For years, organic advocates have spoken out against regulations over one big issue: dirt.There is a major divide in the organic agriculture world, with multiple factions debating whether hydroponic and aeroponic produce should be permitted to call itself organic. Last week, the Center for Food Safety, along with a coalition of farmers, filed a lawsuit to legally forbid this produce from carrying the certified organic label.

Hydroponics and aeroponics do not rely on soil to grow crops; instead, nutrients are dissolved in water, which is then circulated or misted directly onto the roots of plants. Its a very efficient way of growing food, and is often used in places where there isnt enough open soil and sunlightin cities, for example. But its also used by huge conglomerates, like Driscolls and Wholesum Harvest, to cut costs and produce crops year-round.

Hydroponics have never been forbidden to use the USDA organic certification program, and its often quite easy for them; indoor operations have little need for pesticides, for example. That has meant that these huge hydro farms can produce food very cheaply, and much cheaper than soil-based farmers. A common refrain among organic farmers is that organic certification is all about the soil, creating a sustainable model for the planet, and that indoor hydroponic operations dont contribute to this at all.

The Center for Food Safety, in a release about this lawsuit, cites that the original Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which established the rules for organic agriculture, specifically lists caring for soil.

From that law: An organic plan shall contain provisions designed to foster soil fertility, primarily through the management of the organic content of the soil through proper tillage, crop rotation, and manuring.

Hydroponic organic operations responded, of course, saying that any restriction would limit the amount of organic food at a time when demand is rising. The Coalition for Sustainable Organics, which represents hydroponic growers, released a statement saying, This is not an issue that should be settled in the courts or politicized.

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Farmers and the Center for Food Safety Sue USDA Over Organic Hydroponics - Modern Farmer

Federal Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler is a former assistant U.S. attorney who spent much of her career as a top prosecutor for major federal crimes. Her latest assignment as Magistrate for the U.S. District Court for Northern California is to decide if the soil must be used to grow organic crops.

Beeler will be reviewing USDAs decision to permit the indoor agricultural evolution known as hydroponics to use the organic marketing slogan. Food safety is a driving force behind the hydroponics evolution, where plants are grown in water with specific mineral nutrient solutions, not soil.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was sued March 2 in a civil action brought by organic interests that use soil to grow their crops. They claim the USDA decision allowing hydroponics to be sold under the organic label puts dirt growers at a disadvantage.

Led by the Center for Food Safety, the plaintiffs include Swanton Berry Farms Inc., Full Belly Farm Inc., Durst Organic Growers Inc., Terra Firma Farms Inc., Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo Inc., Long Wind Farm Inc., OneCert Inc. and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

The crux of the groups argument is that the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), which set up the National Organic Program, imposes standards that require organic growers to foster soil health.

These mandatory specific soil-based production requirements create an equal marketplace for organic farmers and ensure that foods labeled and sold as organic are consistently produced to deliver the ecological benefits that consumers associate with the organic label, says the complaint.

. . . stakeholders in the organic marketplace have consistently held that as a soil-less crop production system hydroponic operations do not foster soil fertility, and cannot meet the requirement for organic certification under the National Organic Program.

USDAs last decision favoring hydroponic growers was date June 6, 2019. The pro-soil side says the decision weakened the integrity of the organic label.

Swanton Berry Farm, an organic with growing operations in Santa Cruz and San Mateo, CA, acknowledges in the complaint that it has difficulty competing against hydroponically-produced strawberries.

Swanton says its market competitiveness is injured by the confusion caused by the hydroponically produced strawberries labeled and sold as organic at lower prices than those that soil-based organic strawberry farmers can afford to match.

The complaint also says the plaintiff Full Berry Farm has experienced increased price competition in our wholesale and retail channels with hydroponically produced, certified organic produce. The 400-acre California grower produces tomatoes, berries, fresh lettuce, herbs, and other salad greens.

The organic growers say that hydroponic operations have their place in the diverse marketplace, but dont meet the soil-building requirements of the organic program requirements. No specific hydroponic growers are named in the lawsuit. Only USDA and its officials are named as defendants.

The Center for Food Safety is a 501c3, U.S. non-profit advocacy organization, based in Washington, D.C. It maintains an office in San Francisco.

Healthy soil is the foundation of organic farming, said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of plaintiff Center for Food Safety, Organic farmers and consumers believe that the Organic label means not just growing food in the soil, but improving the fertility of that soil. USDAs loophole for corporate hydroponics to be sold under the Organic label guts the very essence of Organic.

The federal organic law unequivocally requires organic production to promote soil fertility, said Sylvia Wu, senior attorney at the Center for FoodSafety andcounsel for plaintiffs. USDAs decision to allow mega-hydroponic operations that do nothing with soil to be sold as Organic violates the law.

Allowing hydroponics to be certified organic is another attempt to weaken the integrity of the Organic label, and has resulted in market confusion and inconsistent organic certifications, according to the CFS complaint.

BackgroundOrganic agriculture has always been partly based on principles of improving soil fertility and promoting ecological balance. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the expert body assigned by Congress to advise USDA on organic matters, has repeatedly called on USDA to prohibit organic certification of hydroponics, but USDA has ignored that recommendation.

As a result of USDAs inaction, CFS filed a legal petition in January 2019 formally asking USDA to prohibit hydroponic operations from the Certified Organic label on the basis that they do not fulfill the national organic standard of contributing to soil health, but USDA denied the petitions requests later that year. The lawsuit filed today states that USDAs rationale for denying the 2019 petition is arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to our federal organic law.

In 2016, CFS won a lawsuit closing a loophole that was permitting some organic operations to use compost contaminated with pesticides.

Some people contend that indoor hydroponic growing greatly enhances food safety by eliminating the possibility of animal incusions such as birds and deer. Pro-hydropinocs growers also say their growing water is free of pathogens that are naturally occurring in soil.

CFS is currently leading a lawsuit challenging the Trump administrations rollback of vital organic rules that set standards for organiclivestock care, such as adequate space and outdoor access. The challenged loophole for hydroponic operations would eliminate any need for organic farming to involve working with nature.

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Organic growers say it is in their economic interest to stay grounded in soil - Food Safety News

This file photo shows vendors selling food at the floating market of ICONSIAM shopping mall in Bangkok. (AFP Photo)

Other than its Instagram-able tourist destinations, Southeast Asia is well known for its variety of food. From the mouth-watering delicacies on the streets of Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia just to name a few to the Michelin starred restaurants in Singapore that serve fine dining quality cuisine with a dash of authentic local flavours.

However, there is pressure on our food system to produce 70 percent more food to feed a population of 10 billion people globally by 2050. By then, the population of ASEAN is slated to reach 700 million and its food demand is estimated to increase by 40 percent. It is then imperative to achieve food security, without expanding crop or pastureland all while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Food technology has been gaining traction in the region where scientific engineering of food has taken mankind a long way on the path to increasing its availability, access and quality.

High value nutrition foods

Food products that supply nutritional benefits beyond those of regular foods is called high value nutrition foods. They are made up of nutraceutical products (e.g. dietary supplements), functional foods (e.g. energy boosting and weight management food products), and high-value agriculture food products (e.g. organically grown and fair-trade food products).

