A Nonprofit Grocer Tries To Sell Healthier Food Without Going Under

Spring Is Swarm Season, When Beekeepers Are On The Hunt For New Hives
While a new neighborhood beehive can be stressful for homeowners, it’s an exciting time for beekeepers. They see it as an opportunity to collect more colonies for their apiaries.

Nashville High Schoolers Train As Baristas To Prepare For The College Grind
A program teaches highs schoolers to pull espressos and pour pretty lattes. The idea is to prepare them for college — for college tuition bills, that is.

Curious Orange: Gull Gets Dyed After Diving Into Vat Of Tikka Masala
A seagull got the day-glo treatment after it fell into a vat of spicy chicken at a factory in Wales.

Taxing Sugar: 5 Things To Know About Philly’s Proposed Soda Tax
The Philadelphia City Council this week took a major step toward approving a tax on sweetened drinks. Passing a tax in a city this big would be historic and could set a precedent.

M-Battled: Swedish Court Bars M&M’s Over Trademark Dispute
An appeals court in Sweden says M&M’s should melt from the market, because they look too similar to another candy.

Philadelphia City Council Set To Pass Soda Tax
Philadelphia’s City Council agreed to support a tax of 1.5 cents per ounce on sweetened beverages, including all sweetened drinks, whether they are sugar-based or diet. The proposal still requires a second council vote, expected to pass on June 16. Cities interested in similar taxes include Oakland, Calif., San Francisco and Boulder, Colo.

Beyond Bison Burgers: Around Yellowstone, The National Mammal Is Local Cuisine
Bison sliders, bison bratwurst, hot-off-the-grill bison ribeye — around Jackson, Wyo., it’s not hard to find this shaggy beast’s meat on menus. (Don’t worry: It’s all farm-raised.)

Copycake: When Food Art Ideas Get Swiped
Caitlin Freeman made a name for herself selling modern art-inspired pastries at the SFMOMA. The museum’s cafe just reopened with a new caterer — whose desserts look suspiciously familiar.

U.S. Lawmakers Scrutinize China’s Bid To Buy Agrichemical Giant Syngenta
Although Syngenta is a Swiss company, it does more than a quarter of its business in the U.S. So the U.S. government is reviewing whether the sale will be a threat to national security.

This Is How Much Celebrities Get Paid To Endorse Soda And Unhealthy Food
Beyonce got $50 million to push Pepsi. Justin Timberlake: $6 million in a deal with McDonald’s. A study describes the lucrative deals celebs popular with teens and young adults inked to sell food.

A Neuroscientist Tackles ‘Why Diets Make Us Fat’
Why don’t traditional diets work for many people? Blame your brain, suggests Sandra Aamodt. Her new book delves into the science of why eating and weight have become such a sizable problem.

A Student-Run Farm Cultivates Passion For Sustainable Agriculture
The Student Organic Farm at Iowa State sends out CSA boxes to the local community — and of course, it gives students a chance to enjoy the (fresh, organic) fruits of their own labor.

Nutrition In ‘The First 1,000 Days’ Of Life Can Shape A Child’s Future
In his new book, journalist Roger Thurow chronicles the obstacles that women around the globe face in raising healthy babies.

Beekeepers Feel The Sting Of Stolen Hives
Beekeepers make money renting out hives to pollinate crops. But in California, thefts are on the rise. That’s led to a hive shortage that is driving up demand, costs — and more thefts.

Seaweed On Your Dinner Plate: The Next Kale Could Be Kelp
Why are chefs adopting sea greens in their cuisine? They’re tasty and nutritious and growing them is good for the planet. In Maine the budding seaweed business is boosting a declining coastal economy.

Kill The Culture Of Cool Kale, Food Critic Says
Mimi Sheraton first praised kale in the 1970s as restaurant critic for The New York Times. Her article might have helped make kale cool today. Now Sheraton says she hates the vegetable.

A Beer, A Plan, A Pipeline: Belgian Brewer Will Funnel Beer 2 Miles Away
When he launched his plan last spring, brewery CEO Xavier Vanneste said it was “no longer sustainable” to rely on trucks to cope with its growing production levels.

For A Cordial Supreme Court, Keep The Food And Wine Coming
When court is in session, most justices lunch together — but absolutely no talking about cases. Wine, however, is not unwelcome at some of their gatherings.

The Search For Tastier Supermarket Tomatoes: A Tale In Three Acts
Supermarket tomatoes have a terrible reputation. But the industry is evolving. More than half of supermarket tomatoes now are grown in greenhouses or “shade-houses,” and flavor is improving.

Solved: The Mystery Of The Bearded Chickens
Hip humans aren’t the only ones growing outrageous facial hair. Some chickens do, too. And now, geneticists in China have discovered the cause.

China’s Dog Meat Festival Will Go On Despite Growing Protests
Thousands of dogs are slaughtered and served. It’s unclear where they come from. Pressure is mounting, from abroad and from within China, to stop the event.

New Jerseyans Chew Over What To Call Their Favorite Pork Product
In North Jersey, it’s called Taylor Ham and in South Jersey, it’s pork roll. The governor and legislature are taking sides. Even President Obama brought it up during a visit to the Garden State.

