Celebrity Health

Hungry consumers are looking elsewhere for a juicy bite as America starts to feel the crunch from meat shortages ... and it's a boon for plant-based meats.

Here's the deal ... with traditional meat processing plants and slaughterhouses getting hit hard by COVID-19, there's a looming shortage of traditional meats and poultry. Based on the numbers, more and more people are taking the opportunity to try new, healthier options.

Two of the country's biggest plant-based meat producers, Tofurky and Impossible Foods, both tell TMZ ... sales are up and they've already found ways to cut into the conventional meat industry's marketplace.

Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos tells us his company is selling more inventory to stores than ever before. It's a pretty stark change ... Tofurky says one of its retail partners fears conventional meat sales will nosedive 30 percent.

Tofurky is upping its supply to fill the void.

In response, Tofurky's upping its supply to fill the void, and capitalize on the Wendy's burger shortage ... it's about to roll out a new line of plant-based burgers.

Over at Impossible Foods, President Dennis Woodside says they had record retail sales in April and struck new deals with major grocery chains like Kroger. Impossible already jumped into the fast-food game by partnering with Burger King -- pre-pandemic -- and Woodside says those sales remain strong.

Beyond Meat is making a killing too ... with a whopping 141% increase in first-quarter net revenues, compared to last year.

Plant-based beef ... it's what's for dinner in 2020.

Novak Djokovic ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

The tennis superstar not only broke Spain's social distancing rules on Monday to play tennis -- he posted video of himself doing it!

The 32-year-old posted footage hitting balls back and forth with another man on a clay court in Marbella, Spain.

Usually, not a problem ... but Spain -- which was hit hard by COVID-19 -- has strict stay-at-home rules which specifically forbid tennis!

So, when Novak posted footage Monday showing a rally with another man, people were super upset!

"So happy to play on clay," Djokovic wrote ... "Well, just for a bit with my phone in the hands."

Spain has said athletes are allowed to work out by themselves -- but the back-and-forth exchange with another player appears to violate the policy.

Unclear if officials will take action against Novak. We're making calls.

It's not the first time Novak made headlines during the pandemic -- just last month he publicly announced that he's an anti-vaxxer who's opposed to a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine.

Two huge stars are joining forces to raise money for Holocaust survivors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ... by kicking your ass into shape!

NFL star Julian Edelman and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas have signed on to teach a Trooper Fitness virtual workout class to raise money for the 333 Charity and UJA-Federation.

The orgs say all proceeds will go toward providing meals for Holocaust survivors living in New York who are unable to leave their homes due to the health crisis.

"There are 36,000 Holocaust survivors living in the New York area, 40% of whom are living in poverty," 333 says.

Isiah Thomas explained his decision to join the event to Page Six ... saying, "Watching New York and the rest of the world get hit by the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult."

"Myself and my family are happy to work with 333 Charity and other organizations on Giving Tuesday to support meal deliveries for Holocaust survivors living in poverty during this difficult time."

The class -- $20 per person -- will take place over Zoom beginning at 3:30 PM PT.

Baseball might be back in Korea ... but traditional ceremonial first pitches sure as hell ain't!!

Check out how the Korean Baseball Organization adhered to social distancing guidelines while kicking off one of its games Tuesday ... a 9-year-old in a bubble did the honors!!

The unique scene all went down just before KT Wiz's game in South Korea ... when Lee Raon took the mound inside of an air-filled bag shaped like a baseball.

But, instead of the kid throwing out a pitch ... he walked his bubble to home plate, signifying the game's first throw -- and boom, that tipped off the action on the diamond!!!

Unclear how the kid was able to breathe ... but everyone sure seemed to enjoy baseball's return to the country amid the coronavirus pandemic regardless -- the little boy even got a through-the-bubble high-five from the catcher!!

Byron Allen says the news about people waiting in line for hours to feed their families motivated him to do something, and he got instant support from a slew of superstar comedians.

