Food and Farming
A Prickly Question
California's harsh new measure to deal with long-term drought is making waves. Residents caught wasting by washing sidewalks with their garden hose and committing similar reckless acts are incurring fines of up to $500. Is that fair? Or will the fine be perceived as...
Sick Pig Problems
A pound of bacon now costs more than $6. That's a record increase from $3.86 a pound four years ago. What's driving this spike? Blame Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus. The disease, known as PEDv, is rattling the pork industry after claiming over 10 percent of the U.S....
Cargill’s Integrity-Free Soybean Oil
Can you have your hypocrisy and eat it, too? I don't think so. But Cargill Inc. is doing its damndest to invalidate the old admonition that eating your cake today means not having it tomorrow. As a leading producer and user of ingredients that contain genetically...
Extreme Nutrition
To most people, "bonking" implies an R-rated activity. To marathon runners, cyclists, and other endurance athletes, it's something else entirely. In sports jargon, someone who "bonks" suffers severe fatigue after running out of their stored energy. People who...
The High Cost of Cheap Shrimp
The Guardian recently revealed shocking results from a six-month investigation of the Thai fishing industry: Much of the shrimp sold in American and British supermarkets were produced with slave labor. While shrimp sold to U.S. consumers hail from a number of...
Jilting My Sugar
A cartoon drawn by Marty Bucella going around Facebook these days depicts an overweight man on a scale with his doctor. "No, it's not water," the doctor says. "You seem to be retaining food." That was me. Yes, it's true, I write about food. And I generally do eat a...
These Chickens Don’t Need to Hedge Their Bets
Upper-class, über-rich Brits pay a price. In exchange for being blessed with wealth and social standing, they're expected to be at least slightly amusing to the general public, offering some combination of doofus, daffy, and scandalous. Crispin Odey fits this bill. He...
Free to Eat Whatever You Want
My neighbor just left to spend the entire summer in Europe. He's the guy with a highly restrictive diet I recently wrote about, with countless food intolerances that his "nutritionist" detected using dubious testing methods. I haven't had the heart to tell him she's a...
Illegal Ingredients
Fast Food Giants Picking Their Workers’ Pockets
No matter how small the haul, a thief is a thief, right? If a poverty-wage fast-food worker sneaks out a couple of burgers to take home to the kids, the bosses yell: "Thief!" But what do you call it when the bosses steal from those same workers? How about outrageous,...
