Climate Food and Agriculture

Chow-to: Stop worrying and love your kitchen timer

Getting used to cooking while doing other things does more than save you time. It changes your eating habits, making it easier to go green in the kitchen.

Climate change could cause a chocolate shortage

Chocolate lovers have two decades to consume all the Godiva they can before climate change drinks their milkshake. After that, global warming will cause production to dwindle in current cocoa-producing regions, like Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, according to a new study by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.

That doesn't necessarily mean that humanity will lose chocolate, though. It just might have to come from somewhere else.

Genius shopping cart gizmo helps you eat local

This shopping cart attachment lets you compare the food miles on your purchases in a way that's quick, easy to interpret, and less complicated than the self-checkout. That is cool as hell! Also, this demonstration video, which was made for a conference, is a complete hoot. (I am a sucker for a British accent, though.)

Critical List: Leaking New Zealand oil tanker could break apart; EPA to speed Great Lakes cleanup

Eeek. A huge crack has opened up in the hull of the ship leaking oil off the coast of New Zealand, and the ship could break up apart "at any point," according to Maritime New Zealand.

In the U.S., the Justice Department had to sue Transocean to force the company to answer government subpoenas related to the Macondo well spill.

Can we feed people without killing the planet? Yes, says a new study, but it’ll take money, planning, and eating less meat.

Food Studies: The life of an airline chef

Meet the people behind the plastic trays.

What do you know about GMOs? [Infographic]

October is National Non-GMO Month. Brush up on your GMO knowledge with this handy infographic.

Ocean of trouble: Report warns of offshore fish farming dangers

In light of the FDA's recent approval of genetically engineered salmon, the latest Food & Water Watch report on open-ocean aquaculture might leave some advocates feeling a little clammy.

America uses more corn for fuel than for food

In America, most corn is no longer meant for eating, at least by humans. Only 20 percent of all the gazillions of ears of corn the United States grows make it into a person's mouth as corn.

The rest goes to feed animals (which do make it into people's mouth as beef and other meats) and to brew corn ethanol. In one year, we used more than 5 billion bushels of corn for ethanol, which we don't even use that much of!

To till or not to till

In farming circles, the debate about whether or not to till soil has been going on for years. Now the latest information from the Rodale Institute kicks up more dirt.

Food Studies: the taste-testers' blind spots

Why taste tests conducted in controlled environments don’t tell the whole story.