FDA Guidelines Target The Sodium Hiding In Our Diets
Most of the salt we consume is in our food before it hits the table. So the FDA is leaning on the food industry to voluntarily reduce sodium in dozens of processed foods — from bakery goods to soups.

Raise A Glass To Perry, Craft Cider’s Pear Cousin
Cider made from perry pears is delicious – it rivals apple cider, but is sweeter. Long revered in England and Normandy, France (Napoleon was a fan), perry is now getting its due in the U.S.

Venezuela Is Running Out Of Beer Amid Severe Economic Crisis
The country’s largest beer producer, Empresas Polar, halted operations because the government restricted access to imported barley. But the president has pinned the entire food crisis on Polar.

Can Planting More Milkweed Save Monarch Butterflies? It’s Complicated
Conservationists have long blamed farmers’ use of pesticides for decimating the milkweed that monarch caterpillars like to eat. But scientists say simply planting more milkweed isn’t the answer.

‘Sweetbitter’ Is A Savory Saga Of Restaurant Life And Love
Oysters, cocaine, fine wine, love triangles: Stephanie Danler’s debut novel Sweetbitter follows a year in the life of a young woman working at a top-tier Manhattan restaurant.

Farmers Wait, And Wait, For Guest Workers Amid H-2A Visa Delays
For the third year in a row, the H-2A visa program is running behind. That’s left farmers waiting for planters and pickers even as the harvest season is well underway.

Chef Eddie Huang On Cultural Identity And ‘Intestine Sticky Rice Hot Dog’
Huang and his brothers, Evan and Emery, headed to China to reconnect with their culture, to eat lots and lots of food — and to cook. He’s documented his travels in his new book,Double Cup Love.

Check Out These Musicians Who Literally Play With Their Food
It turns out beans aren’t the only musical fruit. The London Vegetable Orchestra is one of many musical acts that use all sorts of fruit and veg to produce sweet (and savory) sounds.

Evaporated Cane Juice? Puh-leeze. Just Call It Sugar, FDA Says
Companies cultivating a healthful image often list “evaporated cane juice” in their products’ ingredients. But the FDA says it’s really just sugar, and that’s what food labels should call it.

On The Trail Of The Wily Wild Hog
These descendants of wild boars were brought over from Europe decades ago. They’re highly invasive and hugely destructive — threatening native bears and deer in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A Moth Nicknamed ‘Tomato Ebola’ Ravages Nigeria’s Tomatoes
The president has declared a tomato state of emergency in the northern sector.

To Survive The Bust Cycle, Farmers Go Back To Business-School Basics
Farming is entering its third year on the bust side of the cycle. Major crop prices are low while expenses like seed, fertilizer and land remain high. That means getting creative to succeed.

We Don’t Know How Many Workers Are Injured At Slaughterhouses. Here’s Why
Injuries in the meat industry are likely to be under-reported, a new GAO report finds. Workers may be sent back to the line without seeing a doctor, or may not report out of fear of losing their jobs.

What Is The Meaning Behind The Moo?
Researchers are trying to figure out what cows are saying to each other — and us. Often, it seems that cows moo to communicate that something is wrong, or different.

Feeling Foggy? Japanese Raisin Is Good For What ‘Ales’ You
A Bay Area distillery has created a vodka mixed with fog. And in South Korea, there’s now special hangover ice cream. It uses fruit from the Japanese raisin tree, long used as a hangover cure.

In A Lawsuit, New York Accuses Domino’s Pizza Of Wage Theft
It’s the latest chapter in a long campaign against wage theft by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. His office has already recovered millions of dollars in wages for low-income workers.

The Judgment Of Paris: The Blind Taste Test That Decanted The Wine World
Forty years ago, the top names in French food and wine judged a blind tasting pitting the finest French wines against unknown California bottles. The results revolutionized the wine industry.

‘Invisible Army’ Of Immigrant Women Finds Its Voice Through Cooking
Brazilian immigrant Roberta Siao says being both a foreigner and mother made it hard to find work in London. At Mazi Mas, a restaurant that trains and employs immigrants, she found more than a job.

5,000-Year-Old Chinese Beer Recipe Revealed
Researchers discovered ancient “beer-making tool kits” in underground rooms built between 3400 and 2900 B.C. Analyses of funnels, pots and jugs show the brewers were using pretty advanced techniques.

’32 Yolks’ Chronicles Chef’s Culinary Journey
Before Eric Ripert worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, he struggled to make a simple hollandaise sauce. He talks to NPR’s Scott Simon about his new memoir, “32 Yolks.”

The ‘Added Sugar’ Label Is Coming To A Packaged Food Near You
The Food and Drug Administration has brushed aside industry objections and will require food labels to disclose how much sugar has been added to packaged food.

New Labels Warn That A Tender Steak Could Be A Little Dangerous
Mechanically tenderized meat — which has been punctured with needles to break down the muscle fibers and make it easier to chew — has a greater chance of being contaminated and making you sick.

An Underground Supper Club Where Music Moves The Menu
Philip Gelb once toured with top musicians. Now he’s a chef who hosts intimate dinner parties where the entertainment, by innovative world musicians, is as experimental as the ever-changing fare.