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The Salt What's On Your Plate
Homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, 90, director of the nonprofit group Love Thy Neighbor Inc., prepares a salad Wednesday in the kitchen of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Abbott was recently arrested, along with two pastors, for feeding the homeless in a Fort Lauderdale park.

Homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, 90, director of the nonprofit group Love Thy Neighbor Inc., prepares a salad Wednesday in the kitchen of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Abbott was recently arrested, along with two pastors, for feeding the homeless in a Fort Lauderdale park. Lynne Sladky/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Lynne Sladky/AP

Food For Thought

Florida Activists Arrested For Serving Food To Homeless

Activists in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., were arrested twice this week for giving out food to the homeless in a park. Arnold Abbott, 90, says he will continue to serve the food even if he's arrested again.

Berkeley's efforts to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks faced opposition with deep pockets — but it also got sizable cash infusions from some big-name donors.

Berkeley's efforts to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks faced opposition with deep pockets — but it also got sizable cash infusions from some big-name donors. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Food For Thought

How Did Berkeley Pass A Soda Tax? Bloomberg's Cash Didn't Hurt

The American Beverage Association poured tons of cash into the effort to defeat the penny-per-ounce sugary-drink tax. But the effort to pass the tax also got cash infusions from some big-name donors.

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Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday.

Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday. Luke Runyon/KUNC/Harvest Public Media hide caption

itoggle caption Luke Runyon/KUNC/Harvest Public Media

Food For Thought

Colorado, Oregon Reject GMO Labeling KUNC-FM

by Luke Runyon

Voters in Colorado and Oregon rejected measures to require labels on foods produced with genetic engineering. Meanwhile, voters in Maui, Hawaii, approved a moratorium on GMO crops.

Sunlight streams into a corn storage building at a Michlig Grain storage facility in Sheffield, Illinois, U.S., on Oct. 31, 2014. The price of corn has been falling for months.

Sunlight streams into a corn storage building at a Michlig Grain storage facility in Sheffield, Illinois, U.S., on Oct. 31, 2014. The price of corn has been falling for months. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Producers

Why Farmers Aren't Cheering This Year's Monster Harvest

by Grant Gerlock

Farmers will haul in a record-breaking harvest of soybeans and corn this year, but they could be victims of their own success: Prices for these crops, falling for months, are at five-year lows.

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Massachusetts composting companies like City Soil, which turn food waste into compost that can be used on gardens and farms, say they expect to get quite a bit of new business from the food waste ban.

Massachusetts composting companies like City Soil, which turn food waste into compost that can be used on gardens and farms, say they expect to get quite a bit of new business from the food waste ban. Courtesy of City Soil hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of City Soil

Food For Thought

Massachusetts Food Waste Ban Gains Broad Acceptance WFCR-FM

by Susan Kaplan

Massachusetts law now says that if you throw out more than a ton of food waste a month, it can't go to a landfill. But many institutions had already begun composting waste or turning it into energy.

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The holidays should be a time to come together over a meal — not stress out about it. Let us help.

The holidays should be a time to come together over a meal — not stress out about it. Let us help. Douglass Crockwell/Blue Lantern Studio/Corbis hide caption

itoggle caption Douglass Crockwell/Blue Lantern Studio/Corbis

Food For Thought

Stressed About Holiday Cooking? Take Our Survey, And We'll Help

NPR is planning our holiday food coverage, and we want to know what you would find useful. What sorts of tips and tricks are you looking for? Fill out our survey and let us know.

The scariest part of the holiday comes in the days that follow, as parents fight and negotiate to limit how much candy their kids eat. NPR's Gisele Grayson decided to pay her kids off to give up their loot.

The scariest part of the holiday comes in the days that follow, as parents fight and negotiate to limit how much candy their kids eat. NPR's Gisele Grayson decided to pay her kids off to give up their loot. iStockphoto hide caption

itoggle caption iStockphoto

Eating And Health

How To Wean Your Kids Off Halloween Candy: Cold, Hard Cash

After the costumes and candy comes the hard part: the fights and negotiations that go along with trying to limit kids' sugar intake. Why not skip the ordeal by paying kids to give up their treats?

Edgar Meadows has been growing Bloody Butcher corn, an heirloom variety, for generations. The name Bloody Butcher refers to the flecks of red mixed onto the white kernels, like a butcher's apron, Meadows says.

Edgar Meadows has been growing Bloody Butcher corn, an heirloom variety, for generations. The name Bloody Butcher refers to the flecks of red mixed onto the white kernels, like a butcher's apron, Meadows says. Roxy Todd/West Viginia Public Broadcasting hide caption

itoggle caption Roxy Todd/West Viginia Public Broadcasting

Foodways

On The Trail To Preserve Appalachia's Bounty Of Heirloom Crops WVPB

by Roxy Todd

With some 1,500 heirloom fruits and vegetables under cultivation, Appalachia is the most diverse foodshed in the U.S., Canada and northern Mexico. Among them is a beloved corn called Bloody Butcher.

