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Blogs
May 18, 2012
Pizza Isn't a Vegetable, Congressman Insists
Those Democrats. They just won't drop that ridiculous "pizza is not a vegetable" thing. Fox News reports that Rep. Jared Polis, a Democratic congressman from Colorado, has proposed legislation that would end pizza being counted as a vegetable in public school lunches. The SLICE (School Lunch Improve ... More >>
Blogs
May 18, 2012
What's In Season at the Farmers Market: Morels
Morel mushrooms are back -- after a tense few days among antsy pickers up north. Conventional wisdom says that on the West Coast, morels show up in spring after two full days of 80 degree weather and that they favor recently disturbed earth, either from fire, logging or new landscaping. This bode ... More >>
Blogs
May 18, 2012
Food News Roundup: Urasawa #2 Most Expensive U.S. Restaurant, New Obama Food Initiative Health Food Cheaper Than Junk
L.A. Observed: The Daily Meal calculates the country's most expensive restaurants -- with L.A.'s Urasawa No. 2. Melisse is No. 11. CBS News: Obama announces a food initiative aimed at improving food security in needy African countries. MedPage Today: A U.S. Department of Agriculture study finds t ... More >>
Blogs
May 17, 2012
Corn Syrup Can Make You Stupid, Study Finds
We all know corn syrup can make you fat, but dumb too? According to a new UCLA study published in the May 15 issue of the Journal of Physiology, regular intake of high fructose, such as that found in corn syrup, can negatively impact memory and learning ability -- in as little as six weeks. Resear ... More >>
Blogs
May 11, 2012
Lawsuit Seeks Federal Ban on Foie Gras
And the foie gras wars continue: According to Courthouse News, the Animal League Defense Fund and other animal rights organizations filed a lawsuit this week against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for continuing to permit the sale of foie gras. The lawsuit claims that the federal agency's failu ... More >>
Blogs
April 12, 2012
Locavore App: Know What's In Season All the Time Shop Local Farms From Your iPhone
The USDA says that ninety-one percent of U.S. farms are classiﬁed as small, usually family run businesses, grossing less than $250,000 a year. That's a lot of local food production run on a shoestring budget, if any at all, with no little to no access to customers outside of direct sales at a far ... More >>
Blogs
April 5, 2012
Two-Year Citrus Quarantine in Eastern Los Angeles County
We knew it was only a matter of time. After watching Brazil's and Florida's citrus get decimated by Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) -- to the tune of billions of dollars -- we knew that despite rigorous agriculture checkpoints, testing and restrictions, California would probably be next. The bug, the c ... More >>
Blogs
March 21, 2012
Safeway, Vons Will Stop Selling Ground Beef Containing 'Pink Slime'
The days of "Let them eat pink slime" are over. Today Safeway Inc., the second-largest supermarket operator in the country, said it will stop buying the ammonia-treated beef filler "because of widespread customer concern," MSNBC reports. Since Safeway owns Vons, hamburger sold at Vons will also be p ... More >>
Blogs
March 19, 2012
USDA Relents on Pink Slime; Schools Can Opt Out
The people spoke, and they said, "No more pink slime!" And this time, the feds actually listened, kind of. Last Monday, we told you how the U.S. Department of Agriculture was planning on shipping out 7 million pounds of "pink slime" to be added to the lunches of unknowing urchins at public school ... More >>
Eat+Drink
March 15, 2012
Rubus Ursinus: A Guide to the Elusive Pacific Blackberry
The people spoke, and they said, "No more pink slime!" And this time, the feds actually listened, kind of. Last Monday, we told you how the U.S. Department of Agriculture was planning on shipping out 7 million pounds of "pink slime" to be added to the lunches of unknowing urchins at public school ... More >>
Blogs
March 12, 2012
Uproar Over 'Pink Slime' in School Lunches
Remember pink goo? Let us refresh your memory. Pink goo, aka pink slime, is scraps of meat and connective tissue swept up from slaughterhouse floors that are doused with a pink chemical to kill dangerous pathogens -- since they've been, you know, on the floor -- then blended together into a substanc ... More >>
Blogs
November 15, 2011
Food News Roundup: Colbert's Ice Cream War, A McRib Confession Jacques Pépin's Fridge
A. Scattergoodpumpkins at the Santa Monica farmers marketLos Angeles Times: According to new USDA report, local food sales could $7 billion this year and farmers markets doubled from 1998 to 2009. PBS Food: How to make pumpkin bread pudding. Tomostyle: More fun with secret supper clubs at ... More >>