Based on a survey by information, data and measurement company Nielsen, Vietnamese consumers consider health to be among their top two concerns, while 90 percent are concerned about the long-term health impact of artificial ingredients. 89 percent of Vietnamese are willing to pay more for foods that promote good health.

88 percent of Vietnamese consumers bought new products on their last grocery shopping trip, compared to 76 percent in Thailand, 72 percent in Indonesia, and 68 percent in Malaysia. All these indicate the interest and openness of Southeast Asians to new products launched in the market.

There is a vast potential for supplements, functional foods and high-value nutritional products in Southeast Asia. A growing awareness of food sustainability has prompted a rise in socially responsible food purchases. ASEAN governments are also increasing their focus on investing in preventive health measures while encouraging healthy food innovation, production and technology.

Regional progress

Between 2016 and 2017 there was a notable increase in non-animal sources of protein being consumed by both, urban Thais and Indonesians, who believe that non-animal protein is healthier. According to a 2018 report by global accounting organisation, KPMG and Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), daily protein consumption in ASEAN has grown by 50 percent over the past three decades, contributing to an alternative protein market expected to be worth US$5.2 billion by 2020.

Singapore-based food-tech start-up, Life3 Biotech, aims to create functional foods which utilise natural, plant-based ingredients. They recently developed a meat substitute product that resembles lab-grown meat and tastes like chicken. Life3 Biotechs plant-based protein called Veego is slated to start production this year.

Shiok Meats is another Singaporean cell-based clean meat company which produces alternative healthy seafood and meats by harvesting from cells instead of animals. Other meat alternatives are insect protein and algae protein.

The island nation is also home to Alchemy Foodtech which combines food tech, biotech and medtech to develop foods that can help prevent and manage diabetes. Over in Indonesia, the likes of TaniHub, eFishery and Jala all aim to develop sustainable methods of sourcing and selling organic food products.

The growing market for functional foodin the Asia-Pacific region projected to be valued at US$5 billion by 2026 has piqued the interest of start-ups looking to tap into this immense potential.

Globally, there is a shift in the way urban populations consume food whether it is organically sourced, or genetically modified. Today, food technology is fast becoming a mainstream focus as people in general want to know more about the various foods that they consume.

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Food security a key issue for ASEAN

Revolutionising food production with blockchain

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Engineered food on the rise in ASEAN - The ASEAN Post

Natural selection: these lemons were bought at the same time, but the ones on the right received the new coating. Photograph: Jesse Chehak/The Observer

Ten years ago, James Rogers was driving through some of the most productive farmland on the planet, thinking about food. He had recently read an article detailing the challenges of feeding the worlds growing population, and as he gazed out over the fertile fields of the Salinas Valley outside Monterey, California, he thought: how is it possible that people go hungry, that people starve, when growing food seems so simple? You just take these magic beans and... Rogers, recalling the thought, casts his hand as if tossing seed on the ground. I realise its a bit more complicated than that, but, still

Back then, Rogers was a PhD student in material sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He wasnt working in anything food-related at all. His PhD research involved creating a kind of paint that, when dried, turned into a solar panel. There was a lab up in Berkeley that had the equipment necessary for his studies, but between the lab and his home in Santa Barbara, he passed the farmland, and the food problem gnawed at him. He wondered if it wasnt merely as simple as he supposed. He began taking classes in environmental economics and natural resources. He learned that, globally, we are indeed producing more than enough food. The problem isnt production, its what happens next.

We waste an extraordinary amount of food. In America its about 40%; in the UK, nearly the same. Around the world, almost a third of all the food produced approximately 1.3bn tonnes is lost one way or another each year. Much of the time its not merely lost, but brought into our homes only to be chucked in the bin, and then transported to a landfill, where it slowly releases methane back into the atmosphere, actively warming the Earth. Worldwide, a staggering 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste. The question for Rogers was: what exactly was driving so much waste?

One day, while researching, he came across another article. He can still recall its first line: All fresh produce is seasonal as well as perishable. That insight so simple, so true struck him like a lightning bolt. The problem, he recalls, is youre either in season and have more than you know what to do with, or you have nothing. Plenty of animals have adapted to these natural cycles of boom and bust, fat times and lean: birds migrate, bears hibernate. Humans trade, converting this surplus into a non-perishable asset we call money. Some of the earliest forms of currency were, in fact, grains stored in clay pots. And clay pottery, Rogers is quick to point out, was one of material sciences very first breakthroughs. Clay pottery allowed us to continue eating long after the harvest. But clay pottery only got us so far. It was what material science might offer food today that interested him.

He decided, then, to switch tracks. No longer would he work on paint that dried into solar panels. He would instead begin to work on increasing the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. Eventually, he developed a substance that wasnt entirely dissimilar from the solar paint. This substance, however, was made entirely out of plant lipids, or fatty acids. Spray it on to an avocado, say, and the substance dries into a sort of second skin, which increases the avocados shelf life by two to three times.

The company Rogers founded, Apeel Sciences, is currently growing by hundreds of employees a year, backed by tens of millions of dollars in venture capital, and is revolutionising entire food systems and economies. But back then, in 2010, driving past those fertile fields, it was still early days. Rogers remembers calling his mother and telling her the news about his insight the big switch in his interests and research. Sweetie, she said to him. That sounds really nice. But you dont know anything about fruit and vegetables.

Apeel Sciences is headquartered in Goleta, California, just north of UCSB and south of farmland that quickly gives way to the rural, rolling Central California coast. The companys 100,000 sq ft building was formerly home to a medical-device maker and the labs and clean rooms easily swapped from their previous purpose building prototypes for entry into the human body to their current one: the study of the molecular structures of fruits skin.

This room is part of our food-manufacturing practice, says Molly Greathouse, who is giving me a tour. We peer in, but the lab is dark and empty and appears abandoned. Its still being set up, she says. Were still putting wires into things. Her colleague, Daniel Costanza, is my other guide. Both are recent hires, but recent is relative: Apeels employee count rose in the past six months from 130 to more than 200, so Greathouse, who has been here for nearly a year-and-a-half, counts as a seasoned veteran.

'This is the type of technology you look back on as revolutionary. I hold it up there with electricity or the internet'

We pass another lab, a clean room that houses, among other bacteria, E coli and listeria. The lights are on, and along one wall is another big door topped by a glowing red light. Here, Greathouse says, is where Apeels scientists put fruit and vegetables through a battery of tests mimicking conditions they might face while in transit. What happens when refrigeration shuts down? What happens when a contaminated batch of food is nearby, hence the reason for the dangerous bacteria. There are cascading effects to prolonging the shelf life of produce.

Costanza describes how one of the suppliers they work with no longer uses plastic wrap on cucumbers now that Apeels spray is in the mix. Its a seemingly small change that quickly adds up. In a single year, that one move will save enough plastic wrap to enfold the Empire State Building 11 times over. Imagine adding that to each food category throughout the globe, Costanza says. Thats a huge paradigm shift away from single-use plastics. Its pretty crazy. Costanza drops his voice, getting serious. This is the type of technology you look back on as revolutionary. I hold it up there with electricity or the internet. There are so many lives we can affect in a positive way. And we have such tight intellectual property no ones really able to replicate it we dont really have competition.

