The New Yorker’s annual Food Issue will hit the news stands this week. This year’s issue will cover the rise of seaweed, North Carolina barbeque and evolution of fast food in the country, plus much more.

And in case you aren’t a subscriber, the articles from the issue will also be available online. The first article is called “Freedom From Fries” and is written by Michael Spector. The piece talks about the evolution of fast food in America and explores whether fast food can actually be good for us, contrary to the public opinion. Brands like Lyfe Kitchen and Chipotle are bringing out the healthy factor in fast food chains. Even McDonald’s is trying to get on the healthy wagon by adding more natural offerings in its menu.

The next article is “Who’s To Judge”, written by Lauren Collins who discusses how the World’s 50 best restaurant list was created. This guide was actually supposed to be a one-time thing, but soon turned into a one-stop guide for all fine food lovers. The article also discusses the controversy of restaurant experts, a group of anonymous people who put together this list. Even though these restaurant industry experts are supposed to be anonymous, they reveal their identities to get free meals. But Collins clearly states in the article that neither does the organization reimburse these experts for their meals nor does it encourage freebies.

Dana Goodyear focuses her story on seaweed. The article is called ‘A new leaf’ and it talks about how seaweed is on its way to replace kale as the universal green. Goodyear dives into the fact that seaweed does not just have a negative carbon footprint but it is also is the most nutritious and sustainable crop.

Nicola Twilley explores a very interesting question in her article – Can packaging make food more tasteful? The article is called “Accounting for taste” and Twilley discusses great experimental psychology work by Oxford University professor Charles Spence. Charles Spence has encountered that the five senses of human body can affect the taste of food. He discovered that strawberry mousse tastes sweeter when it’s put inside a white container as compared to a black container. According to Twilley, these studies are being incorporated into commercial food packaging which can be very controversial.

And there is the amazing article called “In Defence of the True ‘Cue.”, written by iconic food writer Calvin Trillin. The article confronts about the regional varieties of North Carolina barbeque. Trillin discusses about how barbeque is automatically assumed as barbequed pork in the state, and not as any other kind of meat. He also talks about his discussion with team behind ‘Campaign for Real Barbeque’. This organization is dedicated to make North Carolina Barbeque recognized in the country as the one of the most important elements in the culture of South. They also consider pork as a regional appropriate barbeque.

The Food issue of New Yorker will hit the newsstands on October 26, 2015 and the articles will also be available on New Yorker’s website.