Food and Agriculture

Could eating poo-burgers save the Earth?

Eat sh*t, cattle farming industry! No, literally, eat sh*t. Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda has developed a way to make meat substitute out of "sewage mud," which is exactly what it sounds like. He extracts (bacterial) protein from what is essentially a soup of human feces, then blends it with soy protein and steak sauce to form a sort of poop patty. According to initial tests, the stuff actually tastes like beef, which raises the question: WHO THE HELL DID THEY GET TO DO THESE TESTS?

Jess Zimmerman Food

Rebuilding New Orleans with urban farms and hot jazz [VIDEO]

This video tells the story of New Orleans residents who returned after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild the city and started growing food in abandoned lots

Daniel Klein Agriculture

Don't ban raw milk because of the E. coli outbreak

Why is CNN trying to tie the recent European E. coli outbreak to raw milk?

David Gumpert Food

Detroit farm school for teen moms has been saved

Catherine Ferguson Academy, the awesome urban farm high school for pregnant and parenting teens, has risen from the ashes. Michigan's emergency financial manager decided last week to shutter the school, which has a 90 percent graduation rate. But it's been rescued by a company called Evans Solutions and will continue as a charter school, which will be open to all Detroit public school students.

Jess Zimmerman Agriculture

USDA rejects GOP demand to undo new school meal guidelines

The USDA won't back away from proposed guidelines for healthier school food, despite demands from Republican lawmakers that the agency eliminate cost increases.

Ed Bruske Food

Hey, Vilsack: Big Ag won't feed the world or make jobs

USDA secretary Tom Vilsack supports global Big Ag despite job loss, environmental dangers, threat to sustainable global farming.

Tom Philpott Agriculture

Farm pork not going anywhere

To read The Washington Post is to believe farm subsidies are headed for the chopping block. Not so fast. The subsidies aren't going anywhere after all

Tom Laskawy Food

Critical List: Floods herald largest Gulf dead zone on record; the Senate hearts ethanol

Louisiana fishermen can't catch a break. Flooding on the Mississippi River could create the largest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico on record.

Louisiana, in general, can't catch a break. A plant that blends chemicals used in oilfields exploded on Tuesday.

The Senate decided against ending subsidies for corn-based ethanol in a vote that split, not just along party lines, but also between Big Ag states and everyone else.

Google's newest clean energy investment hands $280 million to a solar company that leases panels to customers.

Sarah Laskow Climate & Energy

Poison apples bad for consumers, Snow White

Environmental Working Group sifts through USDA data to figure out which Dirty Dozen fruits and veggies deliver the most pesticides. This year's winner: apples

Tom Philpott Food

The ‘Dirty Dozen’: Which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticides?

The Environmental Working Group has released an updated list of the Dirty Dozen, the fruits and vegetables with the worst pesticide levels. Drumroll please: Apples Celery Strawberries Peaches Spinach Nectarines (imported) Grapes (imported) Sweet bell peppers Potatoes Blueberries (domestic) Lettuce Kale/collard greens If you can, it's worth shelling out a little extra for the organic […]