They do, really. Theres Hazel Technologies, which is based in Chicago and makes little packets that get stashed in produce boxes. The packets alter the atmosphere within the box, slowing the foods response to ethylene, a chemical that fruit and vegetables emit as they age that causes a breakdown in colour and texture. A similar company in the UK, called Its Fresh, makes ethylene filters, too, and recently received a $10m investment from AgroFresh, a company that sells a dozen or so products including fungicides and wax coatings, all of which aim to prolong produce shelf life and enhance their look.

Theres also Cambridge Crops, from Massachusetts, which makes a similar edible protective coating to Apeel, using silk proteins rather than plant lipids. Cambridge Crops received $4m in seed funding from the MIT venture fund last year, whereas Apeel recently landed $70m from the Silicon Valley fund Andreessen Horowitz, which has famously backed Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb and Soylent, the meal-replacement drink company.

All of these companies and investors are making a play for a market worth at least $218bn in the US, and several times that worldwide. That number $218bn is about how much grocery stores, restaurants and people at home spend on food that simply gets thrown away per year, according to ReFed, a food waste-reduction nonprofit based in Berkeley, California. ReFed also estimates that, last year, venture capitalists invested about $185m in technologies to combat food waste.

People have been trying to preserve fruit and vegetables for at least as long as theyve been putting grains in clay pots. We dry it in the sun (12,000 BC) or jam it (600 AD) or cure it (1400 AD), or cool it or can it, pasteurise it or vacuum seal it. The practice of coating a fruit in wax to seal its freshness and enhance its appearance is at least several centuries old, and today youd be hard pressed to find a supermarket apple without it. Today, wax seals also contain antifungal properties, which are perfectly safe, and are applied in so thin a layer as to be pretty much insignificant.

What sets Apeel apart is its specific coating technology the fact that it works more effectively than a wax and is an organic additive made from plant parts. That, and the companys comparatively huge cash influx from Silicon Valley, and its truly global reach. Apeel is already well on its way to spanning the globe. It has satellite offices in Mexico, Peru, the Netherlands and New Jersey, and it works with five different suppliers of avocados, including Del Monte and Del Rey, which are two of the largest. It also works with Sage Fruit, one of Washington states largest organic apple growers.

Greathouse and Costanza shepherd me past the analytical sciences lab, where the fruit is run through a series of taste and smell tests to make sure that the Apeel spray essentially disappears as soon as its applied. This is a complex task. The spray can be made of the lipids from any plant much of the source crop for their ingredients changes throughout the year, and is simply the excess or discarded produce from farms and vineyards but it has to be molecularly reconstituted to act more or less exactly like the specific fruit on which it is sprayed.

We arrive at yet another lab, this one home to the material sciences team the beating heart of the Apeel operation. Here, they use liquid gases to separate specific molecules from the lipid slurry, then reconfigure those molecules into a variety of combinations, essentially highly educated hunches as to what a specific fruit or vegetables skin might be like. If this seems like a lot of tedious guesswork, it is. The research and development for Apeels first product, a coating for avocados, took eight years.

Now were in a bright room lined with racks of mouldering strawberries and bananas. Well, some are mouldering, some are not. Each rack has a camera mounted and set to a timer, to scan the fruit and track its breakdown. Some of the fruit has been sprayed with the Apeel spray, some has not. Tim, an engineer and overseer of the rotting fruit, apologises for the fruit fly situation in the room.

Finally, our tour ends in a warehouse at the back of the building. The space is dominated by huge produce sorting and cleaning machines, rigged with a custom-made Apeel spray device that treats the fruit or vegetables at the very last step of the process.

It feels like moisturiser, Greathouse says, describing the spray. It is odourless and tasteless, too. Once, when Greathouse tried some of it on her hand, she thought, Maybe I can shave with this. In fact, she adds, The reason we wrinkle is oxidation and moisture loss same as fruit. I want to do an experiment with one half of my face on Apeel, one half not, and then see what happens.

James Rogers, the CEO, has an office filled with avocados. Some are pillows, some figurines, some are squishy stress balls shaped like avocados, some are the genuine article. Rogers loves avos. The joke with the av is: not now, not now, not now. Now? Too late, he says. But: When you get an Apeel avocado the joke no longer makes sense, because the fruit stays ripe for so long. The window to enjoy it, previously so fleeting, has been stretched by weeks. The one fruit he loves even more, though, is the strawberry. I know its not sexy, but its just my favourite, he says. And they go bad so quickly. The company is a few years into R&D on that one. When I can go pick up local Apeel strawberries in the summer and have them last until winter in my fridge, thats when I know well have made it.

These days, Rogers spends less time in material science and more on distribution chains. It turns out, when you create a new technology that extends the shelf life of produce, it creates another problem central to the whole business: who, exactly, does this create value for? The perishability of a fruit or veg dictates everything about its supply chain. Everything from when you pick it, right down to the season and the time of the day, to where its packed, in the field or a packing shed. Is it then force air-cooled, or hydro-cooled? Does it travel down a flume or a conveyor belt? Does it go in a bag? Or does it get boxed? Does it go in a box with big holes or small holes? Does it go into a shipping container? Does it go into an aeroplane? Does it go into a display in the grocery store? When it goes home with you, does it go in the fridge? Or does it go on your counter?

Within every supply chain for every different fruit or vegetable lies economic opportunity. The goal for each of Apeels produce lines, Rogers says, is that the savings accrued by the growers or grocers are so great that you and I are actually paying less for their fruit and vegetables in the market. This is crucial, because yes while its good for the environment and will cut down on waste, feeling good about what you buy can only rope in so many consumers; the rest, the real revolution, lies in sheer economic price cutting. A cheaper piece of fruit that will last four times as long? No one will pass that bargain up.

Where things start to get truly interesting, from a market perspective, is how this opens up whole new avenues of produce to put in front of people. Just as perishability dictates everything about its supply chain, how well a fruit or vegetable travels is the most important characteristic of any mass-produced produce. The best example of this is the banana. Nearly every banana sold in supermarkets is a variety called the Cavendish. The Cavendish isnt particularly tasty, as banana varieties go. Nor is it especially packed with nutrients. There are far better bananas out there. But none travel stay firm and unripe quite as long like the Cavendish. Only, the Cavendish is falling victim to its own success, and a fungus is rampaging through this particular variety. So diversity in our produce isnt just a nice thing for us as eaters, its essential for our future food security.

Just up the road from Apeels headquarters is a farm growing a strange kind of finger-shaped lime. When cut open, the flesh appears pearled, like caviar, which is why its known as a caviar lime. The farms caviar limes are a speciality item, trucked to high-end restaurants in LA and flown to New York for the same purpose. The limes last for 7-10 days after theyve been picked. But Apeel started working with the farm a few years ago, and was able to develop a spray that worked. A fruit with a shorter window of ripeness actually speeds up the development process, because you are able to quickly see whats working, and whats not. Now this fruit that was so highly specialised, appearing for just one weekend in a farmers market, and in a few dishes in fancy restaurants, can be sold in supermarkets.

