Food and Agriculture

Important study: People eat fattening foods when they know they’re gonna die anyway

I bet you’ve been going around thinking that death row prisoners choosing their last meals usually make do with a salad and a stick of sugarless gum. Well, science is here to rescue you, poor benighted soul, with a definitive study finding: People prefer final meals with a lot of calories. The researchers analyzed the […]

Jess Zimmerman Food

The latest GMO study raises more questions than it answers

Recent science linking tumors in rats to GMOs and pesticide exposure has come under fire from the scientific community. Isn't that all the more reason to study the issue further?

Tom Laskawy Food

Study on GMO corn requires a non-GMO grain of salt

Yes, the study showing negative health effects in rats that ate GMO corn sounds frightening. But that's why you might want to be skeptical.

Philip Bump Food

Americans are eating so many friggin’ avocados these days

Consumption of avocados went up 30 percent in the first half of 2012. What's up with all the avocados, y'all?

Philip Bump Food

Bee boulevard: An urban corridor becomes a haven for native pollinators

By transforming a mile of parking strips into a corridor of pollinator-friendly gardens, Seattle's Pollinator Pathway reimagines the relationship between cities and nature.

Claire Thompson Cities

There’s arsenic in your rice — and here’s how it got there

A new study found arsenic in 200 samples of both conventional and organic rice and rice products. The science also has big implications about our farming practices -- and their chemical legacies.

Twilight Greenaway Food

Something’s (not very) fishy about the Atlantic Ocean [VIDEO]

Weird conditions off the New England coast have fishermen puzzled. Is this the face of global warming, or just the latest curveball from an unpredictable climate?

Grist staff Climate & Energy

Join us for a Twitter chat about green slime

Did toxic blue-green algae make your summer a bummer?

Grist staff Food

This awesome lady scientist explains microorganisms to geeky chefs

There's a friendly lady microbiologist at Harvard named Rachel Dutton who is willing to field chefs' inquiries about their fermented creations.

Sarah Laskow Food

Stay out of the water: A toxic algae slideshow

As summer comes to a close, as many as 20 states have reported green slime caused by industrial agriculture in their lakes and waterways. As these photos illustrate, it's a problem that has become hard to ignore.