Climate Food and Agriculture

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  • Buy a half-gallon of sugar water at KFC, give a dollar to diabetes research

    I honestly didn't believe this one was for real at first. No way even KFC, purveyors of a sandwich that uses fried meat as a delivery mechanism for fried meat, would seriously market a soda size called the "mega jug." And even if they did, they'd never have the chutzpah to donate "mega jug" dollars […]

    Jess Zimmerman Food

  • A fight over the future of farming: U.N. ag group vs. Big Ag

    Small-ag mindset vs. Big Ag muscle.“The present paradigm of intensive crop production cannot meet the challenges of the new millennium,” says a new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In other words: Big Ag, step aside. It’s not as if the world is being fed particularly well at the moment — […]

    Tom Laskawy Agriculture

  • Supporting mom-and-pop stores in food deserts

    The Obama administration’s initiative to fight food deserts will help, not harm, mom-and-pop stores.Photo: arbyreedGary Nabhan and Kelly Watters are right that it will take a diversity of new and expanded fresh food stores to truly solve the crisis of inadequate access to healthy food in many low-income areas. Small grocery stores, farmers markets, and […]

    PolicyLink, The Reinvestment Fund, & The Food Trust Food

  • Cheap food: Not what’s for dinner anymore?

    Cheap food might go the way of cheap gas.Photo: Eddie SCross-posted from Mother Jones. Remember when gas was a dollar a gallon? The era of the fast-food “dollar menu” may be going the same way. Cheap food has been with us for a while. After World War II, global grain prices fell steadily for decades. […]

    Tom Philpott Agriculture

  • High-fat diet may damage the brain, study finds

    There have been many disturbing studies on the effects of a high-fat diet on the brain. I’m thinking in particular of the 2009 study that suggested the American diet can be as addictive to the brain as heroin. But a new study presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society is even more concerning […]

    Tom Laskawy Food

  • Critical List: Bean sprouts likely E. coli culprit; Exxon’s in on natural gas

    There’s a high probability Europe's deadly E. coli did come from bean sprouts. We always knew they were gross. Nuclear Regulator Commission head Gregory Jaczko manipulated his colleagues into killing the Yucca Mountain nuclear storage compound, according to an inspector general report. Also, no one likes him. Lower winds are helping Arizona best that wildfire, […]

    Sarah Laskow Food

  • It’s the McEconomy, stupid

    As American as Baked Apple Pie.Photo: Keoni 101Cross-posted from Mother Jones. Up to 30,000 of the 54,000 jobs created in May were the result of a hiring spree by the hamburger chain, analysts at Morgan Stanley told Market Watch on Friday. So hiring at McDonald’s accounted for about half of the nation’s job growth in […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Hungry for catfish? Stick out your hand [VIDEO]

    You gotta love Mississippi: It’s a land of traditions, where tamales are popular and sticking your hand in a giant catfish’s mouth is a reasonable way to catch it. We experienced both on our way through the piney woods and rivers of the Magnolia State. Mississippi lived up to its other nickname — the Hospitality […]

    Daniel Klein Food

  • Vegan cooking is totally metal

    You don't have to go vegan to eat responsibly. But if you want to, you can avoid meat and dairy while still being TOTALLY METAL. <guitar solo by Skwisgaar Skwigelf> With a lot of rubber armor, face paint, and an awesome knife (your knife does not have to be that awesome), Vegan Black Metal Chef […]

    Jess Zimmerman Food

  • Which crop is the biggest water hog? (Warning: You’re not gonna like the answer.)

    Agriculture is thirsty work. Growing and processing food takes a ton of water, and it's only going to get worse as the world warms. So which crop has the biggest water footprint? (That's defined, by the way, as the volume of fresh water used to make the product, across all steps of production.) You're not […]

    Jess Zimmerman Agriculture