(WASHINGTON) — Millions of Americans who struggle to get food on the table will soon receive new assistance thanks to a historic increase in funding.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a reevaluation to its Thrifty Food Plan, marking the first major update in over 45 years to reflect current cost realities for low-income families.
The plan estimates the price of a budget-conscious diet for a family of four and calculates the average need for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. The recalculations to the program, formerly referred to as food stamps, will go into effect Oct. 1. Each qualified recipient, on average, will see a rise from $121 to $157 per month.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the modernized plan “an investment in our nation’s health, economy, and security” that will better provide healthy food to low-income families.
“Ensuring low-income families have access to a healthy diet helps prevent disease, supports children in the classroom, reduces health care costs,” he said. “The additional money families will spend on groceries helps grow the food economy, creating thousands of new jobs along the way.”
The historic increase approved by President Joe Biden’s administration will help food aid rise by more than 25% from pre-pandemic levels for all 42 million program beneficiaries.
According to the Agriculture Department, the retooled plan’s average monthly benefits, which were $121 per person per month before the pandemic, will rise by $36.24 under the new rules.
“The reevaluation concluded that the cost of a nutritious, practical, cost effective diet is 21% higher” than the current plan, according to the Agriculture Department.
This boost comes on the cusp of emergency SNAP benefits that are set to expire at the end of September. They were first put into place as a pandemic protection measure as part of the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion relief bill signed in March.
The USDA called SNAP “the most far-reaching, powerful tool available to ensure that all Americans, regardless of background, can afford healthy food.”
The program helps to feed 1 in 8 Americans each month with evidence showing that SNAP increases food security, including among households with children who have been disproportionately impacted by hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. agency that oversees highway safety officially has launched a formal probe into Tesla’s Autopilot systems after identifying 11 separate crashes involving the feature over approximately four years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told ABC News in a statement Monday that it is “opening a preliminary evaluation into Tesla Autopilot systems and the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist, and enforce the driver’s engagement with driving while Autopilot is in use.”
“A preliminary evaluation starts the agency’s fact-finding mission and allows additional information and data to be collected — in this case about Tesla Autopilot,” the statement added. “Specifically, this investigation stems from 11 separate crashes beginning in 2018, in which various Tesla models crashed where first responders were active, including some that crashed directly into the vehicles of first responders.”
In a separate document on the investigation posted to its website Monday, the agency said the probe will include 2014 through 2021 Tesla Model Y, Model X, Model S and Model 3 vehicles.
There were 17 injuries and one fatality associated with the 11 crashes, the document stated. The crashes took place in nine states, and most of the incidents took place after dark.
The NHTSA said that in all of these cases, the Tesla vehicles had either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control engaged just prior to the crashes.
Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment Monday.
The company, and its eccentric CEO Elon Musk, have long defended Autopilot systems as safe.
On its website, the company has released internal data that suggests vehicles with Autopilot turned on are involved in fewer accidents per mile than those without Autopilot engaged.
In its statement to ABC News, the NHTSA reminded the public that “no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves” and all vehicles require a human driver to be in control at all times.
(NEW YORK) — As mass vaccination rolled out in the late spring and COVID-19 cases began to decline precipitously, Americans and the companies they work for began to envision a return to normalcy.
Masking guidance was lifted for the vaccinated and plans were made for bringing employees who had the privilege of working from home through the crisis back into offices after more than a year of remote work — in many cases adopting a hybrid model that attempted to balance business needs, personal lives and safety.
But the rapid spread of the delta variant, largely among the unvaccinated, has overwhelmed hospital systems and cast uncertainty on those plans, halting many in their tracks.
In announcements that followed each other like dominoes, a slew of major U.S. corporations — from Amazon to McDonald’s — in recent weeks have pushed back their September office reopening targets.
In light of these mounting uncertainties, experts say organizational leaders are at a “pivotal” moment and must put workers at the center of their longer-term planning in order to build business resilience. The push to return to the status quo is no longer acceptable to many and an increase in choices, including the ability to work remotely, has upped the stakes for employers.
