By Josie Sellers, health & wellness reporter
Once used to transport coal between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, the now-paved Huckleberry Trail has connected Montgomery County for more than a century. As warmer weather arrives and construction wraps up, residents are eager for full access to the trail.
By Allera Bee, education reporter
In the midst of a culture dominated by animal-based protein the Alternative Protein Project at Virginia Tech is actively creating conversations around plant-based foods, fermented foods and cultivated meat.
In January of this year, the FDA significantly reconstructed the food pyramid for the first time in decades. The federal reset urged Americans to eat “real foods” while also heavily pushing protein and full-fat dairy consumption. The nationwide chapter of The Alternative Protein Club is here to tell us that there are better and more sustainable solutions to America’s quest for protein.
The nationwide network of Alternative Protein Projects operates under “The Good Food Inc” which is an international nonprofit think tank. The organization is working to advance education around alternative proteins that can help countries “meet climate, global health, food security and biodiversity goals,” according to The Good Food Inc. Each of the 94 chapters of the Alternative Protein Project provide education and opportunities to a smaller audience on their college campuses.
According to Evelyn Nelson-Pennebaker, the president of Virginia Tech’s Alt Protein Project chapter, “One thing GFI has always been working towards is showing the difference between various types of food processing.” The FDA’s reconstruction directly targets all processed foods, which she says “impacts plant-based meat and how people feel and think about it.” Marty Makary, the commissioner for the FDA, said that the new administration and FDA together “want to call out ultra-processed foods.” However, “plant-based meats when used in place of meat, as part of an otherwise healthy diet, can actually reduce the risk of heart disease and many other common illnesses that most get from overconsumption of red meat,” says Nelson-Pennebaker. Nelson-Pennebaker explained that this is why it is critical to discuss the distinction between various forms of processing amidst the new food pyramid and its narrative that targets all processed foods.
Many Americans for a long time have thought that animal product based diets are the only solution to protein deficiencies. For example, Nelson-Pennebaker pointed out that the new food pyramid emphasizes full-fat dairy milk consumption while “water is most other countries’ choice for their food guidelines.” When we think of protein in America, we often visualize steak, eggs or yogurt. Because of the United States history with animal-based protein there have been rising concerns related to both how this consumption affects our health and environment. According to The Sustainable Nutrition Initiative “By switching to sustainable sugar production, renewable electricity, and innovative production systems, protein production via precision fermentation could have lower environmental effects than animal-derived proteins.” Though as stated by the SNI, alternative protein is a new niche topic of research and conversation. To get the word out there, the GFI and Alternative Protein Project’s mission is to advance education so that Americans have a broader understanding of what healthy and sustainable protein consumption can look like as well as how it benefits our environment.
Notably, because alternative protein is an emerging concept, one of GFI’s major objectives inside of their mission is to stimulate open-access research. That is their goal is not to blindly lead Americans into a new protein haze without scientific backup. With a greater global audience, GFI is able to secure funding and recognition to further alternative protein research and academic collaborations and expand what scientists know about the pros and cons of this food. Katy Schwartz, the outreach and social media director of Virginia Tech’s Alt Protein chapter, points out that it’s also important to “separate the hard line of veganism from our diets.” She says “It can be intimidating for people to completely cut out meat and other dietary products.” Unlike the FDA’s new strict food guidelines, GFI and the Alternative Protein Project are not drawing a line in the sand between what is considered good and bad protein. Conversely, it is clear that their goal is to expand the conversation surrounding alternative proteins in an effort to learn more through discussion and research.
Each semester, the Virginia Tech Alternative Protein Project holds events and meetings to both engage and educate students. Some of these previously included sensory food evaluation lab tours, live discussions with doctors and experts in the field, as well as taste testing vegetarian and vegan protein-packed foods. With each activity, the students and student leaders spread the word about alternative proteins. The organization is also a welcoming space for students who are interested or curious about alternative protein to meet like minded people and learn more together. Each student lead chapter is issued 1:1 guidance from mentors involved in the alternative protein innovation and research process.