Blogs
September 22, 2011
BPA Found in Kid-Friendly Canned Foods
Campbell'sDisney princesses may contain toxic chemicals Disney princesses may be toxic, and not just for sociological reasons. New testing by the Breast Cancer Fund has found BPA (bisphenol-A) in six brands of canned foods marketed to children, with the highest level in Campbell's Disney Prin ... More >>
Blogs
September 12, 2011
Cargill's Second Turkey Recall in Six Weeks
taleitalei/flickrTurkey burger. A turkey burger isn't sounding so good right now. Even if no immediate evidence suggests salmonella-laced ground gobbler has, as of this weekend, infiltrated California's stores, the Minnesota-based company Cargill Inc. has issued its second recall in six week ... More >>
News
June 16, 2011
Why Los Angeles Schoolkids Get Lousy Meals
taleitalei/flickrTurkey burger. A turkey burger isn't sounding so good right now. Even if no immediate evidence suggests salmonella-laced ground gobbler has, as of this weekend, infiltrated California's stores, the Minnesota-based company Cargill Inc. has issued its second recall in six week ... More >>
Blogs
June 16, 2011
Apples Found to Contain the Most Pesticide Residue
Flickr/ollesvensson A U.S. Department of Agriculture study of pesticide residue on produce has led a consumer-advocacy group to place apples at the top of their latest Dirty Dozen list, according to a June 12 report in the Wall Street Journal. In its annual screening, the USDA's testing fou ... More >>
Blogs
June 14, 2011
Pesticides: Apples and Celery Top the List of Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables
Remember the poisoned apple that Snow White eagerly gobbled down? In today's world, that apple would not need to be dipped in a cauldron of venom. It would come from the supermarket. That's right, according to federal data, nearly 98 percent of apples are contaminated by pesticides, topping ... More >>
Blogs
June 3, 2011
Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/31-6/3
Flickr/Lauren Manning In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "What is a fake restaurant, exactly? Is it a place like Happy Family, serving kung pao chicken whose fowl is carefully crafted from gluten, or like the celebrity hangout Philippe, itself an imitatio ... More >>
Blogs
June 2, 2011
USDA Unveils New Food Chart: No More Pyramid Schemes
This morning the USDA unveiled their new food chart, finally replacing the food pyramid which first debuted -- and was trashed pretty much since -- in 1992. The new chart also comes with its own new website, ChooseMyPlate.gov. The food pyramid, you will doubtless remember, is that irritating ... More >>
Blogs
May 26, 2011
The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories
Flickr/dubh What's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections mid-week. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is free), it's where most of ... More >>
Blogs
May 3, 2011
The USDA's New Food Desert Locator: Map Your Bad Food Day
Screenshot of Food Desert Locator map of area food deserts, in pink If you live in Los Angeles, you may sometimes feel like you're in a food desert. It is often maddeningly hot. You may find yourself bereft of food trucks, or good ones at any rate. You may be reading this right now from the o ... More >>
Blogs
April 6, 2011
Frozen Turkey Burgers Recalled Due to Salmonella
Flickr/JMRosenfeld A Salmonella strain in turkey burgers that has sickened people in 10 states, including California, is antibiotic-resistant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Jennie-O Turkey Store, based in Willmar, Minn., recalled 27 tons of frozen turkey bur ... More >>
Blogs
March 2, 2011
California Merchant Recalls 64,000 Pounds of Chicken, Pork Products
Flickr/Tony Austin A Tracy, California, food supplier has recalled 64,000 pounds of chicken and pork products because some broccoli in the products was found to be contaminated with Listeria, the Associated Press reports. The 10 varieties of premade foods, which include "Raley's" rice bowls ... More >>
Blogs
February 8, 2011
What's in The Beef: Taco Bell President Gives Away "Secret Ingredients" On Video Amid Lawsuit
Screenshot of Taco Bell gorditas There's only so much thinking "outside the bun" you can do before wondering what's inside the burrito. That may have been the thought-process of California resident Amanda Obney before she filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell for false advertising. The class ac ... More >>
Blogs
February 1, 2011
USDA Releases Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010: Drink Water, Eat Less. Go Figure.
