Big Food’s biggest trend? Crusading against Big Food ADVERTISING Big Food’s biggest trend? Crusading against Big Food KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gathered for a free music festival, a crowd waits to see one of the headline attractions — an
Big Food’s biggest trend? Crusading against Big Food
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gathered for a free music festival, a crowd waits to see one of the headline attractions — an exhibit about fast-food ingredients.
On display: Beakers of powders and liquids that purportedly go into what is clearly meant to look like a McDonald’s burger. Just below are leaves and spices that Chipotle says make up its burrito. As pop bands perform nearby, other festivalgoers play an online game fighting a “galactic battle against artificial ingredients.”
Chipotle’s “Cultivate” festivals encapsulate the food industry’s hottest marketing trend: crusading against Big Food.
While the burrito maker still struggles to recover from an E. coli outbreak last year, its previous success in presenting itself as a reformer has led companies big and small to follow suit as they seek part of the $256 billion that Americans spend on fast-food each year. But some are positioning themselves as advocates for change before accomplishing some health goals, and skeptics say even well-intentioned marketing can be a disingenuous way to help people rationalize overeating.
The message is aimed at those who feel the established food system is to blame for poor eating habits, and tries to engage them to feel like allies rather than customers.
Trial of SS medic who served at Auschwitz begins in Germany
BERLIN (AP) — The oft-delayed trial of a former SS medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp opened Monday in Germany, amid lingering questions about whether the 95-year-old is fit enough for the proceedings to continue.
The trial of Hubert Zafke, scheduled to start in February at the Neubrandenburg state court in northeastern Germany, had been postponed three times after presiding Judge Klaus Kabisch determined Zafke wasn’t well enough to participate, based on a doctor’s assessment.
Among other things, the retired farmer suffered from stress and high blood pressure and had suicidal thoughts, the court was told. Already in 2015, the Neubrandenburg court ruled against bringing the case to trial due to Zafke’s health, but a higher court overturned that, saying that the trial could go ahead if the sessions were limited.
Zafke was examined again Monday morning ahead of the court session, and Kabisch decided to proceed.
Zafke was pushed into court in a wheelchair, holding a wooden cane in his hand, and made no comment as the charges against him were read, saying only “yes” that he had understood them, the dpa news agency reported.
California turns to civilians as inmate firefighters dwindle
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Faced with a shrinking pool of inmates to help fight major wildfires, California is increasingly turning for new recruits to its state Conservation Corps, a program with roots in the Great Depression and a motto that promises “hard work, low pay, miserable conditions … and more!”
Prisoners last year made up about 20 percent of California fire crews on several major blazes, where they used chain saws and hand tools to chew through tinder-dry brush and trees to stop the flames.
But the number of available inmates is declining because counties now oversee most lower-level felons under a law aimed at easing prison overcrowding. In addition, there are fewer incentives for inmates to risk their lives since a federal court broadened an early release program for firefighters to include other inmates.
The state is about 600 inmates short of the 4,300 prisoners who could be available for fire lines. So this year, the California Conservation Corps reopened a camp to train three crews of young civilians to do the same backbreaking work as the inmates. Corps Director Bruce Saito expects to create at least four more fire crews with roughly 15 members each by next summer and a half-dozen new crews during each of the next two years.
The corps has more than 1,400 members, but fewer than 200 currently work alongside local, state and federal firefighters battling blazes in rural areas.