As Katy Schwartz says, “Alternative proteins don’t have to be this gross and foreign concept.” “They can honestly be really delicious and provide a lot of cool opportunities to see the behind the scenes of some really cool institutions that we have on our campus.”
Much of The Alternative Protein Project’s work is completed in the Food Science & Technology Lab on campus.
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Blacksburg, Va.
Photo by Allera Bee
Executive members of The Alternative Protein Project Participate in Gobbler Fest.
Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. Blacksburg, Va.
Photo by Katy Schwartz
by Hayden McNeal, health & wellness reporter
AI is growing in more ways than thought possible and people in almost all fields are starting to use it, including clinical professionals. Professionals from Virginia Tech’s Carilion School of Medicine explain what can come out of the use of AI.
With the rising use of AI in medicine, there can be a number of different outcomes when it comes to using this technology. AI could analyze data points faster, significantly better determine what and how much medicine a patient needs, determine risk levels quicker, make clinical work more efficient, and lower burnout. It could also harm humans’ ability to complete steps in a task or tool.
“Now we can leverage AI to help us determine what is the best medical chemotherapeutic regimen for that patient in front of you, which may be a different chemotherapeutic regimen from the patient you saw yesterday,” said Professor Jon Sweet, chair of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “As genomic information becomes way cheaper and much more widely deployed, AI will help us figure out which medications might work best for a certain person.”
Sweet noted that with the help of AI, doctors will be able to analyze data points faster. Many electronic health records have some early warning signs with up to 70 data points to find an illness then alerts a clinician to start diagnostics or therapeutics. Sweet claimed with AI churning in the background, analyzing and identifying causes will most likely make it easier to efficiently make an accurate diagnosis from finding nodes during lung cancer screenings to detecting breast masses on mammograms.
This quick and thorough analysis of patients will also determine the exact type and dosage of medicine based on their genomic makeup. Additionally, Sweet thinks that this will cut down on the cost of medicine.
Eventually, Sweet believes that AI will not only be able to identify diseases before they become noticeable to clinicians, but identify the risk levels of the patients. This will allow doctors to focus on higher-risk patients rather than putting efforts into curing those who may not need it. That is a point Sweet noted, the amount of overtreatment that is happening currently and how much money and how many materials are being wasted by it. He claimed that has been costly and can even be dangerous, and AI can help mitigate this problem.
“I think in efficiency in looking at information and potentially calling out what is not really relevant while looking for patterns, AI could help in following trends that could be really efficient for the practicing physician,” said Dr. Rebecca Pauly, vice dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “I think in some of the studies that have looked at, AI’s ability to interpret radiology has been quite efficient and accurate, as well as in reading EKGs. I look at it as an augmenting tool to what the physicians, time, energy, and mind can accomplish.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, by integrating AI into VR/AR technologies, the potential to boost radiological efficiency, improve diagnostic accuracy, and improve treatment planning exponentially exists.
“We have open notes so the patients can read their notes that the doctor writes, which is a very good way to communicate,” Sweet said. “And as you can imagine, the note that our AI scribe generates is easy to read, it’s organized, it’s pithy as opposed to what the doctor does with typos and doctor speak and all this imported crap. The modern note has become unintelligible to patients and families, but when you use AI to soften it up and make it helpful to the patients and the rest of the health care team, you make it better.
This efficiency that AI machines offer helps clinicians mitigate some of that clerical administrative burden that accompanies practicing medicine. The tedious recording of every patient’s data may be a thing of the past. Patients will be able to review their doctors’ written feedback much faster post-clinical session.
“There’s this concept in the broader house of the various medical specialties, where there’s a lot of burnout,” Sweet remarked. “Oftentimes, 40% of people who are burning out and are thinking about leaving medicine, which is very problematic because one, we actually need more healthcare providers around the country and especially in certain specialty areas.”
Sweet noted that of the 300 clinicians at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine there was a 48% burnout last year. Now, the burnout rate is at 38%. He credits this to the incorporation of AI in their workplace.