The caviar limes werent Rogers idea. Some of his scientists became infatuated with the problem and went to work on it. But now, he sees how this might be the future: new fruit and heirloom vegetables: the weirder, more specialised, small-batch stuff, brought to the masses. The weird limes were actually the very first product Apeel brought to the market. Thank God no one listened to me on that one, he says, smiling, thinking back on it. It taught him another important lesson, one he carries forward now. The shorter the shelf life, the bigger the opportunity.

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Stopping the rot: the fight to save fresh food - The Guardian

At first the plan was to move to a new location in Greenville, but within a week of announcing the move, the owners of the Organic Cat Caf decided to close for good.

Just a week and a half after they closed shop, Jennifer Bronzel and Ernesto Cardenas, who started the caf in 2018, had already begun working on a new cat caf concept, The Frisky Whisker, which they plan to open in Atlanta.

The Frisky Whisker will marry their passions for expression and healing through art and cats, passions the two said, that were never fully realized while in Greenville.

For now, Bronzel and Cardenas are spending time planning their next venture and working on a move to Atlanta, where Cardenas is from and where Bronzel also lived for a time. The 25 cats that were central to the Organic Cat Cafe have taken up temporary residence in the couple's Taylors home, where on a recent Thursday they appeared quite content.

The decision to close the Organic Cat Caf was not an easy decision, Bronzel said, but it was necessary one. While the caf had a solid backing, it never quite found a rhythm within the community, Bronzel said.

We were a cultural art space that is trying to push education of music and art through cats, said Cardenas, a known DJ in Atlanta. We feel like Greenville doesnt get that yet.

While the caf began as a more traditional coffee shop that just happened to have 20-plus live-in cats, last year Bronzel and Cardenas decided to make some changes. They added a bar with beer and wine and incorporated art that included regular Deejaying, politically expressive installations and meditation and yoga.

But things never quite caught on, they said.

All the things we wanted to do, people still saw us as just that cat place, Bronzel said. And it was the thing that you do once a year with your family.

We couldnt become that regular place.

While the two remain a bit baffled by the push back they received on what they still see as an infusion of culture and expression into their caf, they also admit that they kind of changed from the original iteration.

When the caf opened it was focused on providing a calming and enjoyable experience with cats. Bronzel, a lifelong cat lover, who moved to Greenville from her native Germany with her job, conceived the idea while visiting a cat caf overseas and she saw her adopted home as a perfect place for such a venture.

In 2017, she opened the Organic Cat Caf at 123 College St. The cafe offered coffee and an all-organic food menu, along with cat adoptions and regular community events.

Last April, Bronzel, with Cardenas, moved the caf to 928 S. Main St. They hoped the new, larger space, plus adding beer and wine and being on Main Street would bring more walk-in customers and help them reach a broader demographic.

But once baseball season ended, so did the foot traffic, they said.

Come January, Bronzel and Cardenas knew they had to change course. They considered scaling back on the collective art space idea, but ultimately, decided to follow their passion.

Greenville, they said they now realize, is a more traditional market, but they have also realized that what they want to create is not just a caf with cats, but a lounge where you can come to hear house music, enjoy art that is a bit avant garde and benefit from the calm that 25 cats can bring.

Now, they will bring that concept to Atlanta. The two are looking at possible locations within the city.

While Greenville was not the right fit for their concept, they remain grateful to the city.

Money for us is not the final purpose, Cardenas said. "Its not why I do my music, its not why I do my art. We believe in the power of art and music and cats and how it can help peoples lives, and how its helped our lives.

Thats what we want to share.

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Owners of Greenvilles Organic Cat Cafe share why they closed and whats next - Spartanburg Herald Journal

Italico on California Avenue in Palo Alto has closed until further notice after Santa Clara County directed restaurants to implement new restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus. "WE WILL BE BACK STRONGER," the owners wrote in an announcement on social media. Photo by Michelle Le.

UPDATE: In a press conference on Sunday, March 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom directed all bars, wineries and breweries in the state to close. He ordered that all restaurants reduce their occupancy by half, "focus on takeout for those isolating" and "practice deep social distancing."

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department notified restaurants on Friday that they must adhere to new legal orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus -- including social distancing and mandatory conditions for gatherings of less than 100 people -- prompting a slew of local restaurants to decide to close, some temporarily and others, indefinitely.

The restrictions apply to all restaurants, bars, cafeterias and other food facilities in Santa Clara County, both during normal operations as well for special events or gatherings. They do not apply to grocery stores or certified farmers' markets.

"As a business that serves food and/or beverages, the county requires your assistance to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in our community," the Public Heath Department and Department of Environmental Health wrote to food businesses on Friday.

"The primary way that the virus spreads is by respiratory droplets (e.g. when someone coughs) or when a person touches a contaminated surface or object and then touches their eyes, nose or mouth. In these ways, the virus could spread from one employee to another, from an employee to a patron, or from a patron to an employee."

Santa Clara County issued the orders as its number of coronavirus cases continued to climb, with 91 confirmed cases as of Friday, March 13, including two deaths.

The new restrictions on public and private gatherings of 35 to 100 people which includes employees and practicing social distancing by keeping people at least six feet apart will prove challenging for some restaurants to implement. Within the weekend, a fast-growing number of local restaurants -- including the Michelin-starred Chez TJ in Mountain View and Palo Alto restaurants Maum, Zola, Italico and Taverna -- have closed temporarily. Some are continuing to serve food via take-out or delivery while others are fully shutting down.

"Given the increased advisements against public gatherings, we have determined it is in the best interest of our community to temporarily close Zola in efforts to 'flatten the curve,'" Zola owner Guillaume Bienaime wrote on Instagram on Saturday. "Despite this being a difficult personal and fiscal decision, our mission is to create a space for people to come together and this is precisely what we need to avoid for the time being.

"You, our patrons, are our livelihood and we hope that you understand and support this decision and do your part as well."

He plans to reopen Zola on April 7. Zola employees will have to file for unemployment.

"We don't have the funds to keep everyone afloat," Bienaime said. "Of course I will help where needed. We hope the government at all levels will help us later."

Michael and Meichih Kim of the Michelin-starred Korean restaurant Maum said they will close for at least three weeks, effective immediately.

"We will use this time to reflect and to show solidarity with citizens around the world by practicing social distancing," they wrote in an Instagram post.

Italico on California Avenue closed Saturday, March 14, until further notice, the owners announced on Instagram. Terun, their first, nearby pizzeria, remains open but they have had to let go 22 employees.

Greg St. Claire of Avenir Restaurant Group, which runs Nola in Palo Alto, Milagros in Redwood City and The Alpine Inn in Portola Valley, announced Sunday that his businesses would also close temporarily. Employees scheduled to work would be paid through the closure, he said.

"If you wish to help people whose livelihoods are directly impacted by lost shifts, now is the time. You can buy a gift card to your favorite restaurant to use when the situation normalizes," St. Claire wrote on Instagram. "You can donate to organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank who are working hard to feed those for whom lost jobs and school closures have created an urgent need for feeding."