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory say their new genetic toolkit to improve tomato yield without compromising flavor can be used in all varieties, from plum to cherry.

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory say their new genetic toolkit to improve tomato yield without compromising flavor can be used in all varieties, from plum to cherry. Courtesy of Zach Lippman/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Zach Lippman/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Food For Thought

A Non-GMO Way To Get More, Tastier Tomatoes

Farmers want tomato varieties that yield more fruit. Consumers want tastier ones. How to resolve that tension? A new genetic toolkit could help growers maximize the best of both worlds.

To turn acorns into something edible, you've got to crack the shells, pick out the nut meats, weed out the bad ones, dry them and grind them into meal.

To turn acorns into something edible, you've got to crack the shells, pick out the nut meats, weed out the bad ones, dry them and grind them into meal. Leah Nash for NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Leah Nash for NPR

For Foodies

Nutritious Acorns Don't Have To Just Be Snacks For Squirrels

by Deena Prichep

Despite acorns' wide geographic range and long culinary history, few people eat them. But some fans say they're an untapped nutritional resource — if you're willing to do the work to process them.

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Modern Farmer has a particular fondness for stories about anything having to do with goats.

Modern Farmer has a particular fondness for stories about anything having to do with goats. Courtesy of Modern Farmer hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Modern Farmer

Food For Thought

With Style And Silo, 'Modern Farmer' Melds Agrarian With Urban Hip

Modern Farmer is less than two years old but it's already won a National Magazine Award. "We're making fun of ourselves, in a way, because we don't know anything about farming," says the editor.

Dr. Curtis Chan, a dentist in Del Mar, Calif., loads up a truck with 5,456 pounds of candy to deliver to Operation Gratitude during the Halloween Candy Buyback on Nov. 8 last year. Chan personally collected 3,542 pounds of candy from patients.

Dr. Curtis Chan, a dentist in Del Mar, Calif., loads up a truck with 5,456 pounds of candy to deliver to Operation Gratitude during the Halloween Candy Buyback on Nov. 8 last year. Chan personally collected 3,542 pounds of candy from patients. Courtesy of Curtis Chan hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Curtis Chan

Eating And Health

Cash For Halloween Candy? Dentists' Buyback Program Is Booming

If you're like many parents, by tomorrow morning you'll be facing a candy glut. One possible solution? Sell it to a dentist participating in a program that sends candy care packages to troops.

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Confused about all the different sustainability ratings out there? The simplest option may be to shop at your local farmer's market.

Confused about all the different sustainability ratings out there? The simplest option may be to shop at your local farmer's market. iStockphoto hide caption

itoggle caption iStockphoto

Food For Thought

Apps Aim To Guide You On 'Sustainable Food' (Whatever That Means)

by Alison Bruzek

Consumers who care about how their food is produced have a growing number of apps they can turn to at the supermarket. The problem? Nailing down just what sustainability means when it comes to food.

Elaborately decorated skulls are crafted from pure sugar and given to friends as gifts. The colorful designs represent the vitality of life and individual personality.

Elaborately decorated skulls are crafted from pure sugar and given to friends as gifts. The colorful designs represent the vitality of life and individual personality. Karen Castillo Farfán /NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Karen Castillo Farfán /NPR

Foodways

Decoding The Food And Drink On A Day Of The Dead Altar

by Karen Castillo Farfán

The Mexican tradition celebrates the dead and welcomes their return to the land of the living once a year. Enticing them to make the trip is where the food, drink and musical offerings come in.

Farms outside Baghdad as seen from a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter. Much of Iraq's soil has a high salt content because of flooding and poor drainage.

Farms outside Baghdad as seen from a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter. Much of Iraq's soil has a high salt content because of flooding and poor drainage. Jim Gordon/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Flickr hide caption

itoggle caption Jim Gordon/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Flickr

Producers

Who Should Pay To Fix The World's Salt-Damaged Soils?

by Alison Bruzek

The area of land no longer suitable for farming because of salt degradation is rising quickly. Scientists argue the private sector should help fund efforts to reverse it since it relies on the crops.

Sourdough loaves made by Fromartz with a bolted white flour from Anson Mills in South Carolina that he says reminded him of the wheat he'd tasted in southern France.

Sourdough loaves made by Fromartz with a bolted white flour from Anson Mills in South Carolina that he says reminded him of the wheat he'd tasted in southern France. Samuel Fromartz hide caption

itoggle caption Samuel Fromartz

For Foodies

To Make Bread, Watch The Dough, Not The Recipe

One man's quest for the perfect loaf took him to Paris, Berlin, California and Kansas. What he learned can't easily be captured in words. It's a feeling in your fingers that comes from experience.

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