Additionally, Sweet remarked about his wife. She is a busy family physician who sees patients all day long. When she incorporated AI into her work it saved her all her late nights of documentation and clinical work after a long day at the office. Even Sweet himself admitted that the use of ChatGPT has made his job much easier.
“We’ve used AI for API development processing, and it does fill some gaps of skills that you may not be super knowledgeable in,” said Dustin Womack, director of IT at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “I like to call it the microwave, you can put in and get the desired outcome, but you kind of miss the home cooked meal. You’re missing some of the steps in the processing and then long-term development and maintenance of a task or tool. I think that’s kind of important when we’re thinking about the risk and long-term usage of AI.”
AI is a rapidly developing and popular tool that humans will use for years and years to come. Although humans are starting to incorporate it into medical practices, patients still heavily rely on human clinicians for their medical needs. AI could heavily improve the medical industry and could change how humans go about seeking medical advice. It could also limit humans. Only time will tell.
By Deric Q. Allen, Politics & Government reporter
(Roanoke, Va) — The Harrison Museum of African American Culture had announced their relocation to Melrose Plaza in the latter part of last year. Recently, they announced that they will temporarily open their doors as they launch their “Next 40 Years Campaign.”
The long-established Harrison Museum of African American culture has been a staple of Downtown Roanoke for decades. After their initial move to Downtown Roanoke in 2013, the Harrison Museum will return to Northwest Roanoke in what Executive Director, Eric Beasley, calls a leadership defining move. The museum made the move last summer and aims to enhance Northwest Roanoke’s connection to the region’s cultural ecosystem. This “cultural ecosystem” will be on display in the Harrison Museum’s new thematic exhibits, which will be in rotation every six months. This rotational programming will ensure fresh and relevant content for visitors as well as enlighten them to some of the hidden history of the Roanoke and New River Valley. “We’re moving beyond traditional exhibits to create experiences that link historical objects with the real stories of people’s lives and show how those stories still matter today,” said E.B. Smith.
Eric Beasley is more than the Executive Director of the Harrison Museum, he is a well-traveled Thespian, who’s been introduced to many stories, artists, and histories that traverse the African diaspora. E.B. Smith remarked that, “I think all of that gives you a really nuanced understanding of migration, of how cultural priorities are so nuanced and varied, but also an understanding of how those things tie us together, of course those common threads really can be found regardless of where we’re coming from.”
Smith further commented in an online interview earlier this week, regarding the motives behind the moving of the Harrison Museum and what the local community can expect from the new and improved space. “There was a lot that went in to that discussion, but, when it really boils down I think – the museum had been down at Center of the Square for quite some time, and I think over the last several years in particular the focus of Center in the Square and how it was imagined to show up in terms of the cultural landscape of the city had been shifting. — It was a chance to move back to the neighborhood where the museum was founded, we’re back in the Northwest, so that was really cool to be back in community with folks.”
As the interview progressed, the topic of reparations presented itself, as well as the initiative to distribute potential funds to those affected by urban renewal in Gainsboro and Northeast Roanoke. This project is led by the city’s Equity and Empowerment Advisory Board chair, Angela Penn, and Mayor Joe Cobb. If the reparations effort were to be approved, Roanoke could join other cities such as Charlottesville, Asheville, and Spartanburg in the effort to make up for historical wrongdoing. Although this initiative is progressive, E.B. Smith has differing opinions on what this could mean for the Black community in Roanoke and how the Harrison Museum is contributing to the reparative efforts. “I mean, it’s yet to be seen what reparations and reparative action will look like, it’s not clear if that’s strictly financial, if it’s policy driven, y’know I don’t know what it’s going to look like. But I think all of this work that we do, on some level, is reparative. It’s all about healing, and from my perspective the most important thing that we can do is continue to inspire that imagination about the future.”
In addition to speaking to E.B. Smith, I was also able to set up an interview with Virginia Tech’s Dr. Michelle Moseley, who currently serves as the co-director of the Material Culture MA program alongside her colleague Lauren DiSalvo. Dr. Moseley’s current research projects focus on female collectors and collections and recently published an article titled “At Home in the Early Modern Dutch Dollhouse: Gender, Materiality, and Collecting in the Seventeenth-and Eighteenth-century” while under contract with Amsterdam University Press.
