Death to Mr. Peanut, Australian Chefs Help with Bushfires, Taco Bell Doubles Salaries [1/20/2020 – 1/26/2020]
After 104 years of dedicated service, we regret to inform our readers that Mr. Peanut, the monocle-wearing mascot from Planters Peanuts, has died. Planters announced on Wednesday that Mr. Peanut and two friends (actors Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh) were in a tragic car accident while driving through the desert. In a heroic act to save his dear friends, and for the sake of compelling tv, Mr. Peanut sacrificed himself. You can pay your respects too by watching the Super Bowl this Sunday, where planters will air his funeral. Rest in peanut paradise, old friend.
Australian chefs living in the US are doing their part to help the victims of Australia’s bushfires. Many chefs like Curtis Stone, owner of Maude in Beverly Hills, have been donating all of the restaurant's profits to organizations like Drought Angels for the past three months. Drought Angles has been providing aid to farmers who have lost everything during the fires. Monica Foley of Koala Matcha, in Santa Monica, will donate 100% of her profits for January to Wildlife Victoria, an animal rescue foundation providing evacuations and care to injured and displaced animals, and the list goes on. If you are interested in donating, and maybe want a great meal, you can find a list of restaurants here.
Wine lovers, fans of Le Creuset cookware, and all of us fans of fancy cheese can breathe a collective sigh of relief as massive tariffs on French products are put on hold. Wine and cheese importers were up in arms over the prospect of tariffs that would reach 100%, making French products almost unattainable in the US. A tweet from French President Emmanuel Macron, which said the two presidents were “committed to working together,” offered consumers and vendors a bit of calm. For now, tariffs will remain the same. Here’s to hoping an agreement is made.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, announced that there would be sweeping changes coming to school and summer lunch programs. To reduce waste and encourage more students to eat lunch at school, the program will loosen the amount, as well as, the type of fruits and vegetables school lunch programs were required to serve. This comes after many months of feedback from districts who claim they saw a more significant amount of wasted food. The new proposal will give students more a-la-carte options so that districts can customize menus based on meal patterns per grade level.
Taco Bell is looking to hire and keep good people. This week, the fast-food chain announced it would be increasing the pay of general managers at company-owned locations from $50K to $100K. You heard that right, doubling managers’ salaries! With unemployment at a record low, fast food companies have struggled to hire and keep hard-working people. Taco Bell hopes that this wage increase will attract these kinds of candidates.