With a smooth return to “normal” after Labor Day no longer looking feasible, how organizations navigate recalling millions of workers still recouping from the collective anguish of a once-in-a-century pandemic could have a costly impact on retention at a time when job openings and quit rates are both at record highs.
“I would argue that for business leaders, it’s a pivotal moment for them, and they need to put their employees at the center of their workplace strategy,” Steven Hatfield, the head of Deloitte’s Global Future of Work team, which counsels some 90% of firms on the Fortune 500, told ABC News.
‘Permanently altered’ the employee-employer relationship
According to Hatfield, the pandemic has “permanently altered the nature of the employer-employee relationship.”
Many companies that had required their employees to come in five days a week and now, after more than a year of remote work, the work week and other aspects of the relationship are on the table. Hybrid, permanent remote and flexible arrangements have become a regular part of the conversation.
“We believe that the secret for organizations today is they have to acknowledge the nature of the changing dynamics in terms of that relationship. They need to acknowledge that workers do have more choice and more power.”
That level of choice is manifesting itself in “skill shortages, the labor shortages, the way in which people are picking up and moving to different jurisdictions based on where their heart is,” he added.
“And other factors — ‘promote’ job postings on LinkedIn is up 5x,” he said, referring to companies paying extra to make sure their postings are seen.
As the nation begins to emerge from the pandemic, fresh data indicates that people are leaving their jobs at record levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said earlier this week that the “quits rate” in June was 2.7% — tying with April 2021 for the highest rate since its record-keeping on it began. Moreover, the number of job openings hit a record high of 10.1 million in June, the BLS said in its latest release. The layoffs and discharge rate, meanwhile, was at a record low of 0.9% in both May and June.
Economists have attributed these trends to both competitive labor market conditions as employers vie for workers with increased flexibility offerings, as well as harder-to-quantify reasons as many people reassess their life and career goals following the shock of a global pandemic that left more than 600,000 Americans dead.
The pandemic also spurred droves of women to leave the workforce entirely, an alarming trend experts warned could undo years of hard-fought gains towards gender equity in the private sector. This mass exodus of women in the workforce has been linked to uneven caregiving responsibilities at home as schools and daycares sporadically shuttered throughout the course of the pandemic.
As delta now rages, many parents are also grappling with how to protect their unvaccinated children amid a push to reopen.
“What’s going on with the delta variant is basically just another data point telling us that returning to the status quo and going back to the office, expecting people to be there full time, everyday, face-to-face is just not going to cut it,” Mabel Abraham, a professor of management at Columbia Business School, told ABC News.
“I don’t think anyone would argue that we can replace face-to-face interactions wholly with being online, I’m certainly Zoomed-out,” she added. “There’s always going to be a place for that face-to-face dynamic, whether it looks the same as it did pre-pandemic is a different question. Do we necessarily need everybody to be in the office, every single day, for eight to ten hours a day? Probably not.”
‘Be adaptable’ and listen to employees
Abraham said this constantly-changing environment is demanding that employers — and employees — be nimble and adaptable to a degree that has not previously been demanded.
Organizational leaders “need to be thinking less about a formal plan, and more about how to be adaptable as the environment continues to change,” Abraham said.
Abraham said that simply giving people options can be a strategy for being adaptable. This starts by listening to employees who voice concerns — such as exposing family members to the virus or commuting difficulties — and setting up a workplace that offers flexible options.
Some 42% of current remote workers say if their current company does not continue to offer remote work options long term, they will look for a job at a company that does, according to Prudential’s Pulse of the American Worker Survey released earlier this year.
“Employers who aren’t listening are in some ways just being naive in thinking that their employees won’t move,” Abraham said. “In this current environment, for many people, the pandemic looms large and it really is a concerning factor where going back to the office might mean that that person is willing to forego their position, even if they’re getting the benefits and the pay and enjoying the work and liking their co-workers.”
