5@5: Whole Foods denies cutting employee hours | Is raw milk the answer to dairy industry struggles?

Whole Foods denies cutting workers’ hours

After Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour last year, Whole Foods employees have made claims that the company is cutting workers’ hours in order to negate the wage increase. One employee makes the case that the wage increase only hurt overall productivity, as now “[they] just have to work harder to meet the same goals in less time.” Read more at And Now U Know …

Could the raw milk boom be a lifeline for struggling farmers?

The raw milk market presents an alluring opportunity for struggling farmers—in fact, at retail organic milk prices, one farmer estimates he “could earn nearly 10 times what he had been getting in the commodity market.” But consumers’ desire for raw dairy is causing some health officials to stress that disease outbreaks associated with milk consumption in general are far more likely to occur in the raw dairy realm. Read more at Civil Eats …

Can zero-waste grocery stores make a difference?

Although one or two zero-waste stores won’t end widespread plastic pollution, these businesses have nevertheless inspired a conversation among consumers and companies that otherwise wouldn’t be inclined to decrease their single-use plastic consumption. Only 9 percent of plastic ends up getting recycled according to the EPA, and mainstream retailers are beginning to rethink the way they sell their products to mitigate environmental damage—which could have major implications. Read more at The Wall Street Journal …

Instacart’s alcohol delivery is now available in 14 states

Instacart began rolling out alcohol delivery in 2018 and has quickly become a formidable competitor in the space. In 2019, this feature has become accessible to around 40 million homes and alcohol can be delivered directly to consumers from almost 100 different retailers. Read more at Tech Crunch …

Here’s how Trader Joe’s plans to cut 1M pounds of single-use plastic from stores

For starters, the company plans to replace all Styrofoam packages with compostable ones and remove single-use plastic bags from all stores. When all of these seemingly small efforts, such as putting renewable sleeves on greeting cards, are eventually added up, the company will have diverted 1 million pounds of single-use plastic from landfills. Read more at Fast Company …