By Theme - Food

  • New food rules: How healthy?
    New food rules: How healthy?

    Drafts of two hefty food-safety regulations are released. What are the fundamentals of ensuring safety in the giant American food system? Where is the room for improvement? Who will (and maybe should) escape regulation?


    Thursday, January 17th, 2013
  • Native American Farming
    Native American Farming

    Synopsis: Native American agriculture was often a sophisticated response to a challenging environment. What were the secrets of permaculture, companion cropping and corn farming? Could these techniques contribute to modern farming? Find the article: Farming: Native American style Courtesy Eve Emshwiller, University of Wisconsin-Madison A woman in Peru’s highlands harvests oca, the white tubers in [...]


    Wednesday, January 9th, 2013
  • The science of cheese
    The science of cheese

    Cheesemaking is older than Homer’s Odyssey, but questions remain. Which bacteria make the best cheese? Must low-fat cheese taste like cardboard? Why is small-producer, “artisan” cheese becoming so popular? Why does one cheese taste different than another.


    Thursday, October 18th, 2012
  • Mock meat: Fit for grilling?
    Mock meat: Fit for grilling?

    As a new conversion of soy protein into a meat-like material reaches the market, we also look into meat grown, cell by cell, in lab dishes. Could in vitro meat be in your future, and would that solve ethical, health and environmental problems?


    Thursday, June 21st, 2012
  • Farming, Native American style
    Farming, Native American style

    Native agriculture could be a sophisticated response to a challenging environment. What were the secrets of permaculture, companion cropping and corn farming? Could these techniques contribute to modern farming?


    Thursday, April 5th, 2012
  • Feeding 7+ billion
    Feeding 7+ billion

    The green revolution fed billions, but population keeps rising, water is short and the climate is changing. How will Africans feed themselves despite poor soil and widespread poverty? Could small projects that fit the environment and culture make farmers an engine of prosperity and a big source of food?


    Thursday, November 10th, 2011
  • Cattle, wildlife: No real conflict?
    Cattle, wildlife: No real conflict?

    In African savannas, cattle graze the same grass as zebras, elephants and gazelles. Obviously, wildlife are stealing food from the mouths of cattle, and from the people who depend on cattle. But new data show that in the wet season, grazing wildlife actually benefit cattle!


    Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
  • Soil: Key to solving the food crisis?
    Soil: Key to solving the food crisis?

    Could soil help? One-third of soils are degraded. In fighting desertification, erosion and nutrient loss, some soil-restoring techniques solve multiple problems.


    Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
  • Coffee: Drink of the gods?
    Coffee: Drink of the gods?

    Coffee’s not just a mood-boosting addiction: That complex chemistry could help with diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer.


    Thursday, April 21st, 2011
  • Apples
    In praise of the lowly apple

    Among foodies, apples lack the “healthy-tasty” cachet of acai berries or pomegranates. But in a year-long study, apples produced major benefits in cholesterol and inflammation. After eating 75 grams of dry apple a day, the women even lost three pounds. Is there something not to love about apples?


    Thursday, April 14th, 2011
  • To avoid polluted soil, many urban gardens import clean soil. Looks like Chicago's buildings are not stealing the sun from this garden!
    Farming in the city

    Urban farms are sprouting in the most unlikely places. Advocates say they help with nutrition, obesity and job training. They build community and help immigrants assimilate, cut energy usage, and cool the planet. But does the reality match the claims? Food is flowing, but what’s new with farming in the city?


    Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
  • Bee with stinger coming from its snout poking its head out of the dirt
    Pollinator crisis ahead

    Many of the tastiest crops can’t pollinate themselves: melons, cucumbers, strawberries, almonds, cacao. But pollinators — both native and managed — are under threat from diseases and pesticides. They aren’t finding enough to eat. Their colonies are dying. What can we do?


    Thursday, August 5th, 2010
  • When rice and beans are combined, they produce a complete protein. Does unconscious food choice explain the widespread dietary choice for rice and beans?
    Food choice

    Fruit flies have a signaling pathway that helps them choose protein or carbohydrate, depending on the situation. The switch, which is also implicated in aging and cancer, exists in a wide variety of animals, including you. Does a new study explain why so many cultures eat rice and beans?


    Thursday, May 13th, 2010
  • Light brown ceramic jar with large round bottom and spouting top, cracked and chipped with age
    Bottoms up!

    People have been controlling fermentation for at least 9,000 years. What were the ancients brewing, and how did alcohol change society?


    Thursday, December 24th, 2009
  • What food was served at the original Thanksgiving celebration?

    Plucked from his own time in the autumn of 1621 and deposited at a “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner today, a Plymouth, Mass. Pilgrim would have gawked at the foodstuffs, says UW-Madison historian Stanley Schultz. “He would not have recognized mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, bread stuffing of any composition, green beans (alone or in some noxious casserole), [...]


    Wednesday, November 26th, 2008


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