Executive Chef Jarad Gallagher said that for Chez TJ, with its small kitchen and intimate dining room, the new restrictions on numbers for gathering and social distancing make closure "necessary." Gallagher said he also feels an "ethical" responsibility to make sure his staff feel safe at work. He hopes to reopen in three weeks and will reassess then.

In the meantime, Gallagher and Wise Goat Organics (which is run by his wife) will be hosting a pop-up at Chez TJ on Wednesdays. They'll serve a small menu of "healthy, organic foods," Gallagher said, including Wise Goat's fermented foods, soups, stocks and vinaigrettes made by Gallagher. The pop-up will be at Chez TJ (938 Villa St.) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Many local restaurants were already struggling to stay in business as fewer people dine out. Rocco Scordella of Vina Enoteca in Palo Alto decided on Friday to close temporarily. He predicted that he wouldn't be the last to do so. Restaurants are also shuttering throughout San Francisco, New York City and Seattle.

Restaurants in San Mateo County, which issued on Saturday a three-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, also started to go dark temporarily, including the longtime Buck's in Woodside and Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park.

Santa Clara County instructed restaurants to "under all circumstances, practice social distancing by keeping patrons' tables as far apart as practical while seated. Leave empty tables in between patrons if space allows."

State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria in Los Altos, quickly responded to the new orders by limiting the number of diners in the restaurant at any given time, removing tables and half of the 132-seat restaurant's chairs and stools on Friday night to allow for social distancing and offering curbside pick-up for takeout orders.

"We are going to try and operate like this as long as it is safe for both guests and staff," chef and co-owner Lars Smith said on Saturday. "We are also very aware of the possibility of being required to close for a period."

By Sunday, he announced that State of Mind would be closing and moving to online ordering.

Zareen's in Palo Alto and Mountain View closed the station where diners can usually serve themselves condiments and grab utensils and started accepting credit cards for any payment amounts to limit the exchange of cash, owner Zareen Khan said in an Instagram post. The restaurant is also checking staff members' temperatures daily with touchless thermometers.

Many restaurants, from casual to fine-dining, are turning their focus to delivery. County public health officials told food businesses Friday that giving customers the choice to have food left at their doors or curbside "may prove beneficial to your operation."

Many third-party delivery apps such as Postmates and DoorDash have started offering no-contact delivery. DoorDash and Caviar are also distributing hand sanitizer and gloves to their drivers.

Ted Kim, owner of Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View, said the challenges of the public health restrictions have been compounded by the fact that there's been little information yet about how and when small businesses will get emergency financial support. (The U.S. Small Business Administration has said it will work directly with state governors to provide "targeted, low-interest loans" to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the coronavirus.)

"I understand the need for precaution but why aren't these new restrictions coupled with information on where to get financial emergency aid to help us through this?" Kim said. "It's impossible for us to continue like this."

By Sunday, he decided that Steins would close for up to four weeks, starting Monday, March 16.

Restaurant staff must wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at the following times, the county stated:

- When entering the kitchen

- Before starting food preparation

- After touching their face, hair, or other areas of the body

- After using the restroom

- After coughing, sneezing, using a tissue, smoking, eating, or drinking

- When handling raw food then ready-to-eat food

- Before putting on gloves

- After cleaning, bussing tables or touching any items that patrons have used

- Between handling money/credit cards/phones/pens and handling food

- After engaging in other activities that may contaminate the hands

Restaurants should also minimize touching ready-to-eat food with bare hands, assign an employee to keep soap and paper towels stocked at handwashing stations at least every hour, post additional visible signage for customers to wash their hands frequently and provide hand sanitizer and/or wipes for patrons to use, the county said.

Food businesses should avoid accepting reusable utensils and containers from customers, which many local coffee shops have started doing with personal cups or mugs.

Any employee who is experiencing any fever and respiratory symptoms should stay home for three days after they are symptom-free to prevent the spread of any virus, the county told restaurants. Restaurants should maximize flexibility in use of sick leave to facilitate such time off, the guidance states.

A ban on gatherings of more than 100 people also went into effect at midnight on March 14.

The restrictions may be modified or extended and new ones imposed, the county said.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula's response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and Almanac here.

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Restaurants start to shutter, as public health restrictions increase and dining out declines - Palo Alto Online

The best grocery delivery services will be extremely helpful during the coronavirus aka COVID-19 pandemic. Healthy people can continue to move about in public and shop in grocery stores, but if youre practicing social distancing (one of the most essential coronavirus tips to staying healthy), you may want to shop for groceries online. And sick people who are quarantined at home will get the food they need without endangering others.

If you dont want to rely entirely on food delivery apps and cook at home, youll need the sites on our best grocery delivery services list. They offer fresh produce, meat, seafood, eggs, cheese, prepared foods and meal kits. Others only sell nonperishable, shelf-stable pantry items like pasta, cereal, canned goods and snacks.

As far as delivery fees and times, they run the gamut. Some offer free delivery with add-on memberships, and most require a minimum order. You can get groceries delivered within an hour in some places or schedule them for the next day or later in the week.

And in light of the coronavirus situation, most of these services are instituting contact-less delivery, so the order will be dropped off outside the door. However, many are also experiencing major delays and have very few delivery slots available.

Here are the best grocery delivery services right now.

Online shopping has become ubiquitous in recent years. Now, people buy everything online: clothes, electronics, furniture, toilet paper and even groceries. The best grocery delivery services offer everything that you can get at the store, but with the convenience of being dropped off at your home. At the top of our list of the best grocery delivery services are Amazon Fresh and Instacart, both of which are widely available across the United States. They operate differently (Amazon Fresh puts together orders in a warehouse, while Instacart uses personal shoppers who go to local stores near you), but both offer a range of goods, from fresh produce to meat and seafood to non-perishables like pasta to cleaning supplies.

The other options that round out the list of best grocery delivery services have more limitations, whether its availability in many locations or the breadth of products they sell. None are exactly cheap when it comes to delivery fees, but convenience comes at a premium. FreshDirect has top-quality organic produce but at higher prices and in only a handful of states. Peapod and Shipt also have limited coverage areas, though they do feature great deals and coupons. The best grocery delivery services will help budget-conscious shoppers find savings. And even if you just want to stock up the pantry, options like Google Shopping and Prime Pantry allow you to do so at just the click of a button.

For anyone looking to replace their regular, weekly in-store grocery shopping experience, Amazon Fresh may be the best choice if youre already an Amazon Prime member, but Instacart provides targeted access to your favorite store.

Locations: More than 2,000 cities (check availability); no dorms | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: As fast as 1 hour | What you can buy: Groceries and non-perishables, including Whole Foods

Free 2-hour delivery

Whole Foods products

Requires Amazon Prime membership

Amazon Fresh is essentially a digital grocery store. It used to be an add-on service but now comes free for Amazon Prime members. The store offers fresh produce, meat, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, Whole Foods 365 products and household goods, such as cleaning supplies. You can even shop for electronics, clothing and toys on Amazon Fresh. The interface is the same as the rest of Amazon, so using it is easy and familiar. Just add items to your cart and then check out.

Amazon Fresh offers free two-hour delivery in most cases if you meet an order minimum (which vary by area). For a fee in some areas, you can get your delivery within the hour. You can also schedule a time in advance. Pickup is available in some cities and is free. Plus, Amazon Fresh offers coupons and deals if you are looking to save on groceries.

