1 big thing: Insurance risk rises

2. Employers get creative on benefits

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3. Black Americans see media bias despite changes

4. Pumpkin spice weed

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Extreme weather and climate change are driving up insurance costs nationwide, a new report finds.

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The next decade of big, sweeping changes will unfold in cities and communities where new technologies like 5G, AI and drones are transforming how we work, live and play together.  What’s Next will guide you through the revolution.

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1 big thing: UAW's tactics, explained

2. The AI pause that wasn't

3. Climate split screen

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4. Brightline launches Miami-Orlando trains

Brightline trains at Orlando International Airport. Photo: Courtesy of Brightline

The autoworkers strike is only getting more complex, Joann and Axios' Emily Peck report today.

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1 big thing: Composting trendsetter

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2. Funding cleaner jet fuel

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3. UAW pushes for four-day workweek

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4. "Feeling" the music

Carrie trying out the SoundShirt during a Lyric Opera rehearsal. The lights correspond to where vibration is hitting on the body as the orchestra plays. 

The Big Apple's new composting program could lead other cities to launch similar efforts, Jennifer reports today.

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1 big thing: Why "The Golden Bachelor" matters

Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old retired restaurateur, will choose a potential mate on ABC's "The Bachelor."

2. Hollywood writers get AI rules

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3. 📊 Politics drives EV adoption

4. New airport lights

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The Bachelor's first senior star could change the way society views older people, Jennifer reports today.

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1 big thing: Shutdown's air travel impact

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2. States fill AI law void

3. Bad economic vibes

4. Chicago gets first "Guinness bakery"

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in West Loop.

A government shutdown could have potentially long-lasting consequences for air travel, Alex writes today.

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National

ABC is counting on a 72-year-old grandfather from Indiana to revive its tired "Bachelor" franchise — and everyone from "granfluencers" to cosmetic surgeons is pinning their hopes on his ability to combat ageist stereotypes (and spur Botox sales).

Why it matters: The "Golden Bachelor," debuting Thursday, could spark a national conversation on the vitality of boomers, as seen through the lens of bachelor Gerry Turner and the 60- and 70-something women he's courting.

Older people tend to be depicted on television as cutesy, clueless or crotchety — but seldom sexy. 

"If it's a hit, it will change people's ideas, even in Hollywood," AARP film and TV critic Tim Appelo tells Axios.

Driving the news: For the first time in its 21-year history, "The Bachelor" will feature a senior citizen — Turner, a retired restaurateur — choosing a potential mate from among 22 bachelorettes, whose average age is 67.

While people over 60 drive network TV ratings these days, the viewers who seem most pumped to watch the love-smitten seniors are young women — the core "Bachelor" audience.

"Even the people who swore off the 'Bachelor' franchise are saying they can't wait to check out Turner's season," reports Glamour, which caters to a younger crowd.

The show "looks to me like the only slam-dunk coming up this season," Appelo says. "I think that it can't help but do some good for all concerned."

The big picture: Any conversation around older people's vitality could have spillover effects on electoral politics, at a time when many Americans have expressed concern about the ages of President Biden and Donald Trump.

Plus, while ageism is still alive and well in the workplace and society writ large, there are signs of older people getting more respect — not just as wise elders, but also as still-hotties.

Martha Stewart became a Sports Illustrated cover model earlier this year at age 81.

And plenty of older Americans are seeking new connections — nearly 1 in 5 people over 50 have used a dating site or app, per the Pew Research Center.

Reality check: The reality of dating after 50 is grim — particularly for women, who vastly outnumber available men the older they get.

"If Turner wasn't the Golden Bachelor, he would have a line of women at his door with homemade casseroles and offers of comfort," writes author Kerri Sackville, a self-avowed middle-aged person, for the Sydney Morning Herald.

"He is an outlier among elderly single men, which is why it has reportedly taken years of casting calls to find him."

Plus, "most young adults regard late-in-life dating with disinterest at best, and mild horror at worst," Sackville observes.

