Cornucopia

In this episode we look at the history of recycling in America and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly about sorting your trash. While recycling is inherently good its effectiveness is another thing. In other words, recycling was never meant to work. An add on to a linear economic system designed to maximize profits and minimize costs to private industry leaving the costs of cleaning up the trash - or not cleaning it up - to the public. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

ITS BEEN a year since we published our homage to the addictively sweet and garishly bright Easter Peeps . Some might the episode the grocery world's answer to David Sedaris' Santaland Dairies. We just call it GROCERY HELL. The Easter with no Peeps. Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Bottled water sold today is a new phenomena, not much older than quarter Tom Brady. Back in the 19th century there were lots and lots of bottled water companies in America. But the advent of municipal waters system in the early 20th century meant nearly of all these early brands disappeared. When Evian arrived in America back in 1978 experts wondered if people would buy bottled water in a country with clean tap water Evian huge success proved that they would. And after that it was off to the races as more and more and more companies started selling bottled water, which was mostly tap water to go. That is until 2000 when Vitamin Water hit the market and despite being loaded with sugar and no real vitamin nutrition was a huge success and unleashed a never ending stream of so-called enhanced or functional waters. Despite the high price and the fact that common sense suggest these products don't make much sense America has embraced as much as Beyonce or Taylor Swift. And more bottled water meant and means more and more plastic bottles too. Only 12% ever get recycled. Listen up and while we won't quench your thirst buds we're certain to make you think about good old H20 in a brand new way. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In this episode we'll talk about John Harvey Kellogg and bacon, oat bran and coconut water as well as ask whether the Paleo diet makes sense. Spoiler alert- logic never matters when it comes to diet and food trends. We'll examine a variety of food trends, how the grow and how they die, as well as the people pulling the levers behind the curtain manufacturing our desires and conventional wisdom too. This episode is funny, informative and hopefully practical. Our hope is that when you're done listening you'll be far less flummoxed navigating fast and furious food trends while shopping for groceries and deciding what to eat. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In case you wonder why some people think eating spaghetti and garlic bread is as bad for you as pouring whiskey on your wheaties don't miss this episode. Actually, even if you pour whiskey on your wheaties or use it as pasta sauce, you should listen too. As the title implies were going to take a look at keto and other high protein diets, But not to praise or debunk them. But as a starting point to look at something nearly everybody seems to forget. That food trends come and food trends go. In this episode - Part 1, we'll take at look how two cardiologists named Atkins and Ornish that illuminate why there isnt only ONE right way to eat, discuss why eliminating foods from your diet can can be profound and talk about the pleasure penalty. No the pleasure penalty has nothing to do with your ex or even your current lover. We'll get into it. And also dive into the dark and murky psychological muck to look at why people choose certain ways of eating. In Part 2, Episode 29 coming mid-week, we'll turn back the clock and look at oat brand and pomegranate juice, John Harvey Kellogg and bacon, the sugar industry and coconut too, as we explore the ways conventional wisdom isn't always what it seems. Yeah, trendy diets and foods sometimes are good for you but that people behind the curtain are never stop looking to create the latest nutritional star as they manufacture new and usually more expensive desires. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

This is the first episode in our new series, Cornucopia Express: Ten Items or Less (aka: A Podcast in a Hurry). In these four minute-ish episodes we will expand your understanding of the grocery and consumer packaged goods business as well leave you lots of time to beg your spouse for a foot rub, tell your teenager to turn down the Ariana Grande, call your parents (and yeah we know you're hoping to get voicemail) and even scream into a pillow when nobody's looking. In this episode we'll explain why the heck there are stickers on your bananas, granny smiths and other fruits. And a few other interesting tidbits too that will make you smile like eating chilled grapes on a hot summer day without a pandemic. Thanks for listening! And please let us know if like these express episodes or not. We'd love to hear from you. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

After listening to episode 26 The Easter with No Peeps here's a short and sweet bonus episode to help you get the taste of jelly beans out of your mouth.  Matt Levine talks to his ex-boyfriend David Adams too see what he remembers about Matt's grocery hell getting yelled at five days a week. They discover memories are deceiving, discuss pickles (no pun intended), a missing record album and some musical divas too. This episode is short and sweet like their relationship.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Twenty-five years ago phones were connected to the wall, gasoline cost an average of a $1.23 a gallon and in San Francisco a small grocery chain had no peeps at Easter because its distributor was no good. Matt Levine recalls his time working as a sales representative for this incompetent distributor in this funny tale of grocery hell, featuring George the nasty manager and lots of candy too. The names have been changed. The candies have not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