“I haven’t been to the new location yet but I’m aware of the new exhibition on Black community in medical history in Roanoke, which I think is going to be a great one. They do have a lot of photographs, a lot of archives, a lot of papers and these are important records for the community to understand Black History in the New River Valley and the contributions that this community has made to the larger scope of the NRV.” Dr. Moseley has been collecting for several years and has used what she’s collected to answer questions about the people who made them and what their culture is made up of.
To Dr. Moseley, these same questions can be asked and answered when viewing the collections that reside in the Harrison Museum. One archival object that Dr.Moseley is most excited about seeing is the Henrietta Lacks sculpture. Lacks, whose immortal cells are instrumental in the creation of various vaccines and restorative research projects, was a native of Roanoke. Moseley concluded with, “I know the Harrison Museum has had a big hand in promoting that particular work, as you know Henrietta Lacks is from Virginia, so she is such an important person, has such a big impact on our culture and I absolutely can’t wait to see that.”
By Emma Duncan, education reporter
Montgomery County goes by many titles—rural community, persistent-poverty county, the greater Blacksburg area, home. Some of these titles carry more weight than others.
For Montgomery County Public Schools, being classified as a rural area or not can stand between receiving federal funding and benefits.
The National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the Department of Education, uses a 12-category classification system to define locales as one of four categories: city, suburban, town and rural. Locales are different from counties: counties house an entire school district of locales, while locales typically represent one community or 1-3 schools.
According to the June 2007 NCES Status of Education in Rural America report, “The new measures or locale codes are assigned to each school according to the school’s physical longitude and latitude. Thus, these new locale codes make school data more consistent, accurate, and useful to policymakers, researchers, and educators concerned with rural education issues.”
The NCES Locale Lookup map shows that Montgomery County is majority rural, with most of the county falling in the rural fringe category. At the center of the county, two bubblegum pink regions dictate small cities, better known as Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
This map and data from NCES are used by other government agencies and departments as the basis for resource allocation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has its own FNS Rural Designation Map used to qualify students for free or reduced lunch and the summer meals program. On this map, all of Montgomery County is green and classified as rural, except for Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
“We have four unique strands in our county: Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Shallsville-Elliston, and Reiner,” said Andrew Webb, coordinator of communications and public relations for MCPS. “Shawsville and Reiner qualify. Christiansburg does not. Blacksburg Middle and High schools don’t necessarily qualify, but Price’s Fork Elementary School does; it’s not necessarily within the town of Blacksburg limits, but it’s got a Blacksburg address.”
Webb explained that MCPS bases its internal classification and allocation on this map, acknowledging that most of the county is rural. However, some scholarship and financial aid programs don’t agree.
The George Washington Carver Assistantship Program through Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences “[supports] the development of high-achieving graduate students with varied, diverse experiences and backgrounds.” U.S. resident graduate students in this college can apply for the scholarship if they meet at least one of the following criteria: are a first-generation student, have a disability, are a veteran or come from a disadvantaged background, such as a rural area.
This scholarship utilizes the Health Resources and Services Administration Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data to define rural; Montgomery County is not considered rural or grant eligible on either of these indicators.
While the HRSA does not consider Montgomery County rural, the county is classified as a persistent poverty county, an area “in which poverty rates of 20 percent or higher have persisted for 30 years or more,” according to an article from the USDA. This definition may cause some to conclude that, if an area is rural for so long, it can lose its rural status and be redefined by its poverty, limiting scholarship access to a county that historically needs it.
The HRSA was contacted for a comment, but only referenced their “How We Define Rural” website. One aspect of the administration’s rural definition read, “outlying metropolitan counties with no population from an urban area of 50,000 or more people.” This is where the bubble gum pink regions come into play.
The Town of Blacksburg defines itself as “a vibrant college community with a daily population of over 50,000 people.” When Virginia Tech is in session, over 30,000 students call Blacksburg home. The population of Blacksburg disqualifies Montgomery County as a rural area.