What they're saying: The biggest misconception about senior dating? "That people can't have sex," says Bonnie Winston, a matchmaker who specializes in finding partners for older women. "Thank you, Viagra — they 100% can have sex."

Of note: There will absolutely be "fantasy suites" on Turner's show — places where "Bachelor" stars traditionally go for intimate moments with their dates — but Turner said he views them as a place to forge an "emotional connection."

Older bachelor Jerry Turner surrounded by the older women he will court on ABC's television show.

The "Golden Bachelor" cast features women in their 60s and 70s. Photo: Craig Sjodin/Courtesy of ABC

The intrigue: Advertisers have traditionally targeted viewers ages 18-54, but there are signs that the "demo," or prime advertising demographic, may need adjustment, now that baby boomers are floating the traditional TV industry.

"The industry is starting to recognize the power of our demographic," says Appelo, who reports on AARP's Movies for Grownups awards, honoring films for older audiences. 

When the awards debuted in 2002, "it was difficult to get enough great performances by people over 50 because they were so discriminated against," he said. 

Last year's AARP best picture was "Top Gun: Maverick," featuring 61-year-old Tom Cruise; Jamie Lee Curtis, who is 64 and won an Oscar this year, got a lifetime achievement award.

The bottom line: Whether or not "The Golden Bachelor" makes gray hair chic, it could help dignify the emotional needs of older people — and get their adult children to coax them into dating again, as Turner's daughters reportedly did.

"I just think this should have been done a while ago," Winston says.

Can "The Golden Bachelor" make seniors sexy?

Gerry Turner is 72 and a widower, and was prodded by his daughters to go on the show.

Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old retired restaurateur, will choose a potential mate on ABC's "The Bachelor." Photo: Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Images

Television

Economy & Business

As cities and states invest in digital assistants to make their websites easier to use, the city of Amarillo, Texas, is hoping to set a new standard with a "digital human" that speaks dozens of languages and can help longtime residents and newcomers alike navigate City Hall.

Why it matters: While corporations have been pouring money into AI-enabled features, governments are playing catch-up, using pandemic relief money for new technology that improves public service. 

Driving the news: The new "digital human" that Amarillo is building will use a female avatar, appearing on the city's website by early 2024. 

It will answer queries and help people request government services. 

What they're saying: "This will actually become our digital version of 311," Richard Gagnon, Amarillo's chief information officer, tells Axios. (The city's human-staffed 311 service isn't going away, he notes.)

Amarillo has the most refugees per capita of any Texas city, Gagnon says, and the "digital human" is meant to ensure that "all of our citizens will get equal service."

"I have a middle school speaking 62 languages and dialects," he says. "It's a big challenge."

How it works: Rather than hiring 62 interpreters, Amarillo is using technology to "integrate conversational AI into our websites" so that everyone can chat with the city online, Gagnon says.

"Not only can you ask simple questions, like 'When is the library open?' but it can also direct you, so you can say, 'Hey, I would like to book a spot in John Stiff Park.'"

"It'll take you to that website and walk you through how to do that," Gagnon says. "And oh, by the way, you can do that in 62 different languages."

"If you're just an average citizen wanting information, now you don't have to navigate [a website] — you can just ask it questions, like, 'What did the city spend on IT this year?'" he says. "It turns the whole interaction between resident and government into a conversation, which is really what we're after."

A demonstration video shows an example of a digital assistant similar to the one Amarillo is developing with an AI company called UneeQ, which specializes in digital humans. 

A demonstration video shows an example of a digital assistant similar to the one Amarillo is developing with an AI company called UneeQ, which specializes in digital humans. Image: Courtesy of the City of Amarillo and Dell Technologies

What it is: A digital (or virtual) assistant is more robust than a typical chatbot — Oracle defines it as "an advanced type of chatbot that can handle more complex interactions in a conversational way."

Other examples include Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and the Google Assistant.

