What you loved and loathed last month
A Bug’s Life
Our gourmet guide to sustainable dining featured stories about vertical farms, lab-grown meat, 3-D-printed sushi, dairy-free cheeses and, yes, quite a few cricket-, grasshopper- and mealwormbased dishes. Reader response ranged from appreciation to revulsion.
“This is an excellent package, but you missed an important opportunity to say why eating more plant-based proteins is good for the planet, animal welfare and our bodies. Too much focus on meat alternatives! #winwinwin.”
—@marksinghTO, Twitter
“I will go vegan before I knowingly eat a bug.”
—Tai Nguyen, Facebook
“If they can make cowless dairy and chickenless eggs safe, I’m all for it. Same with lab-grown meat.”
—Sandra Lee, Facebook
“Wow, it all looks so delicious! So many options for when I want to eat like someone who hates their life.”
—joslouisto, Instagram
“I’ll take chapulines over those science projects any day!”
—paletakate, Instagram
“I think I’ll stick to my manicotti.” —thebespokeman, Instagram
“Chocolate-covered crickets are delicious!!”
—yyz_bliss, Instagram
Budding Entrepreneur
Steven Fry’s memoir about what it was like to win the first-round cannabis retail lottery was met with a mix of intrigue, envy, and frustration at the government rollout.
“A guy wins a government lottery to operate a cannabis clinic and absurdity ensues.”
—@nachkari, Twitter
“A really interesting and in-depth overview of the Ontario retail cannabis application process from a retail operator.”
—@sarahmeaghang, Twitter
“My impression when I first heard about Ontario’s lottery system for awarding cannabis retail licences was that this was amateur hour all the way. This article just confirms it. I don’t want to rain on this guy’s parade. He won the lottery, and he deserves what is rightfully his. But c’mon! There were all sorts of qualified entities among already-legal cannabis companies and respectable black-market operators that wanted to apply for these licences. Yet the province allows (literally) anyone to throw their name in? Cinderella stories like this may make good reading, but does it justify all the legitimate players getting frozen out?”
—TheSeedInvestor, Reddit
“Who’s getting frozen out? Larger businesses? Very few who start these places can succeed without business knowledge or tons of cash backing them up. I’d rather a small guy win than some large corporation that just makes their bottom line fatter.”
—chugonthis, Reddit
“That is a fantastic story. People asking for tldr: just read it! They need to clone him for the next 100 stores. Very smart man reaching out to the next round of winners and building a further business out of that. I tip my hat to this entrepreneur.”
—sark666, Reddit
“Found this story so interesting. Still so crazy that this is how cannabis retail was set up: lottery,