USDAYesterday the USDA released the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Got a pen? A keyboard? Your Twitter app? And it's not a lot of governmentalese this time (well, okay it is), but some very sensible recommendations. Eat less, drink more water rather than sugary drinks, seriously lower ... More >>
Blogs
January 28, 2011
Whole Foods Conditionally Supports Genetically Engineered Alfalfa
Flickr/VirtualErnSome Roundup with your mayo? Whole Foods Market conditionally threw its support behind the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recent decision to deregulate genetically engineered Roundup Ready Alfalfa. In an email sent to customers last week, Whole Foods professed their support ... More >>
Blogs
January 28, 2011
Taco Bell Beefs Up Response to Meat Lawsuit
Malcolm Bedell/FromAwayExactly what is in that Taco Bell Crunchy Beef burrito? Taco Bell President Greg Creed told USA Today late Friday that his company is "retaining outside counsel" and is seriously considering a countersuit again the recent lawsuit that charges that his company's taco fil ... More >>
Blogs
January 5, 2011
Map of American Food Deserts: When Dinner is a Bomb Burrito Instead of Burrata & Mesclun
Slate/USDA Check out this map, just posted by Slate ("Dinner at the Kwik-E-Mart"), showing the placement of the so-called Food Deserts of America. A lovely term, really, which sounds more like a Ben Marcus short story than the USDA category which it is. According to the US Department of Agric ... More >>
Blogs
December 27, 2010
Time for a New Food Pyramid? GOOD Reveals Winner of Food Pyramid Contest
USDAIs this outdated?Remember the food pyramid? It's the thing that told us to eat less sweets, fats, dairy, and meat, and more fruits, vegetables, and grains. Well, the food world is always changing, and so too are our diets. That's why the people over at GOOD recently held a competition to ... More >>
Blogs
November 17, 2010
We Are Fat, Starving, and Can't All Be Mark Bittman: Or, Hunger Levels at a 15-Year High
N. GalutenChili cheese dog Yes, we are a big country with many different people -- but there is something wrong when we are both fat and hungry. CNN is citing a federal report telling us that U.S. hunger levels continue to be at a 15-year high. Why 15 years? Because that's as long as the Depa ... More >>
Blogs
November 16, 2010
The USDA's New & Improved National Farmers Market Directory
USDAfarmers markets in the US According to the blog Obama Foodorama, today the USDA rebooted the National Farmers Market Directory. It's apparently "nutrition info week" at the Department of Agriculture, which was the happy occasion for the upgrade. The state-by-state directory, which can ... More >>
Blogs
October 8, 2010
Daily News Reports "Midnight Run" to Spend Food Stamps; Bloomberg Shakes His Finger at Poor Soda-Drinkers
Karen Apricot New Orleans/FlickrFood stamps accepted. We've told you before. Food stamps are hotter than the flames that hissed around that truck of yams on I-5 Thursday morning (where was a marshmallow avalanche and a dusting of brown sugar when you needed them, right?). If you require fu ... More >>
Blogs
August 23, 2010
Egg Watch Continues: More Recalls, New Safety Rules
Flickr user Muy YumPoached egg from Bottega Louie Our egg problem is still going strong. MSNBC is reporting that over a half-billion eggs have been recalled, and even more could be on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that new egg safety rules were only recently pu ... More >>
Blogs
July 28, 2010
Update on Lunches at LAUSD: Superintendent Calls for Task Force, Activists Form Their Own
Photo via back_garage's Flickr stream.On July 13th, we let you know about the L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD) meeting regarding their contracts with school lunch vendors. A handful of grassroots activists attended with the intent to halt the planned 5-year renewal and postpone the vote ... More >>
Blogs
July 22, 2010
Andrew Breitbart's Reaction: Just As You Knew It Would Be
Apologize? Never! In one of the least surprising media developments of the year, Andrew Breitbart, the conservative provocateur whose media company is based in Santa Monica, has reacted to an embarrassing journalistic error not by apologizing -- but by going on the attack. Tuesday we wonder ... More >>
Blogs
July 8, 2010
Is Your Olive Oil Really Extra Virgin? U.S. Called a "Dumping Ground for Cheap Olive Oil"
