Kiko's Food News, 8.3.12

Sysco has pledged to do away with meat from pigs raised in gestation crates; this could have an even greater impact on the practices farmers use across the country than other big names (Burger King, McDonald’s and Kraft, to name a few) that have already made the pledge: (full story, Grist)

Recognizing the challenges faced by food hubs in finding financing, the Healthy Food Commerce Initiative (HFCI), a division of Wholesome Wave, is helping them secure capital by guiding their expansion into new markets, providing technical assistance with business planning, revenue diversification, market sizing, sales strategies and more: (full story, Forbes)

A sommelier for cheese? The 29th annual convention of the American Cheese Society will for the first time offer the Certified Cheese Professional Exam, a test that has been ripening for seven years: (full story, Wall Street Journal)

This article taught me a few new strategies for keeping food fresh at home, from leaving tropical fruits out of the fridge to storing meat and fish at the bottom of it: (full story, Huffington Post)

The new CMO of Quaker Oats discusses how he wants to reinvigorate their brand by targeting younger consumers, particularly moms from 28-32 since “their world is very different from their moms’ world and they are parenting differently from the way their moms parented”: (full story, Forbes)

There’s no doubt that the gluten-free food trend has taken the US by storm; this article investigates how many of us are actually sensitive to gluten, and how flours have changed over time, leading to increased sensitivity: (full story, Fox News)