Amarillo's forthcoming digital human is "basically a huge leapfrog from what you've seen in the past," says Alexander Keller, chief technology officer for services at Dell Technologies, the city's lead vendor.

"It's far more intelligent," Keller tells Axios. "It's intuitive. It knows what you mean. It's far more accurate — it feels like you're talking to a person."

Zoom out: State and local governments — flush with pandemic relief funds, but short of municipal workers — are eager to find ways to serve residents efficiently, and digital assistants look like a good answer.

They're also in keeping with "smart city" goals of using technology to deliver or augment citizen services.

"While agencies find significant cost savings from deploying digital assistants, officials emphasize the consistency of service as valuable to citizens," per StateTech magazine.

Zoom in: Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah were early adopters of chatbot technology — as were cities like Austin, Boston and Phoenix — but the digital assistant Amarillo is rolling out is a next-generation version that'll likely be more robust.

One city that may have beat Amarillo to the punch: Edmonton, Alberta, has a preliminary digital assistant that's being used for transit and waste services, with more features to come. 

Los Angeles has also been at the forefront, integrating Alexa into its website (so you can say, "Hey, Alexa, ask L.A. City...") and introducing a  virtual assistant for businesses, named Chip.

Between the lines: Amarillo is busy rolling out broadband to half the city, and has been doing a lot of outreach to immigrant communities — newcomers from Somalia and Vietnam, for example — to raise awareness and get permission to install new high-speed internet infrastructure. 

"A digital human project means nothing if half your city can't use it," Gagnon says.

The bottom line: Gagnon estimates that 60%-80% of Amarillo residents will be satisfied to do business with the online helper.

But "some people are just not going to want to talk to a digital assistant —  they're just not," he says. 

A digital assistant will help immigrants in Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo will be able to converse with residents in 62 languages.

Illustration of a city hall facade with a giant cursor hovering over it

Cities

As cities and states invest in digital assistants to make their websites easier to use, the city of Amarillo, Texas, is hoping to set a new standard with a &quot;digital human&quot; that speaks dozens of languages and can help longtime residents and newcomers alike navigate City Hall.Why it matters: While corporations have been pouring money into AI-enabled features, governments are playing catch-up, using pandemic relief money for new technology that improves public service.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Islamic scholars consulted by a leading producer of cultivated meat say that the newfangled protein — which is grown from animal cells and doesn't require animals to be slaughtered — can be halal, or permissible under Muslim law.

And the Jewish Orthodox Union this month certified a strain of lab-grown chicken as kosher for the first time, "marking a significant step forward for the food technology's acceptance under Jewish dietary law," as the Times of Israel put it.

Why it matters: For cultivated meat to go mainstream the way its backers hope, it'll need to be accepted by people who abide by a variety of dietary laws.

The halal ruling "opens up cultivated meat to 2 billion more people across the world," Josh Tetrick, the CEO of Good Meat, tells Axios.

In the United States alone, there are 12 million kosher consumers, and 35 million non-Jewish consumers of kosher products, according to Star-K, a leading kosher certifying authority.

Driving the news: Good Meat, which recently began selling its cultivated chicken in the U.S., solicited a Shariah opinion from "a trio of well-respected scholars in Saudi Arabia" and got a qualified thumbs-up, the company said. 

To be halal, the cell line of the meat has to come from an animal that is permissible for Muslims to eat, like a chicken or cow.

The animal behind the cell line must be slaughtered according to Islamic law. 

The nutrients fed to the animal cells as they're cultivated must not include any substances Muslims are forbidden to consume, such as spilled blood, alcohol or materials extracted from pigs.

This ruling isn't the final word, but Tetrick called it a "landmark opinion" and said the Shariah scholars behind it are highly influential.

"We expect it to have a really important impact on how other countries think about it," and how halal certifying bodies view his product and others.

Kosher, too: Separately, on Sept. 6, the certifying authority Orthodox Union Kosher recognized as kosher the poultry products from SuperMeat, an Israeli startup — noting that they met "the most stringent qualifications for kosher supervision," the Times of Israel said.