As a tax-exempt organization, Virginia Tech does not pay local taxes to Montgomery County. However, the university still impacts its community and serves Montgomery County students economically and through development and education efforts.
“Virginia Tech gives in so many different ways and we can’t limit ourselves just to one measure,” said Mark Owczarski, chief spokesperson. “At our university, impact is about bringing families together, empowering students, bringing faculty into the local schools and hosting programming, not to mention living here. Faculty and staff have kids in the Montgomery County school system. When they decide to live here, they bring whatever talents and gifts they have to the community at large, along with investing their salaries in the area. Virginia Tech is Montgomery County, so as Virginia Tech changes, our impact changes.”
Many classes, including Community Writing in the Department of English, visit county schools weekly to teach students, host programming and support the development of Montgomery County. Clubs such as Primeros Pasos mentor disadvantaged students as they navigate post-secondary education and life.
Although students from Montgomery County may not qualify for state and federal scholarships based on rural status, the Virginia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admissions offers onsite admission, a service that gives early application review and decision to high schools in the New River Valley and Roanoke Valley.
“They have their own process just for local kids,” Owczarski said.” “They don’t do it because they have to, they do it because they want to. We want Virginia Tech to be an obvious choice for students in surrounding areas.”
In mid-February, Virginia Tech will receive its economic impact report, completed by Tripp Umbach, which will detail the location and reach of the university’s cited multi-billion-dollar impact. Owczarski shared that he will be briefed on the report and able to answer questions about it beginning Wednesday, Feb. 18.
With a mixture of classifications, resources, and support services in Montgomery County’s reach, Webb clarified that the school district doesn’t let titles prevent its students from succeeding.
“Equity is a big part of what we do here,” Webb said. “We have a director of equity who strives to make education as accessible as possible, reducing barriers, whether it be transportation, meals, anything we can do to help level the playing field. If you don’t have a fair share, it’s hard to want to go to school every day, and we want to make our schools a place where every kid feels welcome and wanted.”
by JJ Hendrickson & Justin Patrick–
A hidden tunnel was found beneath a dresser in New York City’s Merchant House Museum, which is the only 19th-century home in the city that is preserved intact, both inside and out. The tunnel, which is about 2 feet wide and 2 feet long, could only be revealed by pulling the bottom drawer completely out of the dresser.
The concealed room likely served as a safe house for slaves trying to escape by way of the underground railroad, especially during the early and mid-1800s. White abolitionists were rare in New York at the time the building was constructed in 1832, but it is believed the original owner, Joseph Brewster, was one of the few willing to help slaves find safe refuge.
By Isabella Ubillus, crime, safety, and justice reporter
On any given night in Blacksburg, encountering an impaired driver remains higher than people might think. The issue continues to challenge police and public health officials alike.
Virginia Tech Police made 53 DUI related arrests in 2025, an increase from 47 in 2024. While the statistics may tend to fluctuate, law enforcement says that the risk still remains.
“Really any night that the bar is open, the possibility of arresting a DUI driver is very high because of the environment,” Lt. David Tribble of Virginia Tech Police said.
In the New River Valley, and Blacksburg specifically, impaired driving is not only a criminal offense, but a broader public safety and community issue. Local law enforcement, behavioral health officials and researchers all say that the American drinking culture, the emerging use of cannabis and a shift in social perception continue to shape the DUI risks in college towns and in the rural region of the New River Valley.
Many of the recent arrests made are due to the growing officer experience, according to Tribble.
“Some of our officers are getting into their years of experience and they’re able to see the signs of impairment better…with more experience, they’ve been able to make more arrests,” Tribble said.
For many college aged students, the signs of impairment may not be as obvious.
“When they come to college, they experiment a lot and they don’t have a lot of experience with alcohol, so they end up drinking more than they should and they don’t really have the foresight to know that it’s unsafe,” Tribble said. “They think that they’re fine, kind of that mentality of being young and invincible.”
Early on in his career, Tribble worked fatal crash reconstruction with his unit, many of which were fatal crashes involving alcohol.