Originally this was going to be a bonus episode to Episode 23 Poor Jack Dorsey & The Search for Meaning Through Food. But once we bushwhacked through the billionaire weed patch it became clear that this required way more time. Because our local bamboozling billionaires were symbols, as well as the causes of a wide range of problems facing America today. Massive inequality. Stagnant and unlivable wages. A declining middle class and increased poverty too. We start out with an illuminating discussion about what having a billion dollar means. Then take a look at the relative generosity of billionaire philanthropy (actually its not generous). Next we turn to Anand Giradharadas, author of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing The World to help understand unprecedented inequality in America, and how elite philanthropy actually maintains the status quo. In other words think of it as a 21st century opiate for the masses. We then look at the way corporate social responsibility is a part of this charade, talk about local bamboozlers such as Uber, Apple, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and once again poor Jack Dorsey. While we won't be joined by any guests we'll listen to clips from Giridhardas' interviews with Amy Goodman and Trevor Noah. Catch a bit of fireworks between Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg in the Nevada Democratic Presidential Primary debate back February 2020 as well as some words from George Carlin, Dr. Martin Luther King and Franklin D. Roosevelt too. Be sure to check out the Show Notes on our Blog on our websites for a comprehensive list of links and references. And if you enjoyed this episode be sure to check out Episode 20. Amazon's Greed, Whole Foods, Costco and The Myth of the Good Wage. Thanks for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

If you've listened to episode 23, Poor Jack Dorsey and the Search for Meaning Through Food you heard our admonition that if you think we're being unfair to that lanky fellow worth 15 billion don't troll us on Twitter until you listen to the Bonus Episode Bamboozling Bay Area Billionaires. Well it's not ready yet because there was so much juice in the bonus episode of a berry, that we are making this into a regular episode.Please know that we editing our fingernails off trying to hurry the hell up and get it posted. By the way Square took a nose dive this week, so who knows how many billions he has by the time you read this, but if you see him waiting in line at St. Anthony's for a meal, you really have got to stop drinking so much. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In this episode we take a look at the anti-Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and his unconventional approach to living. His lifestyle offers something to marvel at -- okay, laugh at too -- but also provides an opportunity for self-reflection. In other words he's not the only buying stupid things. Though his are way, way, way more expensive than the things most of us buy to “improve" our lives. One other thing. When we first wrote this episode we weren't going to dive into tech's impact on the city or Dorsey's vocal opposition to a small tax to aid programs for the homeless. But after several drafts we decided leaving it out was a bit like going to the oncologist's office just to read the magazines. In other words, some things are so important they can't ignored. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

As food shopping and grocery stores have become the center of so much of our pandemic life we thought it would be great to replay our pilot episode. In this episode we'll look at the history of food retailing in America, how self-service replaced counter service, the way a couple of notable innovators changed how we shop and discuss how today's retail landscape resembles a florescent-lit Hunger Games minus the bloody sword wounds and gratuitous sex. Plus what we discovered in our researching and writing is that the issues people are talking about today in regards to Amazon's ever growing power were on the minds of Americans dating back to the 19th century. In other words while the scope and pace of change is new the basis for change remains eerily familiar. Of course today we can buy groceries everywhere, even while wearing nothing but dirty underwear sitting at home. But not that long ago buying food at gas stations or drug stores was something new. Add in mass merchants, bodegas and corner stores and of course blessed supermarkets too and in case you didn't figure it out before you'll now know why we call our show Cornucopia. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In our new series we'll look at how San Francisco and the Bay area both influence and reflect our national obsession with food. In this episode we'll set the scene. Since the gold rush we've been boom and bust, sometimes crazy rich and stupid too. An anecdote from just before Covid-19 changed where and how we eat sums this up quite well. A young guy wearing a PayPal t-shirt was talking loudly to his friends, proclaiming how much he loved a new coffee shop, adding with excitement that " a coffee and muffin only cost nine dollars." And while we won't yet be exploring the dramatic way the coronavirus is changing things rest assured we'll be diving into that can of pandemic basted worms in episodes this spring. One last thing. Listen and let us know what you think. Follow us wherever you listen. Hate mail or love letters. Either way we'd love to hear from. Actually, we prefer the fan mail but even if you feel otherwise it would still ne nice (ummm...interesting...deflating...err good anyway) to know what you think. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matt-levine0/support

In the age of Alexa, Siri and Amazon's never ending reach, it might not be a surprise that a new app can monitor your what you buy and eat and automatically create and send shopping lists to your store for delivery or pickup. What might be surprising is that iGrabit's new app could even the playing field between retail giants and the pipsqueaks, allowing independent stores the ability to offer blink of an eye technology that to date has been the limited to behemoths like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target and national supermarket chains. Currently available only in South Florida, iGrabit is about to expand to Chicago and New York. While we don't know whether the ability to link shoppers and stores with seamless technology will reduce divorce rates or the need to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbors, the competitive landscape between brick and mortar and online is changing even quicker than we thought.

While Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods has received a lot of media attention, there has been little discussion of the impact on Whole Foods' employees. And the impact has been huge. But while Amazon's gutting of employee profit sharing is just plain greedy, it's nothing new. Ever since the last quarter of the 20th century corporations have been reducing wages, gutting unions and getting richer in the process. And the conventional wisdom about good places to work, places like Costco, Trader Joe's and others, ignores the fact that in 1980 grocery store workers made nearly twice as much.

While Coke, McDonald's, Nestle and the rest of America's food giants capture nearly 90 cents out of every dollar spent on food their consolidation is beginning to erode, at least a little bit. And amid this shifting landscape paying huge prices for little companies continues unabated. In this 2nd episode of Cornucopia Point of View we look at Nestle's $425 million dollar purchase of a 68% share of San Francisco based Blue Bottle Coffee and wonder when investors and analysts alike are finally going to realize that the emperor is both naked and stupid.

If you've ever thought of giving it all up and becoming a farmer this episode has got your name on it. Andrea Bachman interviews one half of the farm team that converted an urban(relatively speaking, of course)lot in Whitefish, Montana in this inspiring and intimate conversation about the joys, challenges and demands of farming in a challenging climate and challenging economy both.

In our new segment Cornucopia Point of View we look at whether the chaos surrounding Amazon's integration with Whole Foods is really all that newsworthy as well as how Whole Foods mastery of theatrical grocery, or the retail hand job is likely to chain as Amazon takes over the reins.

After we finished our pilot on the history of the supermarket we realized that Clarence Saunders, the man who created Piggly Wiggly, deserved more attention. Every time we shop Saunders innovations are at play. But more than that, he was a self-made man who crashed and burned not once, not twice but three times. Brash and charismatic, he died in the 1950s while trying to develop a computer automated supermarket he wanted to call FoodElectric. We think that you too will be wondering why hasn't anyone made a movie about this guy yet. .

This bonus track from our Food Scientist on Weed episode is a great primer for cannabis manufacturers and consumers as well.

Food scientist Mary Mulry details the shifting landscape for manufacturers of cannabis edibles and how the shift from the underground to the mainstream requires more science in product development and manufacturing. In addition she discusses how potency on the labels compares across batches as well as to alcohol, and big pharma's fear about the growing use of weed as an alternative to prescription drugs.

In case Episode Two left you thinking that everything on supermarket shelves is bullshit, don’t be stupid. Because despite the growing number of label claims that are meaningless, duplicitous nonsense, yes Virginia there are products out there that walk their talk. So if you’re concerned with how to make ethical shopping choices this episode’s for you. Our guide is Mary Mulry, a food industry veteran who’s worked with leading retailers and manufacturers in sourcing and creating products that practice what they preach. And while we’ve got your attention, here’s one thing to remember. According to the United Nations more than three-quarters of a billion people dont have enough to eat. So whether you’re chomping Slim Jims and Doritos for dinner or dinning on grass fed sirloin steaks keep things in perspective.

While advertisements have never been beacons of plain spoken truth, the advent of environmentalism gave growth to a new type of marketing. Corporations became image conscious in this era when people began to examine the impact of science & technology, economic growth and consumerism. These ads promised benefits way beyond clean hair or good taste. Social value marketing touted more than just the benefits of a particular product, but benefits to the environment, to birds in the sky, to communities halfway across the globe. In this episode we examine the emergence of this now ever-present phenomena and how these days trying to sort the wheat from the chafe, the BS from the honest is more complicated than ever.

With all the current debate about immigration policy we decided it was great time to repost this episode from January 2017. Economist Jerry Nickelsburg, Director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast guides us through the weeds explaining not only agriculture's huge reliance on undocumented migrants to work the fields, why undocumented workers actually benefit the US Treasury (hint: more than half pay income tax, yes, income tax) and the surprising outcome of laws in Georgia and Alabama the eliminated migrant laborers from the fields.

