Axios Finish Line

May 01, 2024
Good evening! Axios lifestyle reporter Carly Mallenbaum is back as your newsletter host.
- Smart Brevityβ’ count: 549 words ... 2 mins. Edited by Ashley May and copy edited by Amy Stern.
1 big thing: Missing the main ingredient
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
More startups are promising foods that are better for the environment because they're lacking a key ingredient, Carly writes.
- Why it matters: These companies have a noble mission to mitigate deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. And many of their products taste like the stuff we're used to.
π Carly's thought bubble: I live in L.A., a testing ground for innovative food and drink products.
- Well before the rest of the country, my neighbors were consuming meatless meat, mushroom coffee, oat milk and alcohol-free spirits.
Case in point: Coffee-free espresso company Atomo just started offering its product in lattes at a Pasadena brunch spot.
- The company is trying to solve a range of problems: Coffee farming is linked to deforestation. Shipping beans produces carbon emissions. Research suggests climate change could affect the global coffee supply.
- A cow-free cheese startup, New Culture, is launching its version of mozzarella at renowned chef Nancy Silverton's L.A. pizza restaurant later this year.
Taste test: These foods have gotten close to mimicking the originals.
- β Atomo espresso β made with ingredients including millet, date seeds, pea protein and guava β makes for a totally passable espresso substitute if mixed with enough milk. Don't worry: There's caffeine, which comes from green tea β 100 milligrams per double shot.
- π New Culture cheese β which uses fermentation and a protein found in cheese to make an animal-free food β is much closer to "what melted cheese feels like β¦ in my mouth" than grainy, vegan options, Silverton tells Axios.
Reality check: Approximating the real thing in an eco-friendly way is expensive.
- Lab-grown meat companies have been struggling to reduce costs and reach mass production.
- New Culture CEO Matt Gibson tells us he hopes to reach price parity with conventional dairy cheese in several years.
π₯ Between the lines: Some of those added costs fall on you and me.
- Atomo lattes here have a $1 upcharge.
What we're watching: Sustainable food companies have figured out how to replicate flavors. But that doesn't mean the products are healthier and that the businesses, themselves, will be sustainable.
β€οΈ Your holiday traditions
In response to our story about traditions for Passover, readers shared their own family customs, Carly writes.
π€ Years ago, Rob Elkins of Port Washington, N.Y., wrote a parody of "Straight Outta Compton," and had Seder guests try to rap along.
- The first line: "Straight outta Cairo, crazy long hair named Moses, from the gang called Hebrews With Attitudes."
Other customs Finish Liners follow for Passover:
- π· Instead of just drinking wine, incorporating other beverages like water and orange juice into the Seder as additional symbols with added meanings. βGerald Katz, D.C.
- πͺ Having an empty chair at the table "to remind us of the hostages held now for 200 days." βNathan Lindenbaum, Teaneck, N.J.
π₯ As a way to honor their belief that Christmas represents the birth of Jesus Christ, Cindy Lahue of Byrnes Mill, Mo., has a Christmas Day brunch ritual:
- "Our family celebrates His birth with a birthday cake made up of a stack of pancakes with candles atop! We light the candles and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!"
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