"The Corn Refiners Association, which represents firms that make the syrup, has been trying to improve the image of the much maligned sweetener with ad campaigns promoting it as a natural ingredient made from corn. Now, the group has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to start calling the ingredient 'corn sugar.'"

"No more sunny side up. No more eggs Benedict. No more almost-set scrambled eggs. After of one of the largest egg recalls on record, critics say the egg industry is resorting to the worst tactic of all: blaming the victim."

"CLARION, Iowa — The scrambled eggs, as always, were hissing in a skillet on a recent morning at a coffee shop here, in an egg-producing county that has suddenly found itself at the center of the nation's egg recall over salmonella. But the conversation at the weekly gathering of local ladies turned uncharacteristically tense.

"A British beekeeper said on Wednesday he may have discovered a strain of honey bee immune to a parasite that has been gradually wiping out populations of the vital insect worldwide."

"Twenty-five years after the worst known outbreak of pesticide poisoning in U.S. history, an agreement is announced that phases out all uses of aldicarb. Manufacturer Bayer CropScience agreed to stop producing the highly toxic insecticide, used to kill pests on cotton and several food crops, by 2015 in all world markets."

"OTTAWA -- Rising demand for food from the fast-growing economies of the world has provoked a staggering $38.6 billion cash offer for a Canadian fertilizer company." The move came as climate-related drought and heat were driving global food shortfalls.

"A federal judge has revoked the government's approval of genetically altered sugar beets until regulators complete a more thorough review of how the scientifically engineered crops affect other food."

"Farmers and other pesticide users would not need to secure Clean Water Act (CWA) permits before spraying over water under Senate legislation offered late last week in response to a pivotal federal court ruling."

"Genetically modified crops are commonplace in fields across the United States, but a new study suggests that some plants have spread into the wild."

"Global wheat crops are taking it on the chin, thanks to a drought and fires in Russia, too much rain in Canada, and locusts in Australia. Prices are at levels not seen in almost two years." Climate-driven harvest failures in other parts of the world may be good news for US grain dealers -- and may alter the balance of UN climate talks.

A Penn State anthropologist puts forth a new hypothesis: that the nearly universal human tendency to bond altruistically with animals is a unique trait that has evolved because it gives us many advantages.

"The ethanol industry is feverishly lobbying lawmakers in an effort to hang onto billions of dollars in subsidies that are set to expire — although there appears to be some discord on the message front."

"Curry spices  could hold the key to reducing the enormous greenhouse gas emissions given off by grazing animals such as sheep, cows and goats, scientists have claimed."

"The Monsanto Company agreed to pay the Environmental Protection Agency a $2.5 million penalty for selling mislabeled bags of genetically engineered seed."

Just as harmful to the Gulf of Mexico as the BP oil spill is the annual "dead zone" whose increase in recent years has been driven by nitrogen fertilizer used to produce corn ethanol in the U.S. heartland.