5@5: Online grocery sales pass $8B in November | President-elect Biden chooses Agriculture secretary

Online grocery sales top $8B in November

A new survey from Brick Meets Click reveals that Americans spent $8.1 billion shopping online in November 2020. Grocery delivery and pickup accounted for 73% of the total figure and active delivery and pickup shoppers reported a record-high repeat intent rate of 83%. Increased order frequency and number of households participating in online shopping led to an uptick of 3.6% compared to August 2020. The Food Institute reports.

Vilsack chosen as Biden's Agriculture secretary

President-elect Joe Biden recently appointed Tom Vilsack to the position of Agriculture secretary for his upcoming term. Vilsack served under the Obama administration for eight years and was a top rural and agriculture policy adviser during Biden's campaign. Politico has the details.

Danone creates new yogurt brand using upcycled, rejected fruit

Danone is partnering with food-waste firm Full Harvest Technologies to produce a new yogurt brand that incorporates surplus or rejected produce; the first flavor utilizes "rescued" lemons, for instance. The company is also marking the yogurt cups with a first-of-its-kind seal that will convey to shoppers that they are purchasing a product that supports upcycling withing the notoriously wasteful food industry. Head to Bloomberg for more.

City of Berkeley caps food delivery fees at 10%

Food delivery services have been shortchanging suffering local restaurants for the duration of the pandemic, which has led to legislation that puts limits on the amount of money these apps can charge restaurants in terms of fees. Berkeley, California, is setting a precedent for other Bay Area cities by capping delivery fees at 10%, but some restaurants worry that customers will be left with extra charges and subsequently order less. Get the scoop at NBC ...

Promote health equity by taxing sugary drinks and doubling support for community health centers

America's broken food system is killing its citizens through poor nutrition and deepening racial divides in terms of health and life expectancy. To combat this, one expert suggests taxing heavily sweetened beverages, making school meals more nutritious and widely available, investing in nutrition research and shifting agricultural subsidies to healthier foods. Read the rest at Brookings ...