"It's a big deal, because just in terms of the technology itself, not just in poultry but in meat, it may have real significance for the future," Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union Kosher Division, was quoted in the Times as saying.

Yes, but: As with so many matters of religious doctrine, not all authorities agree.

The American Halal Foundation says in an "authoritative guide" to cultivated meat that "most current products that exist would not be considered halal due to the fact that the cell lines are taken from alive animals" rather than ones slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.

And some rabbis agree that cultivated meat isn't kosher if it's grown from the cells of living animals.

The other side: Good Meat says that the central issue — whether an animal is slaughtered through halal standards — isn't hard to resolve.

"Our current cell line does not meet that guidance, but future cell lines will, which is why this ruling is so important," a company spokesman said by email.

"It's an open question whether an animal can be halal but not slaughtered," he added. "This is something we'd need clarification on moving forward."

Between the lines: With hundreds of startups getting into the cultivated meat business — each with its own practices and methods — each may have to gain halal and kosher certification individually.

Where it stands: Only two companies — Good Meat and Upside Foods — have gotten regulatory approval to sell their cultivated meat in the U.S. 

The first product from both firms is cultivated chicken, which is being sold in tiny quantities at high-end restaurants. (And, in the case of Good Meat, at a market in Singapore.)

To make cultivated meat, animal cells are placed in a large steel vessel called a bioreactor — or "cultivator" — and fed for at least two weeks with a variety of nutrients, which help the cells grow and differentiate, similarly to how they would in a living animal.

There are still big questions over how and when the industry is going to scale up and produce this meat in mass-market quantities.

Zoom in: Upside Foods doesn't seem inclined to get into the debate over religious certification.

"You are asking a question of Talmudic proportions," a spokeswoman responded by email when asked if cultivated meat is halal or kosher. "Upside's facilities are not currently under any kosher or halal supervision."

Upside just announced that it's building its first commercial-scale production plant, outside Chicago.

What's next: There are myriad obstacles for the nascent cultivated meat business — including ramping up production and spreading the word that it's different from plant-based meat — but acceptance by religious authorities will help clear some major hurdles.

Lab-grown meat can be halal and kosher

The rulings could widen the eventual market for cultivated meat.

Illustration of a petri dish full of minced meat with a "halal" and "kosher" flag planted in the meat. 

Food

Islamic scholars consulted by a leading producer of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="cultivated meat" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/what-is-lab-grown-meat-cell-cultivated" data-vars-content-id="5b4b5b81-399b-4b7a-a64e-bc5bfa8b81cf" data-vars-headline="Lab-grown meat can be halal and kosher" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/what-is-lab-grown-meat-cell-cultivated" target="_self">cultivated meat</a> say that the newfangled protein — which is grown from animal cells and doesn&#x27;t require animals to be slaughtered — can be halal, or permissible under Muslim law.<ul><li>And the Jewish <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Orthodox Union" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ou.org/" data-vars-content-id="5b4b5b81-399b-4b7a-a64e-bc5bfa8b81cf" data-vars-headline="Lab-grown meat can be halal and kosher" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ou.org/" target="_blank">Orthodox Union</a> this month certified a strain of lab-grown chicken as kosher for the first time, &quot;marking a significant step forward for the food technology&#x27;s acceptance under Jewish dietary law,&quot; as the Times of Israel <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="put it" data-vars-click-url="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-leading-kosher-authority-orthodox-union-certifies-lab-grown-meat/" data-vars-content-id="5b4b5b81-399b-4b7a-a64e-bc5bfa8b81cf" data-vars-headline="Lab-grown meat can be halal and kosher" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-leading-kosher-authority-orthodox-union-certifies-lab-grown-meat/" target="_blank">put it</a>.</li></ul>

New York City's new mandatory composting law could usher in an era when organic waste collection becomes commonplace in U.S. cities, just as its bottle and can recycling program sparked a nationwide movement after it passed in 1989.

