Microbe plate

Would You Like Some Germs with Your Wheaties?

To fulfill the increasing protein demand, scientists turn to microbes.
High Angle View Of Yogurt In Disposable Cup On Table

How America Got Sold on Low-Fat Food

In the 1990s, a "healthy choice" meant eating SnackWell's cookies and sugary reduced-calorie yogurt. Why did America love the low-fat food trend?
Blackberries

The Crucial Southern Blackberry

In the 19th century, blackberry picking was both hobby and money-making endeavor for many Americans. Increased regulation of land use changed all that.
Cantaloupe

Salmonella: The Good, the Bad, the Unexpected

A recent salmonella outbreak, connected with pre-cut melon, has put the bacteria back in the news. Is there any bright side to salmonella?
Bread Turkey roasted baked

Baking Vs. Roasting

We cook bread, meat, and vegetables much the same way: in our ovens. So why do we say we "bake" bread, but we "roast" meat and veggies?
Gerber ad

Baby Food for Baby Boomers

Modern baby food didn’t exist until 1928, when Daniel Gerber launched his first line of mass-produced canned strained peas for babies.
Roman food mosaic

High Cuisine in Ancient France

An archaeologist explores how the division of upper- and lower-class cuisine may have developed in France more than 2,000 years ago.
manly salad

When Salad Was Manly AF

Esquire, 1940: “Salads are really the man’s department... Only a man can make a perfect salad.”
Poison art

Hidden Poisons of the Royal Court

How noble lords and ladies, terrified of poison, unknowingly poisoned themselves on a daily basis.
BBQ

How Barbecue Defined America

The barbecue boom in 1950s American was tied to nationalistic concepts of the "perfect family": patriarchal, suburban, and white.