Instead of letting food rot, some entrepreneurs want to use it to feed insects, which can then nourish livestock. But federal regulations have been slow to catch up to the growth of insect farms.
Researchers are trying to figure out whether probiotics — the stuff we like to eat in yogurt to keep our guts healthy — could also help pigs, cows and chickens thrive.
Executives at JBS, the world's largest meat producer, know consumers want to know more about how their food is sourced. But the very nature of their business is grisly and sometimes unpalatable.
U.S. ranchers want consumers to know their meat came from cattle "raised in America." Meatpackers argue such labels add cost without much benefit. A trade dispute could soon make the labels disappear.
An organic watchdog organization says big organic egg and milk producers are violating organic rules. As evidence, it offers aerial photos — but some photos may not be of organic operations.
Andrew Lawler's Why Did the Chicken Cross the World? explores the secret to the domesticated bird's success: "You can turn the chicken into almost anything," he says, from religious symbol to dinner.
Demand for locally raised birds is growing faster than small farms can keep pace with. One New England farmer is making a bold move to get more gobblers to the table.
Large-scale hog operations get a bad environmental rap. But when it comes to processing the animals, the industry is a model of efficiency, making use of every last bit in sometimes surprising ways.