Bay Area Bites | May 17, 2013

Posted by Stephanie Rosenbaum

In honor of its 20th anniversary, Bay Area Bites looks back on how the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market has become a San Francisco institution for chefs, home cooks, and curious eaters from around the world.

food trends and technology | May 17, 2013

Flax Seed: The Next Superfood For Cows And Beef?

Posted by NPR Food

After years of research, an animal scientist looking for ways to keep inflammation down in cattle came up with a novel approach: feed them flax. The flax in their food helps keep animals healthy and has an added benefit for those who later eat their meat: omega-3 enriched beef.

bay area | May 17, 2013

Exploratorium Elevates Museum Eating Experience

Posted by Sarah Henry

Chef Loretta Keller, the force behind the Exploratorium's new culinary options, talks bee jet lag, living foods, and seawater cocktails with BAB's Sarah Henry.

farmers and farms | May 16, 2013

Congress: Where Food Reforms Go To Die?

Posted by NPR Food

As Congress gets to work on the farm bill, two common-sense, bipartisan reform measures seem to have gotten run over somewhere along the way. The first would set minimum standards for housing egg-laying chickens. The second sought to change how the U.S. provides food aid to people in foreign nations.

food trends and technology | May 16, 2013

No More Smuggling: Many Cured Italian Meats Coming To America

Posted by NPR Food

Culatello. Capocollo. Sopressata. It will soon be legal to import a whole new world of Italian cured pork products, thanks to the USDA's decision to end a decades-long ban. Every Italian region and province, and even many towns have their own distinctive salumi.

books, magazines, newspapers | May 16, 2013

Michael Pollan talks about his new book ‘Cooked’

Posted by Wendy Goodfriend

As in his previous books, Michael Pollan argues in "Cooked" that relying on processed food disrupts our link to the natural world and weakens our interpersonal relationships. But this time he takes a more hands-on approach, doing apprenticeships with a variety of culinary masters who teach him the fine points of fermentation, the benefits of bacteria, and other secrets of honest cuisine. He joins KQED's Forum in the studio.

NPR food | May 16, 2013

How Trace Amounts of Arsenic End Up In Grocery Store Meat

Posted by NPR Food

A recently published study found slightly elevated amounts of inorganic arsenic in samples of chicken meat purchased at grocery stores. Arsenic-based drugs are no longer used in chickens — but they are still used in turkeys.

bay area | May 15, 2013

Hunan Home’s Restaurant, Radius, Guerilla Café: Check, Please! Bay Area reviews

Posted by Wendy Goodfriend

Restaurants reviewed: Hunan Home’s Restaurant (San Francisco), Radius Restaurant and Café (San Francisco) and Guerilla Café (Berkeley).

NPR food | May 15, 2013

Go Fish (Somewhere Else): Warming Oceans Are Altering Catches

Posted by NPR Food

Fish are moving away from the equator and toward the poles to maintain their preferred water temperature. That means, for example, that fishermen are seeing swordfish normally found in the Mediterranean swimming near Denmark. But in the tropics, there are no fish to replace the ones that are leaving.

food trends and technology | May 15, 2013

For Supreme Court, Monsanto’s Win Was More About Patents Than Seeds

Posted by NPR Food

The high court ruled unanimously that when farmers use patented seed for more than one planting in violation of their licensing agreements, they are liable for damages.