The famed TV mogul told us he hatched the idea for the "Feeding America Comedy Festival" just a couple weeks ago, and his first call to get it going was to Kevin Hart.

Byron was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and said he followed up with calls to Tiffany Haddish, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler and so many more ... and they all had the same answer -- let's do this.

Byron -- who's partnering with Funny or Die to produce the benefit -- says viewers can expect more than just cookie-cutter material from the comics and actors. He tells us he gave them free rein to get creative in 2-3 minutes ... and it's going to produce lotsa laugh-out-loud moments.

Some other big names set to appear on the 2-hour comedy special include Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Whitney Cummings, Whoopi Goldberg, George Lopez, Marc Maron, JB Smoove and Marlon Wayans.

'Feeding America' encompasses a nationwide network of 200 food banks, and Byron told us the majority of them are facing increased demand for food and supplies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus is hurting Wendy's on the fryer, 'cause the famous fast-food chain can't serve their most basic product ... forcing people to ask the age-old question, "Where's the beef?"

It's true ... several Wendy's locations across the U.S. -- including here in California -- are experiencing a meat shortage due to COVID-19, especially in the beef department ... and as a result, a lot of them are yanking their famous burger creations from the menu. NOOO!!!

The reason ... lots of slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants are starting to shutter, either because of lay-offs or because the government's shutting them down out of precaution in an attempt to curb spreading even more disease. We know that game all too well lately.

Now, the pig-tailed redhead can't offer her famous "fresh-never-frozen" patties in certain parts of the U.S. -- and while customers are disappointed, they're also poking fun at the sitch.

Of course, we're talking ol' Clara Peller and the iconic '80s and '90s Wendy's commercials that boldly asked competitors ... "WHERE'S THE BEEF?!?" We're sure you've seen at least one -- and if not, here's a compilation of them back-to-back-to-back for good measure.

It used to be the pride and joy of Wendy's -- now, we have to settle for chicken sandwiches, Frostys, baked potatoes and chili. Actually, that doesn't sound half bad 😝

Here's further proof not all heroes wear capes or badges ... sometimes they're famous TV mobsters like Joseph Gannascoli, who is taking it upon himself to feed frontline workers.

The actor -- famous for playing capo Vito Spatafore on the hit HBO series -- started his mission early last month with a goal of raising $50k to feed hospital workers, firefighters and other frontline workers.

Joseph started a GoFundMe and the donations started piling up pretty fast. So far, he's raised just over $25k and he's ordered food from his local neighborhood restaurants and delivered it throughout NY ... from Long Island and Staten Island to the Bronx and Brooklyn.

His objective -- help local restaurants with some much-needed business while also helping emergency workers who are working nonstop to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. So far, he's brought TONS of meals to hospitals, fire departments, police departments and even a U.S. post office.

Joseph's massive deliveries -- from his neighborhood restaurants like Villa Maria, Vincent's Clam Bar, Greek Xpress, and Habanero Mexican -- have really wowed those receiving it, including Cohen Children's Hospital, Nassau University Medical Center to the Lynbrook Police Department. And, as long as the money keeps coming in, he'll continue to order the food, pick it up himself and also deliver the food himself.

And, get this ... Joseph got some much-needed good news just a few days ago after learning his 104-year-old aunt, Ida Acconciamessa, survived her bout of COVID-19 after she was diagnosed early last month ... when Joseph started his feed-frontline-workers project.

She's a tough woman ... having survived stage 4 melanoma, two broken hips, and not to mention, having lived through the Spanish Flu. Goes without saying ... Joseph will also be delivering food to her nursing home in Brooklyn later this week.

It's not the first time Hollywood's done its part to help frontline workers. As we first reported ... Steven Spielberg did the same with hospital workers in Burbank. Danny Trejo personally delivered tons of Mexican food from his famous L.A. joint.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's battle with Orange County is heating up -- an ex-mayor down there is suing the Guv over the beach closures.

