It goes without saying that the economic crisis has left everyone from automakers to financial services firms in shambles. But you might be surprised to hear who the latest victims of job loss are — dairy cows. At a time when costs of all other foods seem to be on the rise, we saw the downward movement of dairy prices as the silver lining. But as industry conditions have worsened, hard-hit Read more

When it comes to culinary controversy, there are few things more divisive than the fatty duck liver known as foie gras. The reason? The allegedly inhumane "gavage," or force-feeding process, which involves placing a metal tube down a duck's throat to deliver large amounts of food. In fact, the 5,000-year-old French delicacy has had such a bad reputation that it was once banned in Chicago, and Read more

It's only January, and the organic industry is already having a bad year. Not only have producers been losing consumers due to the hefty price tag of organic food, but the industry has struggled to maintain its integrity. With organic feed prices at an all-time high, farmers in the UK are lobbying the government to temporarily relax organic feed standards to assist livestock producers who are Read more

Yesterday, California passed the most far-reaching farm animal treatment measure to ever be placed on the ballot. Proposition 2 passed with an estimated 62 percent of the vote in early returns and will affect 20 million farm animals in California, America's largest agricultural state. It requires farmers to give animals space to turn around, spread their wings, stand up, and lie down. This Read more

Animal-rights activism group PETA has come out with yet another inflammatory campaign. This year, they kicked their off Halloween festivities a few weeks early: On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered outside a Herald Square KFC dressed as blood-drenched zombies, holding signs that said, "I'd rather be dead than eat at KFC!" The protest was part of the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, which Read more

Animal rights activists PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has released a highly unsettling, undercover video that shows the mishandling of pigs on an Iowa farm. Among other things, in the clip — which I couldn't watch all the way through — workers hit female pigs with metal rods and slam piglets on a concrete floor. The farm supplies pigs for pork giant Hormel, who has Read more

Tomatoes took the rap for the recent Salmonella outbreak for weeks — and now that it looks like it's been traced to the spicier serrano pepper (linked to 1,300 infections in 43 states), tomato growers are understandably hot under the collar. Since the FDA announced that certain tomatoes shouldn't be eaten, the advisory that lasted from June 7 to July 17 cost growers $100 million. Growers say Read more

The other day, CasaSugar tipped me off to a really cool organization called Outstanding in the Field. Their whole purpose is to dine at the source, right on the fields that deliver the harvest. Back in 1999, chef Jim Denevan — who also happens to be a well-respected artist — began staging dinners at organic farms around Santa Cruz, Calif. He said: Senses are heightened in the fresh air. And Read more