food

Pasta puttanesca is perhaps the most well-known dish among Lemony Snicket fans, although Count Olaf would have preferred roast beef.

Books
Arts

Ring In 'Lemony Snicket' On Netflix With A Series Of Unfortunate Recipes

7:37pm January 13, 2017

by Kristen Hartke

In the children's books, food is practically a supporting character. So why not welcome the poor Baudelaire orphans with a delightfully miserable repast while binge-watching the new show?

The puffy taco with beef from Rays Drive-In in San Antonio is a standout for Sutter, but the year has just begun.

This Food Critic Will Take The Taco. Again. And Again. And Again.

10:40am January 13, 2017

by NPR Staff

Mike Sutter is eating at a different San Antonio taqueria every day of 2017 for his "365 Days of Tacos" project. And he's discovering a lot about the city's culture in the process.

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Helen Dahlke, a scientist from the University of California, Davis, stands in an almond orchard outside Modesto that's being deliberately flooded. This experiment is examining how flooding farmland in the winter can help replenish the state's depleted aqu

As Rains Soak California, Farmers Test How To Store Water Underground

6:22pm January 12, 2017

by Dan Charles

After years of drought, California is getting drenched with rains. Some scientists and farmers are testing a way to capture that water by filling the state's depleted groundwater aquifers.

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National

'365 Days Of Tacos' Highlights A Staple Of San Antonio Culture

4:33pm January 12, 2017

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to Mike Sutter, food critic for the San Antonio Express-News, about his "365 Days of Tacos" series where he reports on a different taco joint every day for a year. So far, he's found that tacos have become a staple of the city and culture.

Marie-Antoine Carême began his hardscrabble life in Paris during the French Revolution, but eventually his penchant for design and his baking talent brought him fame and fortune.

How A Destitute, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became The First Celebrity Chef

7:31am January 12, 2017

by Nicole Jankowski

Marie-Antoine Carême died 184 years ago today. But in his short lifetime, he would forever revolutionize French haute cuisine and gain worldwide fame. Some of his concepts are still in use.

Organic produce for sale at a supermarket in Quincy, Mass.

National

Why Going Organic Just Got Easier For Farmers

5:35pm January 11, 2017

by Dan Charles

Farmers have to follow organic rules for three years before they can sell their food as certified organic. That transition period can mean much lower profits. But a new certification may change that.

Nonperishable food is restocked in Maggie Ballard's "blessing box" in Wichita, Kan., several times a day.

A New Type Of Food Pantry Is Sprouting In Yards Across America

2:10pm January 11, 2017

by Deborah Shaar

Similar to "little free library" boxes that are filled with free books, these "blessing boxes" are stocked with food and toiletries for people in need to take — anonymously and whenever they want.

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David Fuller has been a dairy farmer since 1977. He gets about the same amount of money for milk these days he did when he started.

National

As Big Milk Moves In, Family-Owned U.S. Dairy Farms Rapidly Fold

1:00pm January 11, 2017

by Rebecca Sananes

Large-scale dairy farms are more lucrative, and national milk production has actually increased. But small farmers like David Fuller, who is auctioning off his last herd, see their way of life dying.

This 52-million-year-old fossilized tomatillo was found in Patagonia, Argentina, shedding light on the origin of nightshade plants. In this specimen, the slender stalk is preserved, and the former papery and lobed husk is broken at top to reveal the large

Science

52 Million-Year-Old Tomatillo Fossils Rewrite Veggie History

5:57pm January 10, 2017

by Angus Chen

Potatoes, tomatoes and bell peppers belong to the nightshade family. Newly discovered fossils in Patagonia suggest that family started much earlier than believed, perhaps when dinosaurs roamed.

Dungeness crabs for sale at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. California's Dungeness crab season was shut down in 2015, when record high ocean temperatures and lingering toxic algae blooms raised the domoic acid in shellfish to unsafe levels. A new stud

Warming Oceans Could Boost Dangerous Toxin In Your Shellfish Dinner

12:54pm January 10, 2017

by Clare Leschin-Hoar

A new study finds a link between warming waters and a dangerous neurotoxin that builds up in species like Dungeness crabs, clams and mussels — and can be hazardous, even fatal in people who eat them.