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How the Dutch took the lead in food tech and sustainability
The tiny country of the Netherlands has become a leader in developing technology for sustainable farming. Not only is it becoming a major exporter of food in Europe, it’s also a model for other nations in how to minimize waste and water use, said Laura Reiley, who reports on the business of food for The Washington Post.
“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Reiley about Dutch advances in vertical farming and raising crops and livestock with reduced carbon dioxide emissions. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Rysdal: OK, so this is a food story. Yes. But really, it’s a technology story. It’s a crazy technology of food story.
Laura Reiley: Absolutely, kind of a shock-and-awe visual smorgasbord.
Rysdal: Well, tell me how you came upon this story, because we should say up front, you know a little bit about food. I mean, you’ve been a professional chef, you’ve, you know, got awards and all that jazz. And here you’re now reporting on it. What got you into this story?
Reiley: Well, I was riding the coattails of this fabulous Dutch photographer, Kadir van Lohuizen, but he was looking at how this very tiny European country is the second largest exporter of agricultural products by value in the world behind the US So, you know, they ‘re doing an awful lot of raising animal and vegetable production and seed production on very little land.
Rysdal: Yeah, we should be clear here, it’s across the gamut of ag, right? It is livestock, it is ornamental vegetables and seeds, as you say. It’s, I mean, it’s everything that they’re doing. And they’re doing it on, not to be pejorative here, a relative postage-size stamp of land.
Reiley: Yeah, you know, half of the land in the country is devoted to ag. But an interesting thing is about 24,000 acres — so about double the size of Manhattan — is under glass, and it’s greenhouses. I mean, if you’ve ever flown over the northern part of the country, not that far from Amsterdam, it looks like something out of “Blade Runner,” you know, it’s just these, like, incredible vistas of sparkling glass . So a lot of what they’re doing is what we call now indoor vertical — there’s a bunch of different terms for that. A lot of what they’re doing is also developing the technology that can be exported to other places. And what’s great about that is that it can make the farms close to where the people live, and in parts of the world where there isn’t arable land.
Rysdal: Yeah. And big multinationals are going over there to learn how to do it.
Reiley: Absolutely. I mean, I think that there’s an awful lot of interest right now in upping our game in terms of technology, a lot of VC money and food tech right now. But some of what the Netherlands is doing is more kind of old-school, regenerative ag, or, you know, minimizing waste and water use. So it’s very kind of climate friendly, high-tech ag.
Rysdal: Say more about that, right? Because among the other things that they are doing is they’re doing all of this production without increasing natural gas use, without increasing CO2, reducing fertilizer, using all of this stuff that, you know, is going to be key as we try to deal with a warming planet.
Reiley: Sure. So they’re huge producers of onions and tomatoes, and they can produce a pound of tomatoes requiring only half a gallon of water. And the average globally is 28 gallons. So, you’re seeing a real discrepancy —
Rysdal: Say that again, because that’s wild.
Reiley: Yes, so on average over the world is 28 gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes. In the Netherlands, it’s a half gallon, so none of that water is wasted. And the irony is that, you know, a generation ago, they had a terrible reputation. They were just these hard bullet balls that no one wanted to eat. And so they’ve really kind of changed their reputation. And not just on the vegetable side, but also on animal ag. So, chickens, beef pigs, they’re huge exporters, now the biggest European exporter, and a lot of those ribs come to kind of middling chain restaurants in the United States. So you’ve probably — I’m not going to name names, but you’ve probably eaten some of them unknownst to you.
Rysdal: Look, I mean, you got to use a whole animal, right? Let me ask you this: You have certainly driven up and down California’s Central Valley, right? And seen all the agriculture there, huh?
Reiley: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
Rysdal: All right. So, how long do you think it’s going to be given Big Ag in
Pepsi with milk and cookies? The company wants a new twist on Santa’s treat
There’s nothing like celebrating the holiday season by leaving Santa Claus with his favorite snack: milk and cookies – with soda.
Pepsi unveiled its latest campaign Thursday, encouraging those who enjoy milk and cookies to add “a surprising and naughty new twist” to it by adding Pepsi to the milk, turning it into Pilk and Cookies.
Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s chief marketing officer, in a statement insisted the combination has “long been a secret hack among Pepsi fans.”
To help launch the promotion, Pepsi got the help of Lindsay Lohan, who recently starred in Netflix’s “Falling for Christmas” and has been associated with Christmas since her “Jingle Bell Rock” performance in the 2004 film “Mean Girls.”
If you’re hesitant to try the drink yourself, Pepsi offers some recipes for people to try, like “The Naughty & Ice,” which involves mixing whole milk, heavy cream and vanilla creamer into a cup of Pepsi and enjoying it with a chocolate cookie chips. Another recipe, “The Cherry on Top,” uses 2% milk, heavy cream and caramel creamer into a cup of Pepsi Wild Cherry, pairing it with a gingerbread cookie.