After editing our interview with Chipotle's Chris Arnold we realized there was too much leftover meat in this audible burrito that we had to do a bonus episode. Matt talks with Chris about store designs, marketing, their animated video featuring Willie Nelson and the challenges facing farmers seeking to raise food on a human scale.

While Chipotle's e-coli outbreak in 2015 severely damaged the company's image, the fast casual restaurant's was an early pioneer in creating healthier fast food, making choices that flew in the face of conventional wisdom. In this episode we talk with Chipotle's Chris Arnold about the decision to use Niman Ranch pork in their carnitas, their recent move to create a vegan option with upscale HodoSoy tofu and of course, what caused the-coli outbreak and how the company responded.

At the age of 58 after getting laid off from a career in the lighting business my sister Nancy got a job at Trader Joe's. With humor, gratitude and a teeny bit of regret she shares what it's like stocking the aisles, ringing up customers and fetching shopping carts at Trader Joe's, a place where everyone pretends they're working on a boat and people both young and old treat the tasting station like its an all you can eat buffet.

In this episode we ask Jerry Nickelsburg, Director of The UCLA Anderson Forecast and economics professor about how legal weed is likely to impact California.  In addition to macro economic trends, our favorite professor talks about whether the end of prohibition in the 1920's offers insights,  how sales of beer wine and spirits have fared after marijuana legalization in Colorado,  growth in jobs, cannabis tourism and how lack of nationwide legalization will impact the development of a new above ground marketplace for all things weed.

We thought a great way to start out the new year would be to replay our pilot episode from the summer of 2016. In this episode we explore the history of the supermarket, from A&P to Amazon. What we discovered in researching and writing that episode is that the issues people are talking about in regards to Amazon's ever growing power were on the minds of Americans dating back to the 19th century.

Defying conventional wisdom about millennials, there's a small but growing group of young people who are farming the land. In this first of an ongoing series of interviews with America's new generation of farmers, Ashley Ellis travels half an hour south of the Silicon Valley to speak with a young farmer keeping an 8th generation family tradition alive.

Despite earning billions of dollars annually by selling the same old stuff, America's food giants are trying to clean up their act. In this episode we interview Mike Movitz to learn about how legacy brands are losing sales to upstart natural & organic innovators and how Campbell's is ahead of the rest in reshaping the way it makes and sells food.

Despite his all-star credentials - Chez Panisse, acclaimed food blogger and Paris connoisseur - David Lebovitz lacks any pretense and is gracious and funny. In this fascinating and wide-ranging discussion, David shares his thoughts about the allure of food in Paris, the challenges  small food businesses face there and his belief that food is also the stories around food.   In addition he ponders the fetishization of food in America, talks about his new book that proves life is indeed stranger than fiction and how he overcame his dislike of both avocado and Los Angeles.  Enjoy.

A fascinating discussion with Michael Moss author of the NY Times number-one best seller Salt, Sugar, Fat about how America's food giants have altered our tastebuds in the lab all in the name of lower costs and higher profits.

Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods, may seem like the start of a brave new world, but hold onto your shopping carts. The die has yet to be cast. Listen to Matt Levine and Mike Movitz talk about the implications of Jezz Bezos' and John Mackey's sweaty love affair . And if you haven't listened to Episode 1, our History of the Supermarket what are you waiting for? It illustrates how Amazon resembles A & P, and oh yeah, we predicted Amazon's big move into grocery, too.

Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods, may seem like the start of a brave new world, but hold onto your shopping carts. The die has yet to be cast. Listen to Matt Levine and our resident expert Mary Mulry talk about the implications of Jezz Bezos' and John Mackey's sweaty love affair .   And if you haven't listened to Episode 1, our History of the Supermarket what are you waiting for?  It illustrates how Amazon resembles A & P, and oh yeah, we predicted Amazon's big move into grocery, too.

The reality beyond Trump's rhetoric about deporting undocumented workers and how it would impact food production.

Matt and Jeremy interview Mike freeman about the man who made grocery stores what they are today.

In this episode, Matt and Jeremy interview Mary Mulry on best practices for healthy and ethical shopping.

Cornucopia Episode 2 - The Forest Of Illusions by Cornucopia The Podcast About Food

These days Americans can buy groceries everywhere. Gas stations, drug stores, mass merchants, at bodegas and corner stores and of course good old supermarkets too. In this episode we’ll look at the history of food retailing in America, how self-service replaced counter service, the way a couple of notable innovators changed how we shop and discuss how today’s retail landscape resembles a florescent-lit Hunger Games minus the bloody sword wounds and gratuitous sex.