Try the Amazon Fresh service now.

Locations: 40 states, plus Washington, D.C. (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Starting at $3.99 with minimum order of $10; free with Instacart Express ($99 per year or $9.99 per month) with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 2 hours to 6 days | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol from local stores

Shop at your favorite stores

2-hour delivery

Delivery fees can add up

Instacart uses personal shoppers to pick up items for you from local stores. You can even order from Costco and Sams Club without needing a membership (though you will pay more than members would in the store). Some areas even allow you to order from liquor stores, pet stores and pharmacies. As youre shopping, you can indicate substitutes if any items are unavailable. Or you can have the shopper contact you to ask about replacement products. Youll receive live updates and can track the shoppers progress on GPS.

If you upgrade to Instacart Express, you get free two-hour delivery on orders over $35 and you can also shop from multiple stores at the same time. Otherwise, you have to pay a fee starting at $3.99, which goes up during busier times of the day and varies by how quickly you want your delivery.

Try the Instacart service now.

Locations: 1,600 cities (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: $7.95 to $9.95, free with Delivery Unlimited ($98 per year or $12.95 per month) | Delivery times: Same day to one week | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, other Walmart products

Low Walmart prices

Access to many types of products

High delivery fees

Walmart Grocery is a fairly new delivery service introduced by the megastore in most major cities. Previously, the service allowed you to order from Walmart for same-day pickup. Now, you can have that order delivered to you, also same-day. Walmart Grocery has existed on a separate app from the main Walmart app, but the company plans to merge them soon.

So, what can you buy? Everything from groceries (perishable and nonperishable) to home goods to electronics to beauty products to clothing anything Walmart sells at low Walmart prices. You can get fresh fruit and outdoor gear at the same time! Once you order, you can select an open delivery window up to a week in advance. And if you sign up for the Delivery Unlimited package, shipping is free. Otherwise, the delivery fee starts at $7.95.

Try the Walmart Grocery service now.

Locations: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington D.C. (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: $5.99-$15.99 with minimum order of $30; free with Delivery Pass ($129 per year, $79 for six months or $39 for six months of midweek deliveries) | Delivery times: Same day to one week | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol in some areas

High-quality groceries

Prepared meals and meal kits

Limited coverage area

FreshDirect is limited to a handful of Northeast states and offers those areas high-quality produce, meat, seafood, cheese, baked goods and pantry staples. They also make their own brand of meal kits and prepared meals you could buy an entire Thanksgiving meal, as an example. You can also buy farmshare boxes, fresh flowers, household goods, personal care items and alcohol in some areas. Because their goods are top-notch (and often organic), their prices reflect that so you may experience some sticker shock.

If youre in New York City, you can also use their sister grocery delivery service, Food Kick, which offers same-day shipping. And in the summers, FreshDirect expands its coverage zone to the Jersey Shore and Hamptons. Their fees are high, depending on the specific area, as is the monthly and yearly passes. But if you want quality groceries, you have to pay for them.

Try the FreshDirect service now

Locations: New England and mid-Atlantic states (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Varies by order total; free with PodPass ($119 per year, $49 for three months, $69 for six months) with minimum order of $100 | Delivery times: Next day to two weeks | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables

Great sign-up deal

Double coupons

Limited coverage area

Peapod is one of the first of the best grocery delivery services, though its not in many regions right now. They recently pulled out of the Midwest and the Washington D.C. area. Peapod offers all the standard groceries like fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, dairy and pantry staples but also their own brand of meal kits. Theres decent savings to be had, too: They double manufacturers coupons up to $0.99. Be sure to sign up for their emails, which also tout special deals.

When you first sign up for Peapod, you can save $20 off your first order and get 60 days of free delivery with the promo code 60DAYSFREE. After that, you can get free delivery with PodPass, but only by ordering over $100. Otherwise, the delivery fee varies by your order total and the day and time you select.

Try the Peapod service now

Locations: Everywhere (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $25 or $35, depending on store | Delivery times: Varies, depending on store (some offer same-day) | What you can buy: Non-perishables from stores including Target and Costco

Shop at favorite stores

Free delivery with minimum order

No groceries

Google Shopping, formerly known as Google Express, offers mostly non-perishable items from a variety of stores, including Target. Think Prime Pantry crossed with Instacart (but without the personal shopper). Again, if you order from a membership-exclusive store like Costco, you will pay a premium price that is more than members would pay. Depending on the store, if you meet the order minimum, you get free shipping.

The delivery windows also depend on the store; some offer same-day shipping from Fedex and UPS, but youre more likely to receive your items the next day or in several business days. As to what you can buy, you can shop the standard pantry staples like baking ingredients, pasta, beverages, canned vegetables and fruits, snacks and condiments. In some areas, you can buy non-refrigerated vegetables and fruit and fresh flowers.

Try the Google Shopping service now

Locations: The Southeast, parts of Texas, Chicago (check availability) | Membership required: Yes ($99 per year or $14 per month) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 1 hour to two weeks | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol in some areas

Shop at favorite stores

1 hour delivery

Requires membership

Shipt is similar to Instacart but requires you to sign up for a membership, which comes with free shipping on orders over $35 (for smaller orders, the fee is $7). Shipt has a somewhat limited coverage area versus the other best grocery delivery services, but still offers convenience and decent prices. They promote weekly sales, coupons and deals (including buy-one-get-one-free) if youre looking to save on your grocery budget.

Like Instacart, you get a personal shopper who will pick up the items on your list from various local stores, including Kroger, Target and CVS. In some areas, you can even get alcohol. If your personal shopper has questions about substitutes, they will contact you to discuss adjustments to the order. Once you place an order, you can get your items as quickly as within the hour or schedule the delivery in the next two weeks.

Try the Shipt service now

Locations: Nearly 100 cities (check availability) | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 1 hour to 2 days | What you can buy: Groceries from Whole Foods and select non-perishables

Whole Foods groceries

1-hour delivery

Requires Amazon Prime membership

Think of Amazon Prime Now as two storefronts, one of which is Whole Foods. That means you can buy the grocery stores fresh produce, meat, cheese, baked goods and prepared foods. The other storefront is Amazon goods, including its own groceries (like the ones available via Amazon Fresh) as well as other items like electronics, clothing and household supplies. The Whole Foods items and Amazon items will go into separate carts when you check out. Then, you can select a time slot as soon as within two hours (some areas have one-hour delivery).

So what is the difference between Prime Now and Amazon Fresh? Well, Fresh sells Whole Foods 365 branded items, but not Whole Foods groceries (meat, produce, cheese, etc.) But yes, the two services are very similar and we wouldnt be surprised if they merge soon.

