My husband and I recently went grocery shopping together — a rare event — to purchase food and ingredients we needed for hosting a small cocktail party. We were in the cookie and cracker aisle when my husband spotted it: a brand of crackers touting “Plant Based” on the front panel of its packaging.  

On March 2, USDA announced an additional investment of $80 million in the Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiatives. 

Business as usual won’t cut it.

These days, a trip to the grocery store can be very expensive. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the food at home index rose 6.4% over the 12 months ending in November 2021 — the most significant 12-month increase since the period ending in December 2008.

I am writing this column as 2021 nears its end and 2022 awaits on the horizon.

Supply chain disruptions are currently a highly frustrating reality for industries across the globe. In fact, an October 2021 quarterly report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange relays that supply chains are arguably in the most dire condition since the beginning of the pandemic. 

It’s November — the air is crisp, pumpkin-spice offerings are seemingly everywhere, and the Thanksgiving holiday is looming. November is memorable for more than those reasons, however. It is also the month that Dairy Foods publishes its annual State of the Industry report.

Back in February 2020, Petaluma, Calif.-based Miyoko’s Creamery (Miyoko’s), a manufacturer of dairy alternatives, sued the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Back in 2019, the cottage cheese brand Muuna (now defunct) pranked its customers on April Fools’ Day with a fake flavor: Muuna Cannabis cottage cheese.