"Paul Helliker had a job for Dow AgroSciences."

"Genuine General Tso’s chicken may soon be on the plate. The Department of Agriculture will allow Chinese poultry processing companies to ship fully cooked, frozen and refrigerated chicken to the United States."

"A group of environmental and public health groups sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, seeking to set aside the agency's approvals for feed additives containing ractopamine that are used to boost the weight of cattle and pigs."

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not perform enough pesticide residue tests — on either imported or domestic foods – to say whether the American food supply is safe, according to federal auditors."

"Appalachia may be one of the poorest regions of the U.S., but when it comes to heirloom crops, it's got the riches."

"An order of French fries may be bad for your health in ways that extend well beyond the outsize calorie count. According to a new study by scientists at the University of Missouri, people who used hand sanitizer, touched a cash register receipt and then ate French fries were quickly exposed to high levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used to coat receipt paper."

"The Sahel region's ability to produce food is not keeping pace with its growing population, and global warming will only exacerbate the imbalance, according to a new study."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture must set strict pathogen limits for poultry products with the highest contamination rates and find ways to measure a poultry plant’s success with these new standards, according to a government report released Thursday."

"Recent analyses raise disturbing questions about the health and environmental effects of the stuff that encases our edibles."

"At the annual SXSW Eco, a conference in Austin, Texas, you'll find a lot of serious discussion of the rapid decline of the Earth's ecosystems."