This article from The Economist on California's over-regulation of artisanal food vendors reminded me a bit about Joel Salatin's criticisms of regulation that is designed for large companies and ridiculous for small ones: Beware of the yogurt.

From yesterday's NYTimes:

demand for quinoa (pronounced KEE-no-ah) is soaring in rich countries, as American and European consumers discover the “lost crop” of the Incas. The surge has helped raise farmers’ incomes here in one of the hemisphere’s poorest countries. But there has been a notable trade-off: Fewer Bolivians can now afford it, ( Read more... )

There's some great food writing in the New York Times this weekend:

In New Food Culture, A Young Generation of Farmers Emerges.

Now, Mr. Jones, 30, and his wife, Alicia, 27, are among an emerging group of people in their 20s and 30s who have chosen farming as a career. Many shun industrial, mechanized farming and list punk rock, Karl Marx and the ( Read more... )

Excellent blog from Mark Bittman about GMOs and the recent GM crops that have been approved by the FDA:

It’s unlikely that these products’ potential benefits could possibly outweigh their potential for harm. But even more unbelievable is that the F.D.A.and the U.S.D.A. will not require any of these products, or foods containing them, to be ( Read more... )

From GOOD magazine:

Last week, food movement legends Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) sat down together with Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW's Good Food, for a fascinating conversation that covered all of the major food stories of the past few months. For those of you who couldn't make it ( Read more... )

From Jezebel:

[The list of ingredients] looks gruesome but passable... until you learn that, according to the Alabama law firm suing Taco Bell-only 36% of that is beef. Thirty-six percent. The other 64% is mostly tasteless fibers-which are there to increase volume while keeping the cost down-additives and some flavoring and coloring. Everything is ( Read more... )

A fascinating photo essay about what people eat in a day, all over the world:

A Worldwide Day's Worth of Food

He answers questions about his most recent book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, here.

Just in time for the new year, Michael Pollan has come out with a new book, this one a pocket-sized distillation of some of the ideas and conclusions from The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual is a quick guide with 64 common-sense reminders about what to eat and how to eat, such as Avoid food products that ( Read more... )

A second story on pervasive problems in the industrial beef industry from the NYTimes: [Company's Record on Beef Treatment Questioned]. The story focuses on Beef Products, a company that provides "processed beef" to McDonalds, Burger King, the USDA school lunch program, and numerous grocery stores nationwide. Beef Products' processed beef - a " ( Read more... )