"In the annals of ill-conceived public relations campaigns, the egg industry's war on Just Mayo deserves at least a mention."

"Eight states and several organizations have filed briefs in federal appeals court supporting Vermont’s food labeling law, joining the state in its battle against corporate interests."

"At Monsanto, sales of genetically modified seeds were steadily rising. But executives at the company’s St. Louis headquarters were privately worried about attacks on the safety of their products. So Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, and its industry partners retooled their lobbying and public relations strategy to spotlight a rarefied group of advocates: academics, brought in for the gloss of impartiality and weight of authority that come with a professor’s pedigree."

"This morning, a new, controversial ad campaign hit the press. New Yorkers, en route to work, were likely the first to see it, because its inaugural imprint was in the New York Post, in the form of a full-page advertisement. And it isn't at all kind to Chipotle."

"The Los Angeles City Council approved on Wednesday a draft proposal to allow hobbyist beekeepers to maintain hives in their backyards. Cities across the country have legalized beekeeping to help rebuild honeybee colonies."

"People who grow up on farms -- especially dairy farms -- have way fewer allergy and asthma problems than the rest of us. Now one research team thinks they've brought science closer to understanding why.

"High levels of radioactive contaminants have been found in coal ash in major coal-producing regions of the United States, raising concern about the dangers of this unregulated waste, researchers said Wednesday."

"They rumble past schools, homes and businesses in dozens of cities around the country — 100-car trains loaded with crude oil from the Upper Midwest. While railroads have long carried hazardous materials through congested urban areas, cities are now scrambling to formulate emergency plans and to train firefighters amid the latest safety threat: a fiftyfold increase in crude shipments that critics say has put millions of people living or working near the tracks at heightened risk of derailment, fire and explosion."

"Hampton Creek, the food technology company, has apparently been the subject of much discussion at the American Egg Board—an egg research and promotion program overseen by the US Department of Agriculture. Newly released documents show high-level members of the American Egg Board, a USDA employee, and an outside PR firm discussing strategies for dealing with Just Mayo, Hampton Creek’s plant-based mayonnaise substitute, the Associated Press first reported."

"A court has vacated federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a Great Plains bird that was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act last year."