Kevin Muldoon, a former Newport Beach mayor and current city councilman there, claims Newsom's draconian order to close OC beaches -- from Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to Dana Point and San Clemente -- is a clear violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of travel, freedom of assembly and due process ... this according to docs obtained by TMZ.

In docs, Muldoon claims pictures from last month showing packed beaches in the OC that almost immediately triggered beach closures are incredibly misleading. He claims the photos were "taken from a ground level viewpoint, using zoom lenses that artificially compress perspective, seemingly showed beachgoers tightly packed together on Newport Beach."

He claims there are aerial pics that show far more space between beachgoers than the pics in the newspaper implied. What's more ... Muldoon claims it's completely unfair to single out the OC, which he claims has fewer COVID-19 cases than other places that did NOT have their beaches shut down. He claims other cities with closed beaches actually have more COVID cases.

Muldoon, who is suing as an individual and NOT in his official capacity as a councilman, claims sunlight and open-air reduce the likelihood of COVID transmission. It should be noted ... OC beach cities and individuals reportedly sued Newsom on Friday over his beach closures but a judge denied their request to nullify Newsom's order.

As we reported ... tons of pissed off residents flooded downtown Huntington Beach to protest the beach closures. There was also a plane flying a banner over the weekend that read "Fire Gruesome Newsom! Open California!"

Muldoon's asking a judge to declare the gov's order unconstitutional and prohibit its enforcement so peeps can enjoy the beach.

Going to concerts in the near future might require rocking a neon spacesuit straight out of Daft Punk's closet, if an L.A. designer's vision comes true.

It's called the Micrashell, a prototype for a personal protective suit that would allow people to once again attend large public gatherings without having to worry about social distancing ... thanks to a built-in ventilation system.

The suit's the brainchild of Miguel Risueno -- head of inventions at the L.A.-based design studio, Production Club -- who says he was inspired to get to work in March after he saw spring breakers in Florida blowing off coronavirus stay-at-home orders to party.

He says he wanted to come up with something that would support both the public health and folks in the music industry out of work due to the pandemic ... with a simple mix of safety features and smartphone tech solutions.

Risueno says he doesn't want it to feel like a medical device -- hence the colors -- but the airtight suit functions like one with a ventilation system he says works like an N-95 respirator with a replaceable filter.

The dome of the suit also includes some crazy audio tech, allowing users to customize who they talk to and control what they can listen to via software and an accompanying app.

Oh, and it's only for the upper body -- which makes bathroom breaks a lot easier -- and can be easily sanitized thanks to cut-resistance fabric.

Until there's a vaccine and everyone's past the fear of the coronavirus, the Micrashell might be the best solution to enjoy live music

But, here's one other option -- a drive-in social distancing concert was held in Germany this weekend, with tons of cars packed in tight but nobody allowed to get out.

The fact people are willing to sit in car fumes and deal with a potential traffic jam to attend a concert speaks volumes ... it might be this way or the highway until everyone's immune to COVID-19.

One of Italy's biggest hot spots -- for tourism, not coronavirus -- is packed again as the country's citizens rush out of nearly 10 weeks of lockdown.

St. Mark's Square in Venice was filled Monday as Italy enters its phase 2 ... which allows visiting relatives within the region, taking part in funerals and exercising outside while maintaining social distancing. There's little social distancing going on in the Square ... but, on the other hand, almost everyone is wearing a face mask.

It's an odd scene because Venice was one of Italy's epicenters when COVID-19 was ravaging the country ... back when the national lockdown started on March 10.

Now, around 4.5 million Italians, mostly in manufacturing jobs, are headed back to work. Big-time companies, like Ferrari, are also reopening as the economy looks to rebound.

Schools, bars, movie theaters are still closed for the time being ... as Italy hopes its downward trend in COVID-19 cases continues. Italy at its peak was seeing more than 6,500 cases per day. That number's gone down significantly ... with only 1,389 cases reported Sunday.