Free Republic

DES MOINES, Iowa — The United States’ unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent, according to the May jobs report that was released on Friday. Iowa’s unemployment rate is even lower than the national average. “So the numbers we were seeing in April were around 2.8 percent, which is almost a historical low for Iowa. So that just means we are all having to be more creative. We are having to look at maybe individuals with barriers that we can serve whether it be veterans, those with criminal backgrounds, disabilities. We want to help all of those that are willing and...

FRANKFORT — Consumer demand for healthier food in convenient packaging is fueling rapid growth at Graceland Fruit. "We have the capacity to process all kinds of fruit," said President and CEO Alan DeVore. Cherries, cranberries, blueberries and apples provide the bulk of Graceland's product. But Graceland also has processed a variety of more exotic products, like orange peel and mango. The company's sales have accelerated rapidly during the last five years as consumers scrambled to buy products that are vegan and gluten-free. The Frankfort processing plant runs three shifts five days a week. It just inked a deal with CranGrow...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pilot Flying J, one of the largest privately held companies in North America, is expanding its team this summer by more than 5,000 as it prepares for the influx of travelers throughout the company's busiest time of the year. With more families and vacationers hitting the road and professional drivers working to deliver the goods that keep North America moving, year-over-year the company increases its team member count across its network of travel centers. "We are always looking for team members who wake up excited to be part of our team and to...

SACRAMENTO — A Chick-fil-A in California is hiring “hospitality professionals” for $18 an hour in an effort to help “improve their lifestyle.” Starting June 4, those working under the title at the Sacramento location will receive a raise from $12.50 or $13 to $17 or $18, KXTV reports. California’s minimum wage is currently $11 an hour. “The people is the real key component to successful businesses,” said owner Eric Mason. “We’re looking for people who are looking for long-term opportunity.” In addition, all employees will receive paid sick leave and leadership employees will get paid time off. Those interested can...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

A British company says it can greatly extend the range of crops grown in indoor growing formats beyond the established leafy greens and herbs. Discussions on the potential of urban and indoor farming invariably mention the need to feed a growing global population, forecast to reach 10 billion by the middle of the century, against a backdrop of climate change and depleted land and other resources. But so far, for technical and economic reasons, the movement has largely targeted leafy greens and herbs — relatively high-value but low-mass, low-calorie crops. Indeed, one successful London grower specialises in "micro-salads" sought by...

WEST POINT, Miss. — An Alabama-based chicken processor will open a plant in northeast Mississippi to process and distribute frozen chicken products. Peco Foods on Monday announced its plan to invest $40 million in West Point, hiring 300 people over the next four years. Governor Phil Bryant was at the groundbreaking Monday morning in West Point.....

Graphene, the much-hailed wonder material, may be the solution to the world’s water crisis. One in nine people around the world do not have access to clean, safe water close to their homes and at least 2 billion people are forced to use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. Dirty water is a serious public health concern and drinking or washing in dirty water spreads diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. Contaminated drinking water causes over 500,000 deaths each year from diarrhoea, a leading killer of children under five. First developed by scientists at the University of Manchester...

The trail-blazing Impossible Burger, the world’s only kosher cheeseburger, created sustainably, is now officially on the Orthodox Union’s kosher database registry. The Impossible Burger entered development in 2011 and debuted in July 2016 at the fashionably erstwhile Chef David Chang’s Momofuku Nishi in Manhattan. It’s since won a 2017 Tasty Award and a 2018 Fabi Award from the National Restaurant Association - and it’s the only plant-based burger to ever have done so. “Getting kosher certification is an important milestone,” said Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. “We want the Impossible Burger to be ubiquitous, and that...

From a first-principles perspective, the task of feeding eight billion people boils down to converting energy from the sun into chemical energy in our bodies. Traditionally, solar energy is converted by photosynthesis into carbohydrates in plants (i.e., biomass), which are either eaten by the vegans amongst us, or fed to animals, for those with a carnivorous preference. Today, the process of feeding humanity is extremely inefficient. If we could radically reinvent what we eat, and how we create that food, what might you imagine that “future of food” would look like? In this post we’ll cover: 1.Vertical farms 2.CRISPR engineered...

A senior White House official says that the US is “still short” of applying maximum pressure to Pyongyang. Hours after President Trump canceled his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump’s administration hinted that it might ratchet up sanctions against his country. A senior White House official told reporters on Thursday that the administration’s goal is to “achieve maximum pressure” on Kim’s government using sanctions, and that “we’re still short of that.” “It’s like painting the Golden Gate bridge,” the senior administration official said. “It starts peeling as soon as you finish, and so you have to keep...

