Stories

Challenge Updates Italian with Duolingo: Still on track for daily practice, but my two kids and a friend are way ahead of me. Am going to experiment with a few YouTube Italian conversation sessions. Just experiment. Am going to Italy this month and still feel...

Now Available: Food Routes

Stories, Trending

Even if we think we know a lot about good and healthy food―even if we buy organic, believe in slow food, and read Eater―we probably don’t know much about how food gets to the table.

Robyn’s Corner #3

Challenge Updates: February is half gone and I’ve done one sketch a day and kept on Duolingo for Italian. So far, holding steady. A Most Unlikely Twitter Account:The Museum of English Rural Living Tweeted what might seem a shocking image on Valentine’s Day. The Tweet...

Robyn’s Corner #2

January Challenges: Restart Italian Lessons on Duolingo. So far 1458 points, compared to my son’s 5780 points for Portuguese and daughter’s 1201 points for French. But, hey, my son is highly motivated since he married a Brazilian woman and my daughter has only just...

Robyn’s Corner

1.)Food+City has done its share of conferences and events, so why wouldn’t you do one for fun, real fun. Our family (Metcalfe’s) is crazy about running, food, maps, travel, and prime numbers, it seems. But it is always up for dry, sarcastic humor. Even dark,...

Startup Spotlight: FENIK

We’ve been visiting with past Food+City Challenge Prize contestants, including Fenik. Get their latest big news and hear their advice to other startups.

Startup Spotlight: UAV-IQ

We’ve been visiting with past Food+City Challenge Prize contestants, including UAV-IQ. Get their latest big news and hear their advice to other startups.

Startup Spotlight: Vinder

We’ve been visiting with past Food+City Challenge Prize contestants, including Vinder. Get their latest big news and hear their advice to other startups.

Startup Spotlight: Grit Grocery

We’ve been visiting with past Food+City Challenge Prize contestants, including Grit Grocery. Get their latest big news and hear their advice to other startups.

Grocery Stores: The IoT of Food

They know where you are in the store. They know what shelf you’re looking at. They know which product’s ingredient label you’re reading. And now, thanks to hidden cameras, sensors, beacons, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and our own mobile phones, stores — and the brands they carry — can respond to your actions with instant coupons, flash sales and other enticements to buy. Brick-and-mortar stores are going digital.

Markets Go It Alone

The buzzword for today’s brick-and-mortar retailer is “frictionless.” It refers to a shopping experience where customers can come and go with ease. It means not waiting in lines and never having to take cash or a credit card out of your wallet. Sounds dreamy, right?...

How They’re Watching Us

In the early days, retail stores tracked customers via turnstiles. After turnstiles, some stores turned to electronic beams, while others used light sources to count traffic in aisles. These days, our favorites stores have much more detailed information about us and our shopping habits and preferences. Find out how they get it.

Side Dish Gallery: Mom & Pop Shops

Issue 5, Side Dish, Stories

 Small, independent groceries were once vital to communities, the places where you could find anything. As their numbers have declined, we went in search of resilient mom-and-pop shops across the country.

Trending: Grocery Stores, Meet Smart Kitchens

Issue 5, Stories, Trending

Pop-up kitchens, personalized food printers and countertops that are screens and charging stations — welcome to the (near) future of smart kitchens.

Food for Thought: South End Grocery

Food for Thought, Issue 5, Stories

Welcome to South End Grocery in Rockland, Maine. The independent general store persists in a town that’s morphed from working waterfront to arty tourist destination.

Food Movers: Confessions of an Instacart Shopper

Food Movers, Issue 5, Stories

Lingering in the produce section? Watch out, you might get run over by a personal food shopper on a deadline. What’s the most elusive item in stores? Read on to find out.

Food Movers: Paper or Plastic

Food Movers, Issue 5, Stories

Single-use bag bans are all the rage. But is that the right environmental option? The rise and fall of the ubiquitous plastic bag.

Food Movers: Keg Cycle

Food Movers, Issue 5, Stories

When beer kegs get lost, breweries lose money. But new technology helps track errant kegs wherever they are in their journey, saving margins and ensuring more fresh beer.

Best Before… Who Knows?

Some foods seem never to go bad. Just about anything sold in a box or a can is likely to have a long shelf life. But fresh ingredients — produce, dairy, meats — are ticking clocks: weeks, days or even hours from spoiling and becoming part of the 400 pounds of food each American wastes each year. Fortunately, prolonging shelf life is an endeavor brimming with innovation these days. Read on to learn about some of the newest techniques for keeping food fresh — from farm to fork.

Protecting Provisions

Food packaging has been around as long as people have traded goods in markets. How else are you going to schlep that wine home across the desert? Given all that’s new in packaging and shelf-life technology, we’re taking a look back to some golden oldies, from skins...

Smart Cities Are Forgetting Food

Issue 5, Smart City, Stories

Henry Gordon-Smith says cities must incorporate urban agriculture into their future planning. Find out why.

Edible Bugs: More Than Just Protein

Issue 5, Recipe Tracker, Stories

From grasshopper tacos to mealworms on chocolate bars, edible bugs are turning up in restaurants and tasting parties. What are you waiting for?

The Return of Sail Cargo

History, Issue 5, Stories

More than 150 years after the sailing age ended, tall clipper ships are reappearing as a greener option for transporting premium cargo.

The Freshest Leafy Greens

Case Study, Issue 5, Stories

Lettuce is a cool-weather crop. It likes pleasant days and chilly nights. But that ideal temperature range doesn’t exist in most places for more than a few weeks at a time. Most leafy greens grow in California or Arizona and travel a long way to your store. Unless your store is growing its own lettuce in high-tech containers and selling just-picked salad greens the same day. Read about the store that’s become its own supplier.

Fish Out of Water