“The possibility of altering your life permanently or somebody else’s life…taking that risk of driving after you’ve consumed alcohol is not worth that possibility,” he said.
But the consequences reach beyond the individual driver.
Mike Wade, program coordinator of the New River Valley Community Services Community Wellness and Outreach, says the issue is a shared responsibility.
“It absolutely is a community issue,” Wade said. “Law enforcement comes into play after someone participates in that behavior. From a community standpoint, we have to reiterate the point that this is not socially acceptable.”
New River Valley Community Services is the region’s primary provider of behavioral health services and serves around 12,000 residents annually across Montgomery, Floyd, Giles and Pulaski counties along with the city of Radford. According to Wade, DUI related crashes can severely impact communities beyond the legal proceedings.
“That’s a life-changing event for a family to go through, and that adds a layer on top of normal grief that folks might feel,” Wade said. “It impacts the entire community when we lose someone to a senseless mistake like that. We all suffer for that in some way, whether we know the person directly or not.”
Simultaneously, substance use trends are shifting. Cannabis use is becoming more common, particularly with conversations about the drug becoming legalized for recreational use in Virginia.
“I think society has beaten the drum pretty well when it comes to not drinking and driving,” Wade said. “We’ve already seen some early data that indicates people who regularly use THC products tend to get behind the wheel more than they should. If you’re going to use this stuff, do it wisely and be responsible.”
Research done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) supports those concerns. According to Naomi Dunn, a research scientist at VTTI, a third of fatalities on roadways are due to impaired driving — around 13,000 deaths every year.
Dunn’s research focuses on how to refine in-vehicle technologies to help prevent impaired driving. In recent studies, participants were dosed with controlled amounts of alcohol looking at various driving performance measures.
“Alcohol is very much a linear relationship between the amount of alcohol you consume and the impact that it has on your performance,” Dunn said. “The more you consume, the worse your driving gets. Without a doubt.”
Impairment due to cannabis presents its own challenges. Different methods of consumption can affect users in different ways.
“We see that people have a tendency to react slower when they’ve consumed cannabis,” Dunn said. “They brake later and harder, because they’re not focused on what they’re supposed to be doing.”
She also warned against the rising issue of polydrug use, the mixing of different substances. Citing that smaller amounts of each substance has a larger impact than on their own.
For many students in a rural region like the New River Valley, isolation and social acceptance play a role in these decisions. Many high school students in the area cite the fact that there are not enough extracurricular activities, leaving them to drink with their friends, according to Wade.
“There’s a low perception of harm from a society standpoint,” he said. “We have seen the glorification of marijuana, guys like Snoop Dogg openly promoting the use of those kinds of products. Alcohol is more socially accepted than it was 20 years ago.”
Different prevention strategies have been proven effective, education and proper messaging being the most critical, according to Dunn. For first time offenders, putting them in treatment programs and installing interlock devices can be more effective than license suspension.
“You can teach people a lesson without actually destroying their life, if that makes sense,” she said. “For younger people or for first-time offenders, it’s better to try and delay those harsh, punitive punishment options and try a treatment approach first.”
In Blacksburg, transportation alternatives such as Safe Ride, rideshare services and public transit are available.
“I don’t think it comes down to shame and stigma,” Wade said. “I think you need to be clear about the potential risks and the harms that people could face for themselves or for others that might be involved. And really just ask them to make responsible, educated decisions that aren’t just about them, but the people around them.”
By Sarah Shrader, health & wellness reporter
Protein is the latest health craze in the U.S. However, the exponential rise in protein-marketed products and consumption has experts warning that this may have gone too far.
“Now, protein is part of the marketing environment,” stated Vivica Kraak, who holds a doctorate and is an associate professor of food and nutrition policy at Virginia Tech University. “It’s the new gluten-free.”
CBS news reports that last year, 61% of Americans increased their protein intake. Industries took notice, as protein-centered products popped up in the forms of Starbucks’ Protein Cold Foam, Dunkin Donuts’ Protein Refreshers, and Kroger’s Simple Truth Protein Line.