Why it matters: Composting food and yard waste instead of burying it in landfills reduces methane emissions, which are a major contributor to climate change and are increasing.

A small but growing number of cities already collect organic waste, but New York — with its 3.5 million households — is widely expected to set precedent.

"I think it's going to become one of the hallmarks of modern cities," New York City sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch tells Axios.

Driving the news: Borough by borough, New Yorkers will be asked to separate out their food and yard waste — as well as food-soiled paper — for universal curbside collection, with participation becoming mandatory in the spring of 2025.

"If you cook it or you grow it, you can throw it" is the slogan that Tisch, an appointee of Mayor Eric Adams, has been cheerfully slinging.

The program is for residences only. NYC businesses, restaurants, and industrial operations all have to rely on private waste haulers for organic waste removal (which is already required for certain businesses). 

The city has also been putting orange compost bins on sidewalks — and emphasizing that using them will reduce New York's legendary rat problem.

A compost bin on a New York City street stands next to a recycling bin.

Rat-proof orange compost bins are starting to appear on New York City streets. Photo: Jennifer A. Kingson for Axios.

Where it stands: Queens residents have been required to comply since spring; Brooklyn collections start in October. The Bronx and Staten Island will come online next spring, and Manhattan in the fall of 2024.

Fines and enforcement won't start until six months after Manhattan collections begin.

Composting is also being rolled out in all the city's public schools — the better to train children to get their parents to cooperate.

Brooklyn residents can request a free brown compost bin through a city website, and residents of the remaining boroughs will be able to do so in the future.

What they're saying: "This requires behavioral change on a large scale," Tisch says. 

"We want to make sure that New Yorkers have the opportunity to develop the muscle memory that's required before we move to a punitive system."

Details: The city will pick up organic waste from residences at the same time it picks up recyclables, to make it easy for people to remember.

The waste will be turned into compost, which is useful as fertilizer or animal feed, or into biogas to heat homes (and for other purposes) through a process called anaerobic digestion.

"The whole idea is that this becomes circular," says Jeffrey LeBlanc, chief growth officer for Denali, which has a city contract to process some of the organic waste.

"You'll see a smaller amount of material going to landfills, to be disposed of as garbage," LeBlanc tells Axios.

Of note: Because the finished product can be sold, New York is hoping to save money on waste disposal, as Seattle has done. 

Seattle says the market value of compostable material has benefited all residents because "the income generated keeps solid waste bills lower than they would otherwise be."

The big picture: At least nine states, including California and Washington, have passed mandatory composting laws.

Denver, Boston, and other cities offer voluntary curbside composting; Chicago, Washington, D.C., and more are running pilots.

Portland, Oregon, an early adopter of voluntary composting for residents, is rolling out mandatory composting for some businesses.

Yes, but: Compliance tends to be low — just as it is, all these decades later, with recycling. 

The Environmental Protection Agency's national recycling goal is 50% by 2030, up from 32%.

And many well-intentioned people make mistakes. In Seattle, for instance, people are putting compostable items that look like plastic in their recycling bin, where they can contaminate the whole load.

And if New Yorkers put food waste in curbside bins that aren't rodent-proof, it won't be pretty.

By the numbers: A third of the food meant for human consumption is wasted or discarded, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Food waste is "the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S., comprising 24% and 22% of landfilled and combusted municipal solid waste, respectively," per the EPA.

Between the lines: For New York's program to succeed, "a strong educational component is a crucial piece," says Eric Goldstein, the New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The experience in other cities shows that it's critical to explain to residents why it makes sense to compost, and how to participate in the program."

San Francisco and Seattle have been successful because "they started with voluntary programs, they had strong public education programs in multiple languages, and successive administrations made clear that it was a priority," Goldstein tells Axios.

The bottom line: If mandatory composting can make it in New York, it can make it anywhere.

"It's probably the most significant change in how New Yorkers dispose of and collect their trash since the adoption of the recycling program in 1989," Goldstein says.

