The state joins several U.S. cities and counties in restricting the containers in an effort to reduce waste.
This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society.
Maine has joined a growing list of states, cities, and counties, including 14 towns in Maine, to ban foam food containers in an effort to reduce plastic waste.
The bill bans bowls, plates, cups, trays, cartons, and other containers designed to hold prepared food and beverages. Signed by Governor Janet Mills Tuesday, it takes effect January 1, 2021.
The days when you could simply grow a basil plant from a seed by placing it on your windowsill and watering it regularly are gone — there’s no point now that machine learning-optimized hydroponic “cyber-agriculture” has produced a superior plant with more robust flavors. The future of pesto is here.
This research didn’t come out of a desire to improve sauces, however. It’s a study from MIT’s Media Lab and the University of Texas at Austin aimed at understanding how to both improve and automate farming.
In the study, published today in PLOS ONE, the question being asked was whether a growing environment could find and execute a growing strategy that resulted in a given goal — in this case, basil with stronger flavors.
Domino’s has partnered with Xevo, which provides in-vehicle commerce and services for automakers, to provide an AnyWare pizza ordering platform, according to a press release.
Customers can order via Easy Order and track it using the Domino’s Tracker. They also can find their local stores and call in an order from the in-car interface.
The ordering feature will be automatically loaded into millions of cars with the Xevo platform starting later this year.
David Klein, the inventor of the Jelly Belly. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Jelly Belly’s inventor, David Klein, is getting into the cannabis business.
Klein recently launched a business called Spectrum Confections that makes jelly beans infused with cannabidiol, or CBD, the non-psychoactive component of marijuana.
While Jelly Belly is not connected to the venture, cannabis-infused candies are on the cusp of transforming the confectionary business.
SXSW 2019 isn’t just about films, politicians, designers and social media founders. There are also gadgets here to check out. Enter LG’s SnowWhite, a concept machine designed to let you easily make ice cream at home. The SnowWhite is basically like a Keurig, featuring a pod-based system that allows you to choose the base and flavor for a variety of frozen desserts. That means it isn’t just limited to ice cream: You might also be able to make gelato, granita, sorbet, yogurt and more. I say “might” because LG is adamant that the SnowWhite is only a prototype right now — this is more about showing off what the company thinks it can create for your home.
That said, LG did just introduce its automated HomeBrew machine at CES 2019, so the SnowWhite could eventually become a reality. If it does, LG says you’ll be able to make ice cream, gelato or any of the other desserts listed above in two to five minutes. In addition to that, the system can clean itself and may offer both a touchscreen and physical dial for controlling its settings. Unfortunately, the SnowWhite at SXSW wasn’t a working model, which is disappointing because it would’ve been great to have a scoop in this Texas heat. But, considering the popularity of Keurigs, the SnowWhite isn’t a bad idea.
Most Americans are needlessly tossing out packaged food—not because it’s gone bad, but because they take the date stamped on it far too literally. That’s according to a recent study published in the journal Waste Management, which surveyed more than 1,000 people about the phrases and dates on food packages.
Many Americans wrongly believed that food product dates—often prefaced by “best by” or “sell by”—are federally regulated and indicate the point after which the food is no longer safe to eat. (Neither is true: labeling decisions are made voluntarily by food companies and are meant to help consumers determine how fresh a food is, according to the USDA.) As a result, 84% of people throw out food when it’s close to the package date at least occasionally, the researchers found.
And autonomous trucks won’t arrive in time to fix it.
America’s trucker shortage is about to hit consumers right where it hurts: in the kitty litter.
McDonald’s Corp.’s long-time distributor Martin-Brower Co. is raising delivery fees, imperiling low menu prices, and Procter & Gamble Co., Church & Dwight Co. and Hasbro Inc. are sounding the alarm that higher freight fees could be passed on to consumers of everything from Crest toothpaste to Arm & Hammer cat litter to My Little Pony figurines. And it’s all because transport companies can’t find drivers.
IBM’s AI scientists teamed up with McCormick & Company’s food developers to enhance food research.
FlavorBot
You may not think that Tuscan chicken’s creamy, garlicky flavor is due for a high-tech upgrade, but advanced artificial intelligence is on the case all the same. An AI algorithm is about to analyze and improve that and other classic recipes before designing some brand-new foods as well.
And if it goes well, we can expect AI to play a bigger role in developing the foods we eat every day. Right now, some big names are working to amass the expertise of all the world’s food experts, head chefs, and flavor scientists into a single artificial intelligence algorithm that concocts new foods better and faster than any mere human.
This curious rotating garden boasts automatic watering and space for up to 90 plants at any given time.
If you like the idea of growing your own vegetables indoors all year round, then you should check out the new and improved OGarden Smart. It’s a rotating Ferris wheel of sorts that can hold up to 60 plants at various stages of growth. The wheel turns steadily, dipping the roots into water at the bottom and exposing the plants steadily to a 120 watt LED in the center.
Seedlings are started in handy seed cups filled with organic soil and fertilizer, 30 of which can fit into the incubator located below the rotating upper part. These are also automatically watered, and all you have to do is ensure the water reservoir stays full. (It can go up to 10 days and a warning will pop up if you forget.)
Once they sprout, the cups go into the wheel and grow until they’re ready to be harvested. The entire process takes 30-40 days, after which the seed cups and plant roots can be composted, and the gap in the wheel filled with a new seedling.
Your health depends on many factors, such as the quality of food you eat, what you put on your body, what you breathe, what chemicals you are exposed to, how much exercise you get every day, and more. While there is a considerable amount of control that comes with each of these factors, there can also be an unfortunate lack of it — depending on where you live.
I live in the beautiful northwestern city, Boise, the capital of the state of Idaho. In the last few years, Boise has been listed as one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. But that’s not all it’s known for. The City of Trees sits in the Treasure Valley, surrounded by mountains that offer skiing excursions, thousands of hiking routes of all levels, and rivers and lakes where you can go boating, kayaking, floating, swimming, and fishing.
The food culture is incredible. Local restaurants seem to pop up everyday, many prioritizing local and ethical sourcing, some fully vegan or vegetarian, and almost all serving high-quality, delicious foods that residents will not only enjoy but will feel great after eating.
These are just a few factors that make Boise a great home for its residents, not only for entertainment and happiness, but for their health as well.
Unfortunately, not every city in the U.S. is as wholesome and thriving as Boise. Where Boise has rivers and lakes, other towns have toxic water that cannot be played in and requires extensive treatment to be drinkable. Where Boise has many opportunities for hiking, biking, and walking, other cities don’t have access to trails or safe places to do them. Where Boise has high-quality restaurants and grocery stores, other towns have food deserts and only fast food options.
Sales of plant-based meat substitutes, like this burger made by Impossible Foods, increased 22 percent to $1.5 billion last year.
SAN FRANCISCO — The cattle ranchers and farm bureaus of America are not going to give up their hold on the word meat without a fight.
In recent weeks, beef and farming industry groups have persuaded legislators in more than a dozen states to introduce laws that would make it illegal to use the word meat to describe burgers and sausages that are created from plant-based ingredients or are grown in labs. Just this week, new meat-labeling bills were introduced in Arizona and Arkansas.
These meat alternatives may look and taste and even bleed like meat, but cattle ranchers want to make sure that the new competition can’t use the meat label.