Lohan said in a statement she was at first skeptical of the combinations, but she was “amazed at how delicious it was.”
Pepsi is also issuing a #PilkandCookies challenge by having people follow the company on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok and share a video or photo of their Pilk and Cookies creations along with the hashtag. Pepsi will select 25 winners who will win cash. The challenge is open through Dec. 25.
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What is ‘dirty soda’?
Pilk and Cookies comes as the drink idea known as “dirty soda” – mixing soda with ingredients like cream, half and half and puree – has become an increasingly popular trend.
“Now with the rise of the ‘dirty soda’ trend on TikTok and throughout the country, we thought Pilk and Cookies would be a great way to unapologetically celebrate the holidays with a new and delicious way to enjoy Pepsi this season,” Kaplan said.
The origins of “dirty soda” are unknown, but the trend began to pick up in 2010 when Swig, dubbed the “home of ‘dirty’ soda,” opened up in St. George, Utah. The soda business grew in popularity in a predominantly Mormon area, according to the New York Times, as the church prohibits hot caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee.
The drink gained nationwide popularity in December 2021 when singer Olivia Rodrigo posted a picture of herself holding a Swig cup on Instagram. Eater reported in April there were over 700,000 mentions of #dirtysoda on TikTok following Rodrigo’s post.
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Samaritan’s Purse crosses the threshold of 100M pounds of food distributed in war-torn Ukraine
Samaritan’s Purse, the North Carolina-based international Christian relief and evangelism organization, has achieved a significant milestone: It has just crossed the threshold of 100 million pounds of food distributed in the war-torn country of Ukraine.
The organization shared the update with Fox News Digital on Monday.
Every week since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began on Feb. 24, the charitable group has been flying relief supplies and food to Ukraine for the scores of innocent people caught in the crosshairs of war.
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Rev. Franklin Graham, CEO and president of Samaritan’s Purse, told Fox News Digital on Monday, “As winter sets in, things in Ukraine are only getting worse.”
He said that “many areas have lost electricity and food is impossible to buy in eastern parts of the country [that are] closer to the fighting.”
A man in Ukraine carries a bag of food distributed by Samaritan’s Purse.
(Samaritan’s Purse)
He added, “Samaritan’s Purse has been buying and bringing food into the country every week. We are also receiving food from the World Food Program.”
As of this week, Samaritan’s Purse has distributed more than 100 million pounds of food — or over 45,000 metric tons — to the people of Ukraine caught up in war.
(Samaritan’s Purse)
Added Rev. Graham, “As of this week, we have distributed more than 100 million pounds (over 45,000 metric tons). We are working with our network of churches across Ukraine to distribute this food to people in need and remind them that God loves them.”
“We need to continue to pray that God will work in the hearts of the leaders involved to bring an end to the conflict that has brought so much pain and devastation,” he said.
Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, marks day no. 285 in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Every week, Samaritan’s Purse imports 1.4 million pounds of food into Ukraine, the organization said.
(Samaritan’s Purse)
Each week, Samaritan’s Purse has been bringing 1.4 million pounds of food to Ukraine, it was reported.
“Stores and shops have closed, leaving no way for people to buy food.”
On Monday, it reached the major threshold of having distributed 100 million pounds of food.
UKRAINE BEGINS NEW EVACUATIONS IN KHERSON AS INCREASED HOSTILITIES EXPECTED
The organization said that in dangerous areas, “stores and shops have closed, leaving no way for people to buy food.”
Samaritan’s Purse has been helping the people of Ukraine since the earliest days of the war.
(Samaritan’s Purse)
Many of the people “desperate for food can only take what they can carry – so the food is given to people in grocery bags,” he said.
The group also told Fox News Digital, “Some of the brave pastors and church leaders that we are partnering with are also taking these food distributions into the conflict zone. They face dangerous conditions to reach distribution points.”
Rev. Franklin Graham (at right) was shown earlier this year in one of the medical clinics his organization set up in Ukraine amid the war.
(Samaritan’s Purse)
The organization continued, “These unsung heroes take buses, vans and even their own vehicles loaded with food and other relief supplies from Samaritan’s Purse to people who are suffering deeply in the conflict.”
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The pastors “also offer to help those residents who are evacuees — and some people have been able to get to safety through these missions.”
Rev. Graham himself has visited Ukraine twice since the conflict began. He is hoping to return sometime in January, the group said.
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Both sides in the war have been taking hits, as explosions rocked two Russian air bases on Monday and multiple Ukrainian cities sustained damage from missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In Ukraine, people flooded into bomb shelters, including shelters set up in the underground transit system, as Russia rained missiles down into the country.
Ronn Blitzer of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.