/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47794309/GettyImages-462426812.0.jpg)
It's Thursday, December 3, which means Hanukkah is right around the corner and there's a mere three weeks left to finish your Christmas shopping. You likely blew all your money on Cyber Monday purchases for yourself, however, so instead let's focus on today's food and restaurant news: As Shake Shack continues to expand its Shack Sauce-slathered footprint across America, Chipotle may have to reneg on its "buy local" pledge and new vegan meal delivery empresario Mark Bittman is having ethical sourcing woes. Oh yeah, and bananas might go extinct thanks to a nasty fungus. Let's get to it:
Shake Shack Continues Its Quest for World Domination
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4320033/Screen_Shot_2015-12-03_at_10.39.25_AM.0.png)
Insanely popular burger chain Shake Shack continues to expand: The burgermeisters just announced plans to open a location in Darien, Conn. (its third in the state) as well as one in Lexington, Ky. The latter will be the first Shake Shack for Kentucky and is headed to a new walkable development called The Summit at Fritz Farm that will also be home to the region's first food hall.
Image credit: Shake Shack/Flickr
Ethical Sourcing Ain't Easy, Says Mark Bittman
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4320183/markbittmanRY.0.jpg)
Long-time food columnist Mark Bittman left his post at the New York Times earlier this year to join plant-based meal delivery startup Purple Carrot, and his new venture has come along with its fair share of challenges. The biggest one so far? Ethical sourcing of ingredients. Bittman notes that more than half of the fresh produce in the U.S. currently comes from foreign markets, and "neither the USDA nor any other agency makes any attempt to control labor practices outside of this country." For the time being, the company will focus on sourcing domestic produce, with a long-term goal of "sourcing food from agro-ecological farmers who care about their land and what they grow on it."
Image credit: Romulo Yanes