“Employers just need to recognize that when employees voice these concerns, it probably takes a lot for them to speak up, so if they’re bringing it up it’s because they’re probably really concerned about it,” she added. “And making a decision to not offer options, not to offer flexibility, needs to come with the understanding that that person might actually leave.”
Her recent research also found that organizations with female leadership and which signal that they care about equity in the workplace are much more likely to attract women applicants at a time when many firms have had great difficulties retaining their female staff.
“With all of the dialogue around women exiting at an even higher rate than men during this time, really thinking about if we want to counter that force in any way, organizations need to think carefully about how this solution will also have this additional benefit of really retaining their top female talent,” she said.
Looking out for workers ‘good for business’
Deloitte’s Hatfield added that while many still think about productivity in “first-industrial-revolutionary terms,” looking out for your employees’ health and well-being is actually “good for business, too.”
“We need to reshape our ideas around productivity to be akin to the marketplace that exists now, so your performance as a human, your well-being as a human, really matters,” Hatfield added, “and it matters to boost the productivity for the organization.”
For businesses, Hatfield said that, “It makes more sense for organizations to focus on up-skilling and re-skilling their workforce than trying to find workers.”
If organizational leaders are more attuned to the needs of their employees, and supportive of their career growth, this can help build a resilient workforce within an organization despite a myriad of external factors that leaders cannot control.
The present environment also presents a unique opportunity for employees to express what they need in order to do their work better and to more seamlessly support the work of an organization — whether it’s a stipend for a better home office setup, more flexibility options, or a better understanding of the purpose in the work they do.
“But, I think it’s incumbent on the workforce itself to be vocal about what some of those things might be in order to help the organizations they work with navigate change,” Hatfield said.
The more organizational leaders engage and pay attention to their workers, the more they can also avoid falling into a “trap” of attempting to appease by offering unrelated perks — like an office ping pong table “that’s going to gather dust,” Hatfield said.
“Do what’s going to be classic,” he said. “Do the things that are going to have enduring power, both for the organization and for the workforce — so things like focusing on the potential of their work, and focusing on how they develop, and ensuring that what their workforce is doing is really meaningful.”
(WASHINGTON) — Weekly unemployment claims dropped slightly last week, with 375,000 Americans applying for first-time benefits.
That figure dropped for the third consecutive week, according to the Department of Labor, a sign that employers are laying off fewer people amid an increase in consumer demand. That as some employers insist they are struggling to fill open jobs. Still, new claims are near the pandemic low of 368,000, set last month.
The job market and the broader economy are getting better despite the rise in coronavirus infections from the delta variant that are starting to crimp some economic activity. The latest jobs report showed 943-thousand jobs were created in July, the biggest increase in nearly a year.
Prior to the pandemic, weekly unemployment claims were at about 220,000 per week.
Still, consumers continue to see an increase in the costs of goods and services. In July, the consumer price index rose 0.5 percent. Still more price hikes are on the horizon, with 44 percent of small businesses surveyed this month saying they plan to raise prices.
(NEW YORK) — The first signs are emerging that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is dampening demand for air travel: cancellations are rising, while passenger loads and air fare are on the decline.
On Tuesday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 1.7 million people nationwide — the lowest number of passengers in nearly two months.
In its most recent financial filing, Southwest Airlines reported seeing a recent uptick in cancellations. The airline attributed them to the rise in COVID-19 cases as fears mount about the delta variant.
The airline projected the surge in cancelations to continue into September, a much more grim outlook than Southwest and most other major U.S. airlines had just three weeks ago.
Travel booking site Hopper has seen domestic demand flatline since July Fourth.
“What we saw was that mid-July was one of our best booking weeks ever,” Hopper economist Adit Damodarn said, “so the domestic bookings were really strong in mid July, but on the domestic front we have seen bookings be pretty flat since then.”
International bookings have been hit harder, Damodarn explained, hitting lower than projected rates.
