food

Menu for Lincoln's 2nd inaugural ball, March 6, 1865

An Inaugural Memory: President Lincoln's Food Fight

12:27pm January 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

The Smithsonian recently uncovered the menu from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural ball, and it provides an interesting look at how different the celebrations were just 148 years ago.

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Subway Foot-Long Sub Comes Up Short

9:11am January 18, 2013

Earlier this week, a customer in Australia ordered a Subway foot-long sub. Only to find it measured a mere 11 inches. He posted a photo alongside a tape measure on the company's Facebook page, sparking outrage from customers and an investigation by the New York Post.

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A Syrian boy carries a pile of bread as people crowd outside a bakery in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo, on Oct. 25, 2012.

World News

Jihadi Fighters Win Hearts And Minds By Easing Syria's Bread Crisis

7:16am January 18, 2013

by Kelly McEvers

Jihadi groups have stepped in to provide fuel and generators to get Aleppo bakeries running again. [Please see full story/text for a post-broadcast correction.]

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John Mackey is co-CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods Market and co-founder of the nonprofit Conscious Capitalism, Inc.

Whole Foods Founder John Mackey On Fascism And 'Conscious Capitalism'

3:51pm January 17, 2013

by April Fulton

The outspoken Whole Foods founder tells us why he hates "Obamacare" and why we have trouble cutting the sugar, fat and salt out of our diets. But now he's told CBS he used a poor choice of words when referring to the health law as fascism.

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Regular consumption of blueberries, such as these found at Butler's Orchard in Maryland, may prevent heart attacks in middle-aged women.

Women With A Berry-Snacking Habit May Have Healthier Hearts

10:08am January 15, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

Love berries? It seems a habit of eating them three times a week may stave off heart attacks, at least in middle-aged women, according to a new study. That's because of compounds called anthocyanins found in these brightly colored gems.

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The butter sculpture will be dumped into this pit of rotting fruit and vegetables on the Reinford family's farm. Then, all that food will get ground up and put into the farm's methane digester.

This Butter Sculpture Could Power A Farm For 3 Days

9:49pm January 11, 2013

by Scott Detrow

The biggest attraction at the annual Farm Show in Harrisburg, Pa., is always a giant, 1,000-pound sculpture crafted from butter. Once this year's show wraps up, all that beautiful butter will go right into a manure pit to become methane gas.

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Science

Simulating The Red Planet, On The Pale Blue Dot

1:03pm January 11, 2013

What's it like to live--and cook--on Mars? To find out, researchers are simulating Mars missions in Russia, and on the slopes of a Hawaiian volcano. Kim Binsted talks about her study to whip up tastier space food. Porcini mushroom risotto, anyone? And sleep expert Charles Czeisler talks about how humans adapt to the 24.65-hour Martian day.

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Peanut plants grow on a Halifax, N.C., farm that received federal subsidies in 2011.

Farm Bill Critics Claim Partial Victory Despite Stalemate

10:20am January 10, 2013

by Dan Charles

Payments to farmers survived in the latest extension of the farm bill. But not all of the groups that argued for the end of the subsidies see this as a loss. They've just been given nine more months to make their case to Congress.

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Catfish swim in a tub outside the Osage Catfisheries office.

National

Drought Puts The Squeeze On Already Struggling Fish Farms

6:10pm January 03, 2013

by Kristofor Husted

The year's dry, hot weather forced aquaculturists to spend a lot more to keep their fish healthy and fed. For US catfish farmers, though, already suffering from competition with Asia, the drought has been an especially hard blow.

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The expiration date on foods like orange juice and even milk aren't indicators of when those products will go bad.

Science
Arts

Don't Fear That Expired Food

8:57am January 02, 2013

by Dan Charles

When food passes its sell-by date, it's swept from the supermarket shelf. But that doesn't mean it's not safe to eat. Taste and smell are usually better indicators of a food's safety. And some items, like canned foods, can even last years or decades after their expiration date.

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