Hyper protein consumption is a predominantly younger facing health trend. Younger generations, such as Millennials and Generation Z, on average, spend $71 on protein items (meat, dairy, powders, chips, etc.) per week, whereas older generations tend to spend about $27, according to Empower’s recent “The Protein is Extra” study.
Additionally, 43% of Americans reported that they are willing to pay higher prices for protein-enhanced items. That percentage is higher among Generation Z, 56% of whom reported splurging on protein goods. The study further affirms Americans’ protein preference; it found that 50% of respondents check protein content first when reading nutrition labels, and that 45% consciously look for protein-labeled items.
The muscle-building macro further solidifies itself as a health stamp of approval as 72% of study respondents reported that if a product is labeled as protein-enhanced, they are more likely to pay extra. A majority of respondents also stated that they are looking to increase their protein intake – enter Simple Truth Protein Line.
Launched on September 17, 2025, and marketed as an affordable and “free from unwanted ingredients” protein option, Kroger’s Simple Truth brand offers more than 110 protein-enhanced grocery items.
The line boasts everyday products enhanced with whey, pea, and various concentrated protein sources. Additionally, products that are already protein-rich are featured, like Simple Truth’s protein cottage cheese. Their version sports 15 grams per ½ cup serving, in juxtaposition to Good Culture’s 14 grams for the same serving size.
Other merchandise includes, but is not limited to:
Simple Truth Protein’s grain free berry flavored cereal on grocery store shelf. (photo by Sarah Shrader TheNewsFeedNRV.com)
The Simple Truth Protein Line appeals to health-conscious consumers, looking to eat right. While it may be grocery supplies, the line is marketed as health products and an investment in one’s overall well-being.
“We’re just talking about wellness more like a product or a service, but not comprehensively,” Kraak stated. “We live in a very saturated environment with commercial messages. That’s just the nature of American society.”
The U.S. is by far the largest health economy in the world. Valued at $2 trillion, it represents one-third of the global wellness economy according to the Global Wellness Institute.
“I think the opposite of mindful living and mindful eating is this optimization culture that’s being driven by marketers and advertisers,” Kraak stated. “There’s a whole monetary economy behind it. I think it’s going to have detrimental impacts if you can never reach perfection.”
As wellness is packaged and sold to American consumers, health fads often present themselves as a capitalist opportunity to gain market share. Spanning from ketogenic diets, Whole30, juice cleanses, gluten-free and now to protein-centric diets, Kraak noted that pervasive health claims and marketing have oversaturated the market and led to confusion surrounding nutrition.
Woman compares yogurt brands at Kroger in Blacksburg, VA. (photo by Sarah Shrader TheNewsFeedNRV.com)
“We don’t yet know how much ultra-processed food can be consumed without having health risks,” stated Brenda Davvy, who holds a doctorate and is a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech University.
Kroger’s push for protein is also a symptom of a larger trend in the U.S., according to Kraak. While American protein intake increased in recent years, the new federal dietary guidelines encourage greater protein intake across the board.
“For decades, the recommended daily intake of protein has been 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight,” Davvy stated. “The latest version of our dietary guidelines, which were just released, increase this a bit to about 1.2 grams protein per kilogram of body weight.”
Kraak addressed the change in nutrition guidance, asserting that, today, most Americans are not underconsuming protein, but more likely overconsuming it. She noted that without proper movement, excess protein stores as fat in the body. Further, Kraak added that protein diversity, specifically consuming plant-based proteins, is more crucial than eating it in large quantities.
Experts, like Davvy and Kraak, endorse the Mediterranean diet, which is ranked as the healthiest diet in 2025 by U.S.News. The diet focuses on whole foods with an emphasis on diverse plant consumption. Intuitive eating is also promoted, in contrast to other diets, which tend to suggest restriction of calories or elimination of food groups.
Kraak also emphasized the importance of integrating movement into daily life, such as ditching the car and walking, using public transport, engaging in frequent exercise and overall simplifying wellness in a media landscape that is designed to complicate it.
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