5@5: Global fruit and vegetable shortage | Biden's agricultural plan

If we all ate enough fruits and vegetables, there’d be big shortages

A new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health contends that there aren’t enough fruits and vegetables to feed the global population the recommended amount. This report comes at a time when poor diets have been determined as a leading cause of premature death and are responsible for more deaths than smoking worldwide. Read more at NPR …

Biden’s plan for rural America: Incentives will fix farm country

Unlike fellow 2020 presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden’s platform seems to largely favor incentivizing positive change to support American agriculture instead of overhauling existing policy. Biden reportedly has the support of former Iowa governor and former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, but as his stances crystallize closer to the primary everything could change. Read more at New Food Economy …

Amazon’s most ambitious research project is a convenience store

Amazon’s Go stores best exemplify the company’s ongoing—and extremely expensive—venture into physical retail. Although the experimental stores focus on convenience store offerings for now, executives at Amazon have noted that the Go cashierless technology could be adapted to larger store formats in the near future. Read more at Bloomberg …

Huge new survey finds that sugary soda taxes work

According to a recent meta-analysis of over a thousand studies, sugar taxes are very effective at reducing the consumption of sugary drinks such as non-diet soda, energy drinks and sports drinks. A tax of 10% resulted in an average of 10% less consumption of sugary drinks, and a 2% uptick in the sales of non-taxed drinks such as water. Read more at Modern Farmer …

Burning sugarcane in Florida is making people sick. Could ‘green harvesting’ change the game?

In early June, a federal class action lawsuit was brought against Florida’s sugar industry on the grounds that pre-harvest burning by sugar companies “has caused unprecedented levels of respiratory illnesses and other problems from toxic smokie exposure.” One state health department spokesman argues that the air pollutants from this practice dissipate and do not violate federal air quality standards, but sugar industry representatives have yet to respond publicly to the allegations. Read more at Civil Eats …