Try the Prime Now service now

Locations: Most cities except in Alaska and Hawaii (check availability) | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35; free with Prime Pantry membership ($4.99 per month) and minimum order of $10; $5.99 for orders under $35 | Delivery times: Within 4 business days | What you can buy: Non-perishables only

Available almost everywhere

Good deals

Slow ground shipping

Prime Pantry, like Amazon Fresh, is free for Amazon Prime members. But unlike Amazon Fresh, Pantry doesnt have groceries. Instead, it offers nonperishable, shelf-stable household goods like pasta, cereal, and snacks as well as cleaning supplies and pet food. Pantry sells these goods in bulk and in smaller portions, like a single box of cereal or personal-sized snacks. Its one of the best grocery delivery services if youre looking to stock up on household goods as preparation for a natural disaster or the recent coronavirus pandemic.

A Prime Pantry membership costs $4.99 a month and offers free delivery with a minimum order of $10. If youre a non-member, you have to order $35 worth to get free delivery. Orders under $35 will cost you $5.99 in shipping. All deliveries take up to four business days, though, so this is one of the slower grocery delivery services on our list.

Try the Prime Pantry service now

The first thing to do when deciding which is the best grocery delivery service for you is determining which are available in your city or area.

If you want to find out which of the best grocery delivery services is in your area, heres a handy list to check for availability. Just visit these links, enter your zip code or address information to learn which grocery delivery service will bring groceries right to your door.

Once youve narrowed down the list to the best grocery delivery services in your area, consider what you need to buy. If you need fresh produce and meat, you should go with Amazon Fresh, Walmart Grocery, Instacart, FreshDirect, Peapod, Shipt or Amazon Prime Now. If you only need non-perishables, consider Google Shopping or Prime Pantry.

You may also want to consider the quality of the groceries. If you want organic produce, we recommend FreshDirect or Prime Now (which sells Whole Foods produce). If you want to shop at your favorite store, go with Instacart or Shipt. If you want to buy pre-made meal kits, check out Peapod and FreshDirect. If youre all about a budget, Walmart Grocery may have some of the lowest prices.

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Best grocery delivery services to get you through the coronavirus outbreak - Tom's Guide UK

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While International Womens Day this year has already passed, it doesnt mean that we should stop celebrating the many achievements of women to date. From developing much-needed sustainability solutions to leaving behind a positive social impact, there are women every day working hard to bring about change. Below are 10 brands led by women that are making the world a better place in their own ways.

Founded in 2012 by Kavita Khosa, Purearth is an award-winning ethical skincare and wellness brand offering fair-trade, toxin-free, vegan and cruelty-free beauty products. All its products are handcrafted in small batches with natural wild harvested ingredients, and is driven by a zero-waste ethos with its plastic-free packaging and free-of-charge recycling collection service. For every container returned, the company plants a tree. Committed to leaving behind an additional social impact, Khosa decided to partner up with a number of microcredit and grassroots organisations to help local marginalised women in the Himalayan region to engage with urban markets on fair terms.

Purearth products are available online via their website.

Founded by two Hong Kong mums Anita Patel and Sheetal Avlani, ZeroYet100 is a local vegan-friendly and clean skincare brand. Its entire collection is formulated using only natural ingredients and is 100% free from synthetic nasties that are not only harmful to our own health and wellbeing but the environment too. Unlike conventional personal care and beauty products on the market, Anita and Sheetals products wont pollute waterways and harm wildlife, and come in plastic-free and recyclable metal and glass containers.

Zero Yet 100 products are available online via their website and store location in 702 Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong.

LUNA Naturals was founded in 2015 by Olivia Cotes-James out of a frustration of the lack of non-toxic menstrual products on the Asian market. Based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, her social impact period care brand offers monthly subscription boxes for 100% toxin-free, organic and natural cotton sanitary pads and tampons and a reusable menstrual cup product. Olivias brand is catered to women in Asia, where 90% of women currently use non-biodegradable synthetic feminine care products that not only wreak havoc on our health and wellbeing, but contribute a significant amount of landfill waste. Partnering with Hong Kong charity Free Periods, LUNA also supports low-income women with free sustainable and safe menstrual products as well as breaking menstrual taboos with mainland China-based NGO Bright & Beautiful.

LUNA Naturals products are available online via their website.

Created in 2019 by Denise Tam and Terry Wu, Heavens Please is Hong Kongs ultimate CBD wellness and lifestyle platform offering customers the best CBD products. In addition to curating high-quality CBD oils, tinctures and topical beauty and skincare products from the United States and United Kingdom all of which contain only broad spectrum CBD and CBD isolates rather than full-spectrum CBD (which may have traces of THC, the psychoactive compound of the hemp plant) Denises brand supplies the citys first CBD beer made by OH CBD Beer HK. Plus, committed to being plastic-free, all of Heavens Pleases products are offered in glass jars and containers and cardboard packaging.

Heavens Please products are available online via their website.

Created in 2018 by Clarisse Akonyi who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is a refugee herself with the support of Tegan Smyth, Art Women is a creative collective of works by female asylum seekers in Hong Kong. In addition to offering a collection of handicrafts, fashion and jewellery pieces made by refugee women in the city, the group serves as a counselling and therapy platform for women who are overcoming traumatic events and everyday discrimination. Art Women also provides a safe environment aimed at empowering women with self-esteem, autonomy and personal power.

Art Women products are available online via their website.

MeMeraki is Indias first handcrafted artisanal brand on a mission to revive traditional folk arts with fashion. Founded in 2017 by Yosha Gupta, the MeMeraki works with over 100 artists to create beautiful handbags, totes, laptop cases and clutches using age old handicraft techniques with sustainable eco-friendly fabrics such as vegan cork and ethical leather from certified suppliers. Yoshas brand is also dedicated to leaving behind a positive social impact, and has previously run a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build an art school for girls in an Indian village.

MeMeraki products are available online via their website.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Everything Organic is an Asia-Pacific distributor of organic foods and was launched by Susanna Chan in 2016. Working alongside CityFarm, Turkeys largest and most established organic food brand and retailer, Susannas platform brings a whole range of quality organic foods to the Asia region, most of which are plant-based ingredients such as dried nuts and fruit, chocolate, oils, sauces and vinegars.

Everything Organic products are available online via their website.

Eat Fresh was originally launched in 2011 by three Hong Kong mums Naoko, Annamaria and Charlotte who were concerned about food safety and is now run by female health coach duo Mia Man and Martina Bin. Providing home delivery services of locally grown fresh organic fruit and vegetables, Eat Fresh hopes to offer customers healthy, top-quality HKORC certified produce alongside healthy recipes to inspire more people to eat whole plant produce.

Eat Fresh produce is available online via their website.

Lead image courtesy of listed brands and compiled by Green Queen Media.

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Sally Ho is Green Queen's resident writer and reporter. Passionate about about the environment, social issues and health, she is always looking into the latest climate stories in Hong Kong and beyond. A long-time vegan, she also hopes to promote healthy and plant-based lifestyle choices in Asia. Sally has a background in Politics and International Relations from her studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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#IWD2020: 8 Female-Led Asian Brands That You Should Know, From Fashion To Food - Green Queen Media

The latest report by ReportsCheck.biz on Global Organic Food And Beverages Market 2020-2026 is an elaborative assessment of all industry aspects, growth factors, market drivers, top players, types and applications at the global and regional level. Also, top countries within these regions, competitive landscape, product portfolio, and opportunities are presented. The assessment period considered for deriving market numbers is from 2015-2026. The Organic Food And Beverages Industry has reflected rapid growth in the past few years and will grow at a CAGR of xx.xx% in coming years.