VIENNA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Banana trees that fit in a test tube. Burgers made without a cow in sight. Fish farmed in the desert. Robots picking fruit. Welcome to the brave new world of food, where scientists are battling a global time-bomb of climate change, water scarcity, population growth and soaring obesity rates to find new ways to feed the future. With one in nine people already short of enough food to lead a healthy, active life, supporters pushing for a Second Green Revolution argue without major changes hunger will become one of the biggest threats to national security...

A new greenhouse in the region that will sell produce in Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati is about to start operations. BrightFarms said in a statement that the company is hiring 30 for its Wilmington greenhouse, which will grow greens, herbs and tomatoes year-round. BrightFarms produce is sold at major grocery chains like Wal-Mart and Kroger. The Irvington, N.Y.-based company markets its produce as a local option instead of shipping in produce from other states or out of the country. In 2016, BrightFarms raised $30.1 million in funding to expand beyond the three greenhouses it was operating at the time in...

•Bowery Farming is using robotics and software to raise crops in warehouses outside of big cities. •Jose Andres, Carla Hall and David Barber are among the star chefs who have invested in Bowery's indoor farming venture. •The U.N. projects that by 2050, food production will need to increase by about 60 percent to feed the growing global population....

As one of the most iconic Korean dishes, army base stew, or budae jjigae, has a colorful history. In the aftermath of the war, American servicemen and troops were stationed in South Korea to prevent invasion. Resourceful Koreans had heard that these bases had a surplus of canned meats that often ended up in the garbage. These meats, like ground beef, Spam, hot dogs, and ham, were picked up and put into a spicy stew. In this episode of K-Town, host Matthew Kang tries an exemplary version of this now-classic stew at Dallas’s Dan Sung Sa. Today, budae jjigae shows...

Chick-fil-A to develop into nation’s third-largest quick meals restaurant Chick-fil-A is cashing in. A brand new 2017 gross sales report exhibits the king of hen is rolling within the dough and is way exceeding its rival quick meals chains like McDonald’s and KFC. Look out, world. New Yorkers have found that their metropolis has 4 Chick-fil-A eating places – together with the world’s largest. Phrase bought out final week in a New Yorker journal article titled “Chick-fil-A’s creepy infiltration of New York Metropolis.” The creator is Dan Piepenbring, described as being from Brooklyn....

MIAMI — The Cheesecake Factory says it has suspended a group of employees accused of harassing a customer who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat to one of the company's Miami restaurants. According to WFOR-TV, Eugene Joseph, 22, said employees at the chain's Dadeland Mall location taunted and threatened him on Mother's Day when they saw his hat bearing President Donald Trump's campaign slogan. Joseph, who was at the restaurant with his girlfriend and her family, told WFOR that staffers made insulting comments and tried to intimidate him, saying they'd hit him and knock off his cap....

A need that was identified years ago may soon be filled. Novi City Council has approved the conditional purchase and sale of a 10-acre property located along Grand River Avenue, just east of Town Center Drive and south of 11 Mile Road for $3.15 million. The developer, Sakura Novi LLC., an affiliate of Robert B. Aikens and Associates, plans to construct a $50 million Asian Village. The village, which will feature housing, restaurants, lifestyle services, retail and office space as well as a 25,000 square-foot Asian market and food-hall operated by Novi-based One World Market, will be a significant asset...

More than 2.2 million people have discontinued their participation in food stamps during President Trump’s first full year in office, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on food stamp enrollment. The latest USDA data shows that since Trump’s first full month in office in February 2017—when food stamp enrollment was at 42,289,366— participation in the program decreased by 2,257,235 to 40,032,131. The continued decline in enrollment during Trump’s first full year is on pace with the steady decline in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation since 2013. Before then, participation in the federal welfare program swelled...

This weekend, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association is holding its popular Piedmont Farm Tour, which opens forty-five Triangle-area farms to the public. General interest in traditional farming is well-established here; this is the twenty-third year of the tour. But meanwhile, there's a rising fascination, in the region and around the nation, with another kind of farming: urban agriculture. There seems to be momentum behind the conviction that the collective cultivation of underutilized public spaces such as empty lots and rooftops just might save the world. Growing food in a city is hands-on and hyper-local, it requires few chemicals and gives...