“I think there’s a lot going on here that’s making people think twice about traveling,” Founder of crankyflier.com Brett Snyder told ABC News. “One of the big concerns for people going internationally is the chances of even if you’re vaccinated of getting an infection seem to be going up. It may not be severe, but it does mean that you might not be able to come back into the U.S. for some time just because of the testing requirement. So with that I think you’re scaring some people off. And then, of course, we have the just general concern about getting sick, going to places where there is more virus.”
Hopper noticed more fliers began to purchase cancel-for-any-reason flight insurance in July.
“It is up about 33% since early July,” Damodarn said. “So I think what we’re seeing here is a little bit of hesitancy, maybe, from users traveling.”
And the airlines’ prices are already starting to reflect the halt in demand recovery.
Average air travel booking prices, before fees, are currently down $76 from the end of June, according to travel itinerary app TripIt.
“We’re seeing a significant drop in domestic and international airfare,” Damodarn said. “It’s a little bit more than the seasonality that we have seen in prior years, and so that would suggest to us that there’s both the seasonal variation coming off the peak summer travel season, as well as the impact of the delta variant.”
(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices continued to climb in July, further stoking concerns over inflation as the economy rebounds from the COVID-19 shock.
The Consumer Price Index, often looked to as a measure of inflation, spiked 5.4% over the last 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. This is the same pace reported in June, tying for the highest 12-month increase since August 2008.
The index rose 0.5% in July alone, the BLS said, leveling off somewhat from the 0.9% increase seen in June.
“This month’s increases were comparatively tame relative to what we had seen the last few months, and that’s in large part because the low bar of a year-ago number is starting to drop out,” Greg McBride, the chief financial analyst at Bankrate, told ABC News on Wednesday.
“What I mean by that is in the second quarter of last year, when the economy was on lockdown, price levels actually declined,” he added. “That exaggerated the increase on a year-over-year basis when we looked at it this year.”
McBride said there is no doubt prices are going up and inflation concerns are valid, adding that “there is more evidence that it could prove to be temporary.”
When compared to pre-pandemic data from two years ago, McBride said the annualized rate would fall to 3.1% versus the more concerning 5.4%.
“Think about a baseball player that usually hits 30 home runs a year, and then one year he hit 10 home runs, and then the next year he comes back and he hits 30 home runs again,” he said. “It’s going to look like he tripled his output — he didn’t. He just returned to normal.”
The so-called core index, which accounts for all items except the more volatile food and energy indexes, climbed 0.3% in July and 4.3% over the past 12 months, the latest data indicate. The food index, meanwhile, increased 0.7% in July and 3.4% over the last 12 months. The energy index climbed 1.6% last month, with the gasoline index alone rising by 2.4%.
The prices for used cars, which have been skyrocketing over the past few months amid a chip shortage, leveled off a bit in July. Used car prices increased by 0.2%, a significant reprieve from the 10.5% increase seen in June.
As consumer demand bounced back when the economy began to reopen all at once, many firms, spanning multiple industries, have reported supply chain bottlenecks and issues hiring back workers.
“Labor shortages and supply chain constraints have been a considerable factor in higher prices and underscores the transitory argument,” McBride said. “This debate of is it transitory or is it more sustained is one that’s going to continue through the balance of 2021.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell similarly downplayed inflation fears in a testimony before lawmakers in May.
“Inflation has increased notably in recent months,” Powell stated, according to his prepared remarks. “This reflects, in part, the very low readings from early in the pandemic falling out of the calculation; the pass-through of past increases in oil prices to consumer energy prices; the rebound in spending as the economy continues to reopen; and the exacerbating factor of supply bottlenecks, which have limited how quickly production in some sectors can respond in the near term.”
As these transitory factors abate, Powell said inflation is expected to drop back down again.
(WASHINGTON) — The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers of ongoing scams related to the child tax credit — with some landing directly in Americans’ email or smartphone.
“Right now we’re seeing scammers trying to take advantage of the American public by attempting to gain information — using phone calls, emails, text messages, through social media — all attempting to target families eligible for this credit,” Jim Lee, chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division told ABC News.
The IRS said families who qualify for the child tax credit, which was expanded as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, would receive monthly payments without taking any further action. Initial eligibility was based on 2019 or 2020 tax returns.
