The people who shaped modern food have consistently selected against nutritional value, writes Jo Robinson in her fascinating new book, Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health. We all know we’re supposed to add vegetables to our diet, she argues, but given the state of modern vegetables, that’s not usually...
Last month, USDA revealed the discovery of an acre-sized group of genetically modified wheat plants growing on an eastern Oregon farm. The farmer notified the agency after becoming alarmed when an application of the herbicide Roundup failed to kill them. Investigators identified the plants as Roundup Ready wheat, which was engineered by Monsanto to...
Even if you haven’t heard of the sous vide (pronounced soo-veed) style of cooking, you’ve probably eaten food prepared in that way. The phrase in French is under vacuum, and refers to food that is vacuum-sealed in plastic bags and submerged in water, the temperature of which is regulated precisely. The idea is that...
There is an unfortunate stigma attached to frozen meat, a widely held assumption that it’s inferior to fresh meat. This prejudice runs deep enough that fast-food chain Wendy’s tried to capitalize on it in 2008 with a promise that its burger meat was “Always fresh, never frozen.” This belief, and retail efforts to cater...
Onions can be tricky to grow, which is why a farmer’s onions have long been considered a litmus test for agricultural skill. Hence the expression, “he knows his onions,” which is like saying, “he knows the ropes.” Knowing one’s onions in a literal sense is a great thing to aspire to, and this applies...
In February, Amy Meyer became the first person charged under a so-called ag-gag law. Six states currently have such laws, also called “Farm Protection laws, which aim to stop video recording at slaughterhouses. The bills are largely industry-funded, and based on a template drawn up by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council. Another eight...
The massive fertilizer explosion in West, Texas made less of an impression than the relatively small Boston blasts two days earlier. But if terrorists are scary, the dangers presented by stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, aka nitrate fertilizer, should be even scarier. This material can be used with bad intentions, such as the gasoline-soaked fertilizer...
A neighbor in New Mexico once told me that it’s bad luck, not to mention bad form, to kill a rattlesnake. Unfortunately, he told me this after I’d already killed one. My neighbor had lived on that mountain most of his life, and he was at peace, if not in love, with its snakes,...
Anne Kapuscinski is a professor of sustainability science at Dartmouth College, who recently led a team of 53 scientists in writing a book on the subject of risk assessment science as applied to genetically modified fish. I recently interviewed her about her take on the FDA’s approval process regarding AquAdvantage salmon, a genetically modified...
Montana governor Steve Bullock recently signed a bill legalizing the salvage, consumption, and/or donation to charity of animals hit and killed by cars-aka roadkill. The law applies to deer, elk, antelope and moose, and puts the state in the company of Alaska, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Florida, and West Virginia in condoning the consumption...