Flickr/Kevan"Extra virgin" olive oil may contain safflower, canola or peanut oil--and there's nothing you can do about it.BP isn't the only disreputable oil company in the United States. Apparently there are no rules regulating olive oil here. Which means that purveyors can sell consumers any ... More >>
Blogs
June 30, 2010
Respite From Continuous Stream Of Bad News: 40 States Fatter Than California
Mississippi on the left; we're on the right. A new report from from the Trust for America's Health confirms it: We're not as unhealthy as the rest of really unhealthy America. Sure, we're pretty unhealthy, but for now let's take in the good news and celebrate with a Double Down. California ... More >>
Blogs
June 18, 2010
Uh-Oh: Campbell's Soup Recalls 15 Million Pounds of SpaghettiOs with Meatballs
Donald Goerke must be rolling in his grave. The USDA has announced that Campbell's Soup has recalled three different varieties of SpaghettiOs with meatballs, at a combined weight of 15 million pounds. We talked to company spokesman Anthony Sanzio, who started off by pointing out that "The US ... More >>
Blogs
June 9, 2010
The Food Illuminati: GMO Labeling and the Codex Alimentarius
Codex AlimentariusPage 1 of 108 of a Codex publication What is the Codex? More Michael Pollan and less Dan Brown--we hope. The little-known Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1963 under the joint auspices of the United Nations and the World Health Organization to devise universa ... More >>
Blogs
May 18, 2010
USDA Ups Ground Beef Standards In U.S. Schools: Mystery Meat Looks For New Home
N. Galuten Jamie Oliver can sleep easier now. Starting July 1st, all ground beef intended for the National School Lunch Program will be held to much higher standards. Said U.S. PIRG public health advocate Liz Hitchcock in a statement, "By raising the bar for ground beef served in schools and ... More >>
Blogs
April 20, 2010
FDA Plans to Legally Limit Your Salt Intake
Morton Salt According to today's report in The Washington Post, the FDA is planning an "unprecedented" effort to limit the salt consumption of Americans. The idea is that putting legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food would significantly lower the number of deaths from heart dise ... More >>
Blogs
February 1, 2010
Haggis Update: Sorry, Folks, The Real Stuff's Still Illegal
LA Weekly Flickr pool/My Last Bitecans of haggis at Buchanan ArmsDespite many reports that haggis will soon be allowed into the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says not so fast. When the BBC thought to verify the rumors that the Scottish delicacy would finally be imported (h ... More >>
Blogs
January 4, 2010
Beef Recall Spotlights Tenderization Hazards: DIY Beef Tenderizer, Anyone?
A recall on Christmas Eve of almost a quarter million pounds of beef has focused attention not only on the beef, but on the process of mechanically tenderizing the meat. 248,000 pounds of beef products were recalled by the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service from National S ... More >>
Blogs
December 17, 2009
Perky Jerky: Beef Jerky and Caffeine in One Fix, or How To Launch a Business with Stuff You Spill on a Ski Trip
Perky JerkySpend any time in truck stops or bars or watching the commercials during football games, and you quickly realize that beef jerky is America's secret snack food of choice. Okay, maybe not so secret. And now, not only can you get Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger's line of beef jerky, y ... More >>
Blogs
November 25, 2009
County Urges Feds To Allow Night Firefighting From Air
File photoThe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday urged the U.S. Forest Service to allow nighttime air attacks on brush fires. The board cited damage done and momentum gained in the first night of the deadly Station Fire in August, which ended up as the largest wildfire in coun ... More >>
Blogs
November 4, 2009
Can Canada's killer coyote species show up in Los Angeles?
By Donna BarstowLast week Taylor Mitchell, a promising young musician from Toronto, was mauled and killed by two coyotes while hiking alone in Nova Scotia. Other hikers heard her screams and she was airlifted to Halifax, but died October 28. She was a folk and country musician nominated for a 2009 C ... More >>
News
January 15, 2004
Big Beef�s Dirty War
Meat industry has resisted cleaning up its act for decades
Columns
October 10, 2002
Pharm Phresh
Frankenfoods II
News
January 3, 2002
10 Insects To Look for In 2002
Frankenfoods II
News
August 10, 2000
Them
California takes on the Fire Ant
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