The Grand Kale Conspiracy
brw. #0028
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The Saddest Leafy Green: America Never Really Liked Kale
For the Sweetgreen crew out there (I see you/I am you):
Every January, the produce drawers in America’s refrigerators fill up with shame. The moment comes at the end of a three-vegetable trend that runs through the holidays. First, in mid-November, the country happily becomes obsessed with brussels sprouts (or “brussel sprouts,” as Americans tend to spell it), likely in anticipation of Thanksgiving and its many delicious, often bacon-laden side dishes. Next, after sprouts have had their day in the sun, spinach ascends and almost always peaks in December. Christmas, after all, also requires side dishes, but you have to mix it up or your cousins will talk.
By January, though, things have changed. The mood is darker. America is ready to repent for the imagined sins of “enjoying food” and “cooking things that taste good.” January belongs to kale.
This annual vegetable cycle shows up in the past decade of Google Trends data, which compiles how frequently Americans trawl the internet for information about certain terms. Since about 2011, when Gwyneth Paltrow taught the world how to make kale chips on the Ellen show, kale has entered into the cultural lexicon as a status symbol for a generation of young adults drawn to conspicuous health-consciousness. Whereas spinach has been popular for generations and brussels sprouts have become gradually more trendy, the dominant produce-department narrative of the past decade has been that Americans are just crazy for kale.
I would block quote the whole article if I could but here’s a little more:
But kale’s cultural ubiquity might not be exactly what it seems. After kale briefly overtook spinach as America’s favorite cooked green in mid-2014, Google’s measure of interest in kale has steadily declined. The green’s digital fortunes are currently back at about where they were in 2011, almost as if Paltrow had never kale-chipped. Search data aren’t the end-all-be-all measurement of popularity, but the more leads you follow, the more you begin to question the narrative of kale’s dominance. In fact, America might never have been that into kale in the first place.
My first inkling that kale was in trouble came from the New York magazine restaurant critic Adam Platt’s recent account of his attempt to love takeout-lunch salad, the purveyors of which dot seemingly every street corner in Manhattan. (The four best-known chains—Sweetgreen, Chopt, Just Salad, and Dig Inn—have a combined 81 locations in the borough.) During Platt’s experiment, someone from Sweetgreen told him that kale sales had waned at its stores, even as its menu had expanded to include grain bowls and warm dishes.
It seemed that if kale was losing Millennials who still love to buy super-trendy $15 salads—Sweetgreen’s most ardent fans—then something larger might be afoot. A representative from Sweetgreen would not confirm or deny what the company had told Platt about kale’s popularity, and offered no further explanation. But the company’s earlier comment was enough to send me into the internet’s data mines with my red string and pushpins, ready to unravel the grand kale conspiracy.
Assuage my guilt if you can (!) by clicking through for the rest of Amanda Mull’s 🥗unraveling.
🐶🤖 Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot is going on sale for the first time
An idea that is good and chill and in no ways unsettling:
Boston Dynamics has started selling its four-legged Spot robot, but you probably won’t be able to get your hands on one—yet. The company is only going to sell the robot to companies that can put it to practical use and develop custom modules that can be attached to its back to help perform specific tasks. It’s the reverse of the traditional sales process: firms need to send pitches to Boston Dynamics, which it will then assess them for suitability.
How could Spot be used? It could check for gas leaks using methane sensors, map the interior of a building with a lidar module, or even open doors using its arm. The robot is designed to withstand rain, so it can work outdoors, too. The product launch page shows off its capabilities: it can run at 1.6 meters per second, has 360-degree cameras, and can operate in temperatures ranging from 4 to 113 °F.
🐦💩 CTA, Officials Up Against a Determined Pigeon Feeder at Northwest Side Station
Some local news from this side of the newsletter - a grocery store owner near the Irving Park Blue Line claims to have spent over $300,000 feeding pigeons over the last decade.
State Rep. Jaime Andrade has been fighting a losing battle to clean up the mess made by pigeons at the CTA’s Irving Park Blue Line station on the city’s Northwest Side.
The sidewalk by the station is so thickly spackled with droppings that it looks and smells like a chicken coop. Andrade, who represents the district that includes the station, has pushed for state funds to keep the birds away. Earlier this month, he was hit in the head by guano during a television interview.
But Andrade, state and city officials and the CTA are up against someone who is determined to feed and protect birds around the city and visits the Irving Park station often with big sacks of white rice.
“I protect all God’s creatures because this is my mission,” said Young Kang, 67, while at the Hoa Nam Grocery store on Argyle Street in Uptown last week, where she buys supplies to feed the birds. “This is not for my good. God gave this to me. I take care of the birds.”
Not to be lost in the 😱click:
She said she also helps the homeless, stuffing money under their pillows as they sleep.
💰📺 All the Best Sweaters on Succession, Ranked
Love a good list and this… is good.
Shoutout to Geri’s blanket sweater cracking the top five!
😬 Labradoodle Creator Says It's His 'Life's Regret'
A week late here but the headline is too good to not include:
In a recent interview on an ABC podcast, Wally Conron says the invention is his "life's regret" and he hasn't "got a clue" why people are still breeding them today.
"I opened a Pandora's box" Wally told ABC, "I released a Frankenstein.”
🇨🇦🌱🍔 McDonald’s to Test Plant-Based Burgers in Canada
And since that article is a week late, here’s another!
McDonald’s will offer a plant-based burger made by Beyond Meat at some of its locations in Canada, the fast-food giant said on Thursday, marking the company’s first foray into the growing market for meat alternatives in North America.
For now, however, the rollout of the “P.L.T.” — plant, lettuce and tomato — is just a short-term trial. The new McDonald’s burger will go on sale at 28 restaurants in southwestern Ontario for 12 weeks, starting Monday.
Beyond Meat is sorta the Pepsi to the Impossible Burger’s Coke in the Wallin household, but this is both interesting (an inevitable experiment) and LOL/cute (the P.L.T.???).
More to come, I’m sure:
Burger King already offers a plant-based burger made by Beyond’s main rival, Impossible Foods, at all its restaurants nationwide. And in recent weeks, a number of major fast-food brands have started to experiment with meatless meat. Dunkin’ started offering a breakfast sandwich made with plant-based sausage at its locations in Manhattan. Last month, KFC sold its entire test supply of a new plant-based fried “chicken” at an Atlanta branch in five hours.