FDA has beef with the Impossible Burger, Joy Bianchi gets the boot + more local news
(Courtesy of @impossible_foods)

FDA has beef with the Impossible Burger, Joy Bianchi gets the boot + more local news

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Some Bay Area news to muse over this week...


S.F. charity ousts longtime director following Chronicle investigation, SF Chronicle


Seventy-eight-year-old socialite and style icon Joy Venturini Bianchi is having a bad day. After a recent Chronicle investigation into Helpers Community, Inc.—the charity over which she has long presided—Bianchi has been dismissed from her well-paid, well-heeled seat in the director's chair. It seems that while she was scooting between boutiques in her company-funded Jaguar and scooping up hundreds of thousands of dollars in designer threads, the nonprofit—whose mission it was to donate funds to charities that supported the developmentally disabled—forgot to, um, donate its funds to charities that supported the developmentally disabled. We are assuming this means that Bianchi will not be gracing us with her eccentric presence on the red carpets at this fall's arts galas. Read more.

Street artist pays tribute to Tenderloin with finished brain mural, Curbed SF

A pair of 70-foot-tall brains is now sprouting on the wall alongside the Hotel Alise. Compliments of New England artist Believe in People (or BiP), the mural pays tribute to the Tenderloin. Read more.


Impossible Burger's 'Secret Sauce' Highlights Challenges of Food Tech, NY Times

With its beef-like blood and meaty taste, the plant-based Impossible Burger has been celebrated by foodies, vegetarians, and environmentalists alike. But, the FDA, it seems, isn't quite ready to bust out the grill for a veggie pool party. In response to requests from the Silicon Valley company to confirm the safety of its meat-free patty, the old-school government agency has expressed concerns that the burger's "bloody" sauce, soy leghemoglobin, may be an unsafe allergen. Read more.


After legalizing weed, California's black market could remain huge, Cal Matters

Economists estimate that California farms grow more than 13.5 million pounds of cannabis every year, while Californians annually consume only about 2.5 million pounds. Where is that 11 million pounds of leftover green going to go? Although California may have passed legalization, other states haven't—you do the math. Read more.


City Offers To Buy Upper Haight McDonald's, Build Affordable Housing, Hoodline

McDonald's Corporation is considering the city's offer to buy its restaurant on Haight and Stanyan—a location whose reputation for onsite crime makes it a little less than happy. Neighbors have been pushing the city to buy the restaurant for a while, and now it aims to use the location to build affordable housing. Read more.


Rich SF residents get a shock: Someone bought their street, SF Chronicle

At a quiet auction back in April 2015, a South Bay couple got the deal of a lifetime: For just $90,000, the pair purchased one of the toniest private streets in San Francisco, home to socialites, politicians, and foreign consuls (our own 7x7 editor was once a guest at a dinner on this street, hosted at the home of the British Consul in honor of Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton). Only, the residents of Presidio Terrace are just finding out about their strange new landlords, who now legally control all common ground on the block—including the parking spots. Read more.

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