“For tax year 2021, the child tax credit is increased from $2,000 per qualifying child to: $3,600 for children ages 5 and under at the end of 2021; and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17 at the end of 2021,” according to the IRS.
But several scam e-mails and text messages obtained by ABC News, show what appear to be official documents.
“Economic Impact Payments Status Available Jul 26,” one scam e-mail reads and appears to be written on official letterhead.
Lee said that they are seeing scammers send “thousands of text messages and e-mails every day, hoping that they’ll get people to respond and fall prey to their scam.”
“Once you click on that link, you know, it usually directs you to a fake IRS website where then you’re prompted to enter all of your personal information to claim this child tax credit. And just like that, scammers have all your information,” he said.
In another example, a scam text message purports to be from the secretary of the treasury and asks the recipient to complete an “eligibility form.”
Lee said the IRS never sends emails or text messages requesting them to fill out a form with personal information on it.
In addition to e-mails and text messages, Lee said they are also seeing scammers call people directly and in some cases threaten them with arrest if they don’t pay up.
“The IRS doesn’t leave prerecorded or urgent threatening messages or make aggressive phone calls warning to individuals about a lawsuit or arrests. These are fake. The IRS is not going to ask you for payment using a gift card or wire transfer or painting via a cryptocurrency. It’s another sign of a scheme. And the IRS is not going to call taxpayers asking them to provide or verify financial information so they can obtain the monthly child tax credit payments,” he explained.
For anyone who thinks they may have received a scam message or is a victim, Lee said to visit the IRS.gov website for more information.
(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Line can now require guests sailing out of Florida to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a federal judge ruled after the line sued the Sunshine State over its vaccine passport ban.
“We want to do everything we can to keep COVID off our ships,” Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio said in an interview on Good Morning America Tuesday. “It’s the best thing to do, the safest way to travel.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said cruise lines would face a $5,000 fine per passenger if they defied the state’s law that prohibits companies from requiring customers and employees to provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination status.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said Sunday that Norwegian would “suffer significant financial and reputational harms” if it was forced to abide by Florida’s law.
DeSantis’ office responded in a statement to the ruling, saying, “A prohibition on vaccine passports does not even implicate, let alone violate, anyone’s speech rights, and it furthers the substantial, local interest of preventing discrimination among customers based on private health information.”
Florida will now move to appeal the judge’s ruling. Del Rio called the response “disappointing.”
“Here’s a state that depends on tourism and apparently it’s not in their best interests to keep not only our residents safe but our visitors safe so it is very disappointing,” Del Rio said.
Norwegian’s win means it can set sail from Florida on Sunday with a fully vaccinated ship.
Norwegian is requiring all guests and crew to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure. Each passenger will also be tested prior to boarding. Unlike other cruise lines that have made exceptions for children, Norwegian is not allowing any unvaccinated child under the age of 12 to board.
Richard Stieff, a travel agent and cruise enthusiast, praised the decision.
“The cruise lines have to do whatever they can to make sure we’re safe and they can’t go through another episode like they did last year when we had ships stuck out at sea with people with COVID on them,” he told ABC News.
Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if it was not allowed to mandate vaccinations by guests.
“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.
Other major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival told ABC News they are still trying to figure out how the Norwegian ruling affects them.
Last week, some lines announced they will now require pre-boarding testing and masks to be worn in certain indoor areas — even for vaccinated guests.
“We have seen a number of ships report some isolated cases of COVID,” Colleen McDaniel, the editor-in-chief of the website Cruise Critic, told ABC News. “And what we’ve seen is these have been mostly among vaccinated passengers, and certainly the delta variant seems to be having an effect on that.”
Despite at least 95% of guests and crew being vaccinated, Carnival Vista, which departed out of Galveston, Texas, reported a “small number of positive cases” last week — prompting the cruise line to change its policy.
Masks will now be required for sailings Aug. 7 through Oct. 31.
