pick up here.) Today’s hot topic is the current danger to our food system from H5N1 (or bird flu), which has infected 34 dairy herds across the country. (There are ~26,000 dairy herds, but this is still a big number and few of that full number have been tested.)
While this stuff is swirling around, experts say it’s not a good idea to drink raw milk or eat commodity raw milk cheese – I’m not sure that even exists. Every plant-based advocate I know might ring the bell to say now’s the time to transition our food supply to fewer / less / no animal products. I’ll let you decide. This is also a good time for me to mention that my last newsletter was a fascinating chat with Karen Constable, a food safety and fraud expert.
Since I’m not an expert on this stuff, here’s a what-do-I-do article from Stat about animal product safety right now and, while it’s very very rare to be infected, what symptoms to look for.
On with better stuff!
Has anyone watched Food, Inc 2 yet? It’s streaming now and I’m in it! Also, the winner of the Food, Inc 2 companion book giveaway is Boyan Xu, a postdoc at UC Berkeley and also the founder of a mushroom sausage startup called Gillywurst (yum).
Has anyone made it to Saluhall yet? The new IKEA-adjacent food hall in downtown San Francisco is open for biz. Some longtime readers may recall that I covered the news it was coming last May (simultaneous to a Whole Foods in the same location closing down; wah-wah.) I wrote then: “I don’t know how this will play out for the west coast jewel that is or was San Francisco, yet I am hopeful.”
Saluhall was packed for the opening event and I hopped around making friends with all the more fashionable folk. The best outfit of the night was a herringbone-patterned suit that was actually tiny black and white kitty cats from Betabrand. (Just Wow.) Everyone seemed thrilled to have a reason to celebrate downtown San Francisco.
The space is cool – roomy, open, bright. The decor is a mix of natural – wood, plants, metals; and bright colors – green and orange. If you like plant-based meats you can get an empanada with Impossible Foods beef (it’s delicious) and a burger with a Beyond Meat patty (it’s outstanding). The main portion of the downstairs dining is a Swedish-style cafe. Claus Meyer is behind the menu, and is the same guy who brought Great Northern Food Hall, which had a similar vibe, to Grand Central in New York city. (Unfortunately, it’s closed now.) The Nordic food is similar — open-faced sandwiches on hearty rye breads.
There’s a cool space for baking classes (I made a cardamom bun that night), and on the 5th floor is a co-working space called Hej!Workshop. There’s little to no affordable parking so your best bet is to take BART or MUNI for your trip. It’s worth a visit. After the new wears off, Saluhall is going to need a robust line-up of events including book talks (ooh pick me), music, food and craft shows to give people another reason to go back.
Other tidbits:
Beekeepers will always have a job. I’ve written about bee-free honey (Bon Appétit), bee pollination innovation (Bloomberg) and honey from New York beekeepers (Wall Street Journal) but never about a Major League baseball game halted because of bee activity and resumed because they knew who to call to suck them up with a bee vacuum. Amazing.
The paleo diet needs revisiting. Stone-age communities ate more plants than meat according to evidence gleaned from teeth, bones and surrounding areas. Researchers found the remains of “charred sweet acorns, pistachio, pine nuts, wild oats and pulses; grinding stones at the site also suggest plant processing took place nearby.” They also found cavities! CNN
Dan Barber says respect older dairy cows. “When mature dairy cows (about six years old) are allowed to pasture longer, their fat, which normally goes into milk, returns to the muscles and makes the meat richer and more tender.” You can try some from Mindful Meats in Marin, Butter Meat Company in the Finger Lakes or snap up a reservation at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown. NYT
You can almost make this in your kitchen but…you can’t. Fruit Riot: Frozen fruit coated with sour flavoring. I really want to Not Want to try this, but I do! Great branding and almost an okay thing to buy — except for the sugar coating and plastic pouch!
Food safety is hard. It’s not only our animal-based food supply that has issues. Gibson Farms recalled organic walnuts sold in 19 states due to an E. coli outbreak that sickened 12 people and hospitalized seven. (Ouch!) After reading about this, I went and checked my walnuts, which were from Diamond. Because nuts go rancid quickly, I keep all my seeds and nuts in the fridge but the walnut people say to stash them in the freezer!
How to solve problems in agriculture that considers people first? Rethinking Innovation takes on this idea and applies it to Golden Rice, a genetically-modified rice with beta-carotene (that rice doesn’t typically have), and the tomato harvester. It follows two paths of process and problem solving. A fascinating look of how technology can solve problems differently. Here’s the full publication for the deeper read.
Where you can find me:
Food, Inc 2 is in theaters and streaming now. There’s also as a companion book of essays. I’m in the film and the book!
I’m researching vegan cheeses that actually melt. Have one I should know about, or someone I should talk to? Drop me a line.
I’m headed to DC and NYC mid-May. Send all must see and must tries.