New York's composting law could set a national example

How to sell New Yorkers on setting aside food waste? Talk about the decrease in rats.

New York City

New York City&#x27;s new mandatory composting <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="law" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/nyregion/food-composting-nyc.html" data-vars-content-id="5fe0521d-ac36-408a-aab8-88f2f79f2b84" data-vars-headline="New York&#x27;s composting law could set a national example" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/nyregion/food-composting-nyc.html" target="_blank">law</a> could usher in an era when organic waste collection becomes commonplace in U.S. cities, just as its bottle and can <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="recycling" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/04/recycling-robots-ai-landfill" data-vars-content-id="5fe0521d-ac36-408a-aab8-88f2f79f2b84" data-vars-headline="New York&#x27;s composting law could set a national example" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/04/recycling-robots-ai-landfill" target="_self">recycling</a> program sparked a nationwide movement after it <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="passed in 1989" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/14/nyregion/new-york-starts-required-recycling.html" data-vars-content-id="5fe0521d-ac36-408a-aab8-88f2f79f2b84" data-vars-headline="New York&#x27;s composting law could set a national example" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/14/nyregion/new-york-starts-required-recycling.html" target="_blank">passed in 1989</a>.Why it matters: Composting <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="food and yard waste" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/newsletters/2022/11/23/climate-food-waste-fight" data-vars-content-id="5fe0521d-ac36-408a-aab8-88f2f79f2b84" data-vars-headline="New York&#x27;s composting law could set a national example" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/newsletters/2022/11/23/climate-food-waste-fight" target="_self">food and yard waste</a> instead of burying it in landfills reduces <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="methane emissions" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/28/despite-global-pledge-methane-emissions-increasing" data-vars-content-id="5fe0521d-ac36-408a-aab8-88f2f79f2b84" data-vars-headline="New York&#x27;s composting law could set a national example" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/28/despite-global-pledge-methane-emissions-increasing" target="_self">methane emissions</a>, which are a major contributor to climate change and are increasing.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Flavored popcorn, which first burst onto the scene in the early 1980s following the invention of microwave popcorn, is suddenly popping up everywhere again.

Why it matters: Snacks are big business, and Americans are snacking more — so companies that tap into the nation's gustatory enthusiasms can earn a pile.

Driving the news: Mom-and-pop stores and big chains — like Doc Popcorn, Jake's Gourmet Popcorn, Tastebuds Popcorn and many others — are opening rapidly around the country, at the same time that packaged goods companies are introducing new toppings and popcorn accessories.

Orville Redenbacher's just introduced a line of popcorn seasonings in flavors like Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Flavored popcorn is ba-a-ack!

Newfangled flavors include pumpkin spice, pickle and cookies-and-cream.

Flavored popcorn, which first burst onto the scene in the early 1980s following the invention of microwave popcorn, is suddenly popping up everywhere again.Why it matters: Snacks are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="big business" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/07/17/snack-sales-pepsico-inflation" data-vars-content-id="ed16cb6b-6aaa-4669-a1ef-2fee6e642310" data-vars-headline="Flavored popcorn is ba-a-ack!" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/07/17/snack-sales-pepsico-inflation" target="_self">big business</a>, and Americans are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="snacking more" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/21/snacks-new-chips-cereal-spicy-food" data-vars-content-id="ed16cb6b-6aaa-4669-a1ef-2fee6e642310" data-vars-headline="Flavored popcorn is ba-a-ack!" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/21/snacks-new-chips-cereal-spicy-food" target="_self">snacking more</a> — so companies that tap into the nation&#x27;s gustatory enthusiasms can earn a pile.

Jennifer A. Kingson

Stories

Can "The Golden Bachelor" make seniors sexy?

New York's composting law could set a national example

A digital assistant will help immigrants in Amarillo, Texas

Lab-grown meat can be halal and kosher

Flavored popcorn is ba-a-ack!

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