“These new requirements are being implemented to protect our guests and crew while on board, and to continue to provide confidence to our homeports and destinations that we are doing our part to support their efforts to protect public health and safety,” Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in a statement. “We expect these requirements will be temporary and appreciate the cooperation of our guests.”
Holland America and Princess Cruises, which are both owned by Carnival Corporation, announced the same new cruising requirements.
(New York) — Pet adoption rates soared during the pandemic. According to a Rover.com survey from January, 49% of Americans said they got a new dog amid the pandemic.
With travel picking back up, pet parents are looking to bring their fur babies on vacation. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Understand the rules of flying with Fido
Last year, the Department of Transportation revised its rule on traveling with service animals, no longer classifying Emotional Support Animals (ESA’s) as service animals – opening the door for airlines to begin charging for ESA’s.
Currently, most U.S airlines charge customers $125 per flight to bring pets inside the cabin.
Dr. Marie Bucko, a veterinarian, said it’s important to first ask yourself if bringing your pet on your next trip is what’s best for them.
“Your pets are part of the family so it’s understandable that you would want to bring them on a family trip,” Bucko said in an interview with ABC News. “Sometimes it’s not so simple and there’s a lot to think about before bringing pets on vacation with us.”
Bucko said it’s important to take the time of distance of your flight into consideration.
“We certainly don’t want any of our fur babies to get sick on a flight,” Bucko said.
If you feel your pet is up for the plane, make sure your airline will allow them on board.
“Check with the airlines because they may have restrictions on breed and on size and most airlines also require a certificate of veterinary inspection which is like a health certificate more or less,” Bucko said.
If your pet is traveling in the cabin, Bucko said make sure you have an appropriately sized carrier and work on desensitizing your pet to it.
“At the airline or a local pet store you can kind of look into those dimensions and what their restrictions might be,” Bucko said.
2. Pack extra time so your pet can go potty at the airport
Once you arrive at the airport, Bucko said find out where the pet relief areas are located.
“Make sure that you arrived at the airport early enough to exercise your pet bring them to that relief area,” she advised.
After you’ve gone through security, Bucko said its important to let the flight crew know your flying with your pet.
“Your best bet is notifying the flight attendants as soon as you get on that either your pets are with you or they’re in the cargo hold,” Bucko said. “Just having an open line of communication with them as soon as you step onto that flight and say, ‘look I have my pet with me and is there anything that you need from me?’ in order to make this flight easier for all of us.”
3. If you can swing it, some are flying their pets private
Some pet owners are willing to shell out lots of cash to make their pets more comfortable. Luxury Aircraft Solutions, a jet charter company, said in June it saw almost 74% more people traveling with pets than in June 2019.
Daniel Hirschhorn, managing director of Jetmembership.com, said his customers are typically booking charters to move their pets around the country. He said taking your pet on a private jet is more costly than a commercial flight.
“Generally speaking, it’s significantly more expensive to do a private charter, even with those additional fees,” Hirschhorn said. “People spend a lot of money on their pets, they’re part of the family and if they need to get them somewhere they’re willing to pay up.”
Unlike a commercial plane, Hirschhorn said animals don’t need to be crated on Luxury Aircraft Solutions jets.
4. If your pet’s not up to flying, consider taking them on the road
Traveling with a pet by car is more economical for most people. Similar to travel crates, you can also work with your pet to get them used to the car.
“If you don’t often take your pet in the car you can start with short trips to fun destinations like a dog-friendly park or a play area to really get your pet used to riding in a car,” Bucko said.
If your pet gets sick on the road, Bucko said its best to talk with your veterinarian before your next road trip.
“The best piece of advice that I have for you is to talk with your veterinarian about alternate travel suggestions and even medications to keep them comfortable.”
5. Consider pet-friendly destinations for your next vacation
No matter how you decide to get there, make sure your destination will welcome your furry friend.
Emily Kaufman, a travel expert, said she’s seen an uptick in hotels and resorts creating special offers so owners can bring their pets on vacation.
