Portside

Food, like climate, like income, like “the environment” raises all the important issues, and it’s as good a tool for grappling with those issues as anything else. If we can’t sustainably and reliably provide ourselves with good food, we’re looking at a future of increasing illness and planetary degradation.

Owning each link in the supply chain enables companies to reduce operating costs and go bigger. Costco is outdoing them all by being both the meat producer and the retailer.

During the pandemic, many restaurants have re-examined the concept of tipping, which has been shown to create pay inequity and encourage racism and sexism. The solutions are complicated.

Expiration dates could be more meaningful if they were based on scientific studies of a food’s rate of nutrient loss or microbial growth. A food safety researcher explains another way to know what’s too old to eat

The USDA has kept cheese and other dairy products in cold-storage caves for decades. But their purpose has shifted over the years.

Research shows that the ways we engage with our food--appearance, smell, utensils, even background music--play a role in how healthily we eat.

When King George visited Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939, the White House lunch included hot dogs. It kickstarted an enduring tactic of American international relations: hot-dog diplomacy. The King asked for seconds, accompanied by beer.

Before the pandemic, meals were either free, reduced price or full price to students. During the pandemic, the waivers allowed for all meals to be free. The House bill included only free and full-price options. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked the bill in the Senate, urging lawmakers to bring back the "reduced price" category of the National School Lunch Program.

Weaving together new research and rich primary sources, the Plant Humanities Initiative recounts stories of global foods, such as peanuts, to illuminate their extraordinary significance to humans.

In light of recent revelations about the Martin family’s political activities, chefs are looking for alternatives to Martin’s products known for their association with Shake Shack, which uses them at locations around the world.