The well-established market players in this industry and their market size and share are:

Organic Valley Amys Kitchen Inc. United Natural Foods Incorporated Cargill, Inc. Private Label Companies Whole Foods Market Inc. Everest WhiteWave Foods General Mills, Inc. The Hain Celestial Group Inc.

Click On This Link To Receive Free Sample Report Copy: https://reportscheck.biz/report/47837/global-organic-food-and-beverages-industry-market-research-report/#sample-reports

The in-depth analysis of value-chain structure, Porters five forces, market trends, restraints, driver opportunities, and every sub-segment is provided. The current and forecast industry situations, major product types and application analysis are provided below. The development strategies implemented by top players, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, raw materials and pricing analysis is done.

Top Product Types Are:

Biodynamic Farming Organic Farming

Key Application Analysis Is As Follows:

Online channel Supermarket Departmental Store Others

The market size in terms of value & volume, and top region analysis for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa is conducted. The import-export volume, upstream raw material suppliers, downstream buyers, and opportunity analysis is conducted. Top countries in these regions are United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Turkey, and rest.

The capacity, volume, production, market status, development plans, SWOT analysis, and other factors are analyzed. The definition, classification, market scope, Organic Food And Beverages overview, concentration, and maturity analysis is presented. The aim of the Global Organic Food And Beverages Report is to provide type, application and region analysis. The significant trends, factors driving or market growth and inhibiting growth are stated. The opportunities for stakeholders, individual growth of every player and their contribution is stated. The new product launch events, as well as market status and prospect, is provided from 2015-2026.

Explore Complete Details Or Send Custom Query: https://reportscheck.biz/report/47837/global-organic-food-and-beverages-industry-market-research-report/#table-of-content

Every top company in Organic Food And Beverages Industry are analyzed based on capacity, sales, price, cost, gross margin, revenue, and other factors. The entire Organic Food And Beverages revenue in USD Million, research and development, volatile market dynamics and prospective opportunities are evaluated. The historical years considered in this report are 2015-2018, the base year is 2019, estimate year is 2019 and the forecast year is 2020-2026. The consumer analysis, sales channel, analysts views, appendix and research methodology is presented.

The Global Organic Food And Beverages Research Report Is Segmented Into Following 15 Chapters:

Chapter 1: Definition, Classification, Scope, Applications, Market Segment By Regions, and Overview of Organic Food And Beverages Industry;

Chapter 2: Cost Structure in Terms of Manufacturing, Raw Material and Suppliers, Industry Chain Structure and Industry Landscape

Chapter 3: Technical Data, Manufacturing Plant Analysis, Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status, and Technological Details Analysis;

Chapter 4: Complete Organic Food And Beverages Market Study, Capacity Analysis, Segment, and Sub-Segment Study, Sales, Pricing Analysis;

Chapter 5 and 6: Regional Analysis that covers top countries namely United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE and Rest of the World;

Chapter 7 and 8: Organic Food And Beverages Application segment analysis, major manufacturers analysis, and product segment Analysis;

Chapter 9: Latest Organic Food And Beverages Trend Analysis, Regional Trends, Raw Materials, Cost Structures, and Rest;

Chapter 10: Consumer Patterns, Import-Export Study, Downstream Buyers, Traders, Dealers, Distributors, Supply Chain Analysis and Rest;

Chapter 11 and 12: Key Research Findings, Conclusion, Analyst Views, Appendix, Methodology and Data Sources;

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This week's market activity probably wasn't the shot of confidence you were hoping for if you're retired or planning to retire soon.

And your first instinct is probably to protect your retirement income.

Yet experts caution that the worst way to do that is to take dramatic actions with your investments.

"Clearly, you don't want to sell in a low market," said Steve Parrish, co-director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income at the American College of Financial Services.

You also want to avoid making big, bold decisions before you fully think them through.

"I want to caution people, don't make rash decisions when there are bad things going on in the market," said Carolyn McClanahan, director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

Instead, look to other strategies outside your investment portfolio that can help extend how long your assets last in your golden years.

"If you're close to retirement, but haven't, it really makes sense to keep working," Parrish said.

For example, if you were planning to retire in June and just extend that deadline until the end of the year, that's extra income coming in. Plus, it extends how long your portfolio will cover you in non-working years.

"Say you wait until the end of the year when the market recovers," Parrish said. "That's going to have an exponential effect on what your retirement income is."

Plus, if you aren't yet 65 and eligible for Medicare, that prevents you from having to pay for COBRA or private health insurance, he said.

One rule all individuals should strive for: Work as long as you are healthy, McClanahan recommended. That's one thing you can depend on, rather than counting on the markets to take care of you for 20 years to 40 years.

"Your human capital is your safest asset," McClanahan said. "Controlling your ability to work is definitely something that is easier than trying to control the stock market."

One surefire way of shoring up your personal balances is to make more with the money you already have.

"If you need to be panicked, do it in the form of saving money, rather than trying to liquidate your investments," Parrish said.

For starters, take a look at your cell phone plan to see if you can whittle it down, or maybe go out to eat less. Revisit recurring subscriptions like cable television packages and how much you are using them.

"Everybody has a different mindset about what's important to them," McClanahan said.

If, for instance, you've decided eating only organic food is a priority for you, try to see how you can reduce those costs by bargain shopping or learning to grow your own vegetables, McClanahan suggested.

More from Personal Finance: What a payroll tax cut could mean for Social Security, Medicare How Coronavirus could financially cripple many Americans Dos and don'ts to avoid panic in your 401(k)

Taking on debt should always be done with a great amount of caution.

Yet depending on your needs and the terms, it sometimes can make sense.

That's because taking money out of the market will likely have big long-term consequences for your financial health. Meanwhile, interest rates on loans are at record lows.

"Consider a short-term bank loan if you need cash flow, rather than liquidating some of the equity that normally pays some of your retirement income," Parrish said.

The key is to limit that debt to short-term to carry you through the market until the novel coronavirus is under control, he said.

Keep in mind that bank loans, whether offered by a brick-and-mortar or online institution, are preferable over credit card loans, which come with much higher interest rates.

If you own a home and were on the fence about whether or not to borrow against it, that strategy could make sense now, Parrish said.

"Your equities are presumably in the tank, but the equity in your house is probably still OK," Parrish said. "A line of credit certainly makes a lot of sense right now."

Money from that loan, whether through a home equity loan or reverse mortgage, can serve as fixed income you can count on.

Making such a move requires caution, Parrish said, because these transactions often come with a number of fees and take time to process.

"It's not something where you call up the bank tomorrow and get it going," Parrish said.

While reverse mortgages can be helpful for some people, they often have loopholes that people didn't recognize when they signed up for them, McClanahan said. And that can lead to regrets if you don't know what you're getting into.

"Don't make rash decisions; really research those," McClanahan said.

When it doubt, consult a financial advisor who charges hourly fees and can help you sort through your overall income and spending needs and help you come up with a plan, McClanahan suggested.

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At or near retirement? Consider these moves to protect your nest egg - CNBC