What We’re Reading

Food supply:

There has been a surge in demand for lower-quality cuts of beef as millions of Americans stay home. That surge has jacked up the price of the cheap cuts. At the same time, there’s been a drop in demand for higher-quality sirloin and tenderloin cuts that typically get purchased by now-shuttered restaurants … For the first time in recent history, producers have started to grind up higher-quality roast cuts, adding them to their ground beef since they are more likely to sell than if the cuts were kept whole. This in turn drives up the price of ground beef, since the meat that makes up the ground is of a higher quality.

Instacart during coronavirus:

“Every day, we would see that the volume was 20% higher than the last day,” Mehta says. “In a matter of a couple of weeks, we were already ahead of our end-of-year goal. A week later, we were ahead of our 2021 goals, and a few days after that, we were ahead of our 2022 goals. And so, at a certain point, we stopped counting.”

Concert protection:

The spacesuit has a ventilation system that keeps others safe from viruses, providing some peace of mind when you’re shoulder to shoulder in crowded bars, venues, and concert halls.

Production Club, the Los Angeles-based concert design studio behind the suit, wants the future of concert-going to be considerate to the most vulnerable populations.

Ending lockdowns:

Of Americans WHO OPPOSE LOCKDOWNS:

Just over 5% are nonwhite workers who have personally lost a job in the crisis.

Just under 70% are white workers who have *not* lost a job in the crisis.

Limits of remote learning:

Some districts are giving up on remote learning and ending the academic year early, after concluding that it was too cumbersome for teachers, students and parents.

Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Georgia, Texas and elsewhere plan to end a week to several weeks early.

Schools have struggled to launch remote learning for more than 50 million children across the country during the coronavirus pandemic in the largest experiment in remote learning ever. Among the issues they’ve encountered, not all students have internet access or have parents available to help, causing concerns about inequity. As a result, many districts haven’t required schoolwork be completed or graded. Student participation, when schools are even able to measure it, has often been below regular attendance level.

Have a good weekend, stay safe.