“We don’t want to leave pets behind as we start venturing out,” Kaufman said. “So, we’re seeing new pet owners with new experiences wanting to share those with their pets.”
Most hotels will accept cats and dogs for an extra fee. Kaufman said to look for chains that have dedicated pages for pets on their websites.
“Those places are super welcoming for pets,” Kaufman said. “They usually give you an amenity, kind of a welcome gift, like a guide to where dog parks are in good walking areas.”
(NEW YORK) — Adding items to a cart, shipping and restocking the kitchen can feel a bit monotonous. But thanks to Foxtrot Anywhere, a marketplace with a range of grocery and pantry products from new food entrepreneurs, it’s easier than ever to break free from a re-order rut and shop expertly curated selections.
A new era of trendy consumer product goods, especially in the food and beverage space, command attention for authenticity, diversity and quality both in ingredients and the story behind the people making them.
From stocking and supporting women-owned olive oil companies and Persian Ajil trail mix brands to a Brooklyn-based hot sauce line made by a Barbadian American drag queen, Foxtrot Anywhere puts global flavors on the map in more ways than one.
Originally launched as a brick-and-mortar reinvention of a neighborhood corner store with locations in Chicago, D.C. and Dallas, Foxtrot Anywhere now offers unique locally made and sourced goods online for nationwide delivery.
To kick off their new tastemaker series, the company tapped food expert Nilou Motamed to curate boxes that include her must-have picks like women-founded alcohol-free botanical spirits and ethically sourced Chinese teas.
“What they’re doing is a great disruption story. It’s a great evolution of how we consume,” she told “GMA” about Foxtrot’s business model that identifies and promotes new makers to give consumers access to what’s new. “It’s so important for us to understand eachother’s food as a way of understanding each other — it feels so good to be in this moment in our food culture where we can open people’s eyes to the bigger world out there — spotlight flavors from Israel, Tunisia, [Barbados] — we have an opportunity to let them be heard.”
A judge on TV shows “Top Chef” and “Chopped” and the former editor-in-chief at Food & Wine magazine, Motamed said putting together these boxes was particularly rewarding, especially with her intrinsically hospitable nature.
“Creating community around food is really important — so for me to be able to curate an aisle and talk about my favorite things, to turn people on to new products that they might not be aware of and have a dialogue with people at Foxtrot to bubble up the best things they have to know about and be able to deliver it to them in this big moment is so fun.”
The self-proclaimed “obsessive gifter” said she has always enjoyed creating boxes of treats representative of the person she’s giving it to.
Whether it’s a hosting or housewarming gift, Motamed shared her favorite Foxtrot brands, including: “New York Shuk, a Moroccan harissa paste made by a Brooklyn-based couple that I have in my fridge, it’s such a good product and I think a lot of people don’t know about it; Frankie’s 457, which happens to be where I ate all my early post-lockdown meals, and the olive oil is a signature there and that’s on my kitchen counter, so that olive oil is in one of my boxes; [and] Diaspora, which is a female-owned fair trade spice company.”
“There’s such a powerful force for diversity and female empowerment — and each of these boxes is like my big hug to these hard-working artisans who make our lives more joyful,” Motamed said.
Motamed “worked very hard” with Foxtrot to bring back experiential joy of discovering new products to an online platform, using evocative descriptions since shoppers don’t have the benefit of tasting or smelling.
“There’s so many things coming at us,” Motamed said, “it’s hard to know who to trust and where to spend your money. Because products are so well made and in small batches, we want to make sure that when you get it home that you feel as good as you did in the moment. It’s full of craft, everything feels like it’s part of a joyful exploration of the best things happening in the food space.”
Niloofar Mirani founded Ajil trailmix inspired by her father’s Persian cooking, which is also vegan, gluten- and sugar-free. [It’s] “what every Persian family has in their house — it’s salty-sweet with cashews and plump raisins,” Motamed described of the product that she felt particularly connected to as an Iranian immigrant. Mirani spent a year with her father sourcing the highest quality nuts and dried fruit and perfecting their ratios in each bag, Motamed said.
