Methuselah, the first date palm tree grown from ancient seeds, in a photo taken in 2008. Guy Eisner hide caption
Food For Thought : The Salt There's never been more interest in food and where it comes from and how it gets to your plate. This is the place for science, politics and the controversial topics that make you go "hmm."
The Salt
What's On Your PlateFood For Thought
Chopped and frozen samples of damaged soybean plants are kept in storage at the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. Many contain residues of the herbicide dicamba. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Pesticide Police, Overwhelmed By Dicamba Complaints, Ask EPA For Help
Chef Tunde Wey uses food as a tool for social justice. His company, BabyZoos, aims to use profits from the sale of applesauce to hospitals to fund ventures that create more economic opportunities for African Americans in an effort to close racial wealth — and health — gaps. L. Kasimu Harris for NPR hide caption
The 20-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a boat loaded with refugees and migrants is the work of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz. Its bread-and-fruit motif encapsulates how food is interlocked with the history of human migration. Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images hide caption
A sweet view along one of the many canals of Venice, which in this case are filled with blue jellybeans. Pradipta Banerjee/Courtesy of David M. Schwarz Architects hide caption
Members of the Crop Wild Relatives project from the Crop Trust joined their research partners in Nepal on an expedition to collect wild relatives of rice, okra and eggplant in October 2017. Hannes Dempewolf of the Crop Trust says the elephants kept the researchers high enough off the ground that they didn't have to worry about any snakes that might be lurking. L.M. Salazar/Crop Trust hide caption
Raiders Of The Lost Crops: Scientists Race Against Time To Save Genetic Diversity
Peter Melnik, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, owns Bar-Way Farm, Inc. in Deerfield, Mass. He has an anaerobic digester on his farm that converts food waste into renewable energy. Allison Aubrey/NPR hide caption
A flock of Texel-Dorset sheep gather near a hay trough in a Hudson River Valley barn in Medusa, N.Y. Millennials and more experimental diners might be open to eating mutton. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images hide caption
Rose McAdoo makes cakes based on research performed by her colleagues at Antarctica's McMurdo Station research base. Courtesy of Rose McAdoo hide caption
A "Sonoma Sustainable" sign hangs along a road in the Russian River Valley near Healdsburg, Calif. George Rose/Getty Images hide caption
Justin Ruben of ParentsTogether speaks on Thursday at a press conference organized to deliver 1.5 million petitions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The petitions are protesting proposed changes to the food stamps program that would also affect the free school lunch program. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Parents Together hide caption
Chef Angie Mar, who has received rave reviews for her New York chophouse Beatrice Inn, has been called a "badass" by the press. While some women have no problem with the word and use it in an entirely complimentary context, many others dislike its bro-culture connotation. Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images hide caption
A vineyard worker drives a grape harvester tractor in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France, where climate change is raising new challenges for winemakers. Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Climate Change Is Disrupting Centuries-Old Methods Of Winemaking In France
Lake Shinji, near Japan's coast, is known for its beauty. Until about a decade ago, the lake was also home to thriving fisheries. New research suggests runoff of the controversial pesticides known as neonicotinoids, used on nearby rice paddies, may be responsible for declining fish populations. Gyro Photography/amanaimagesRF/Getty Images hide caption
In a new book of essays, literary luminaries share stories of surviving dark times and the foods tied to those memories. Think of it as a cathartic dinner party. Meryl Rowin hide caption
Shannan Troncoso, co-owner of Brookland's Finest Bar & Kitchen in Washington, D.C., has turned her customers into fans of Brussels sprouts. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption
From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom
A young girl paints a pumpkin teal to signify that a place is safe for children with food allergies to go trick-or-treating. Courtesy of Food Allergy Research & Education hide caption
Fresh Corner Café sells loose fruits and fresh pre-packaged items like salads, sandwich wraps and fruit cups to corner stores, grocery stores and gas stations. Courtesy of Valaurian Waller hide caption
A mix of barley, peas and flax grows in a field at Casey Bailey's farm near Fort Benton, Mont. Bailey sells this crop to Montana dairy farmer Nate Brown, who has been feeding it to his goats. Casey Bailey hide caption
Ann Kim, owner of Hello Pizza in Edina, Minn., holds a Sicilian pan pie and a Hello Rita pizza. "Women can make progress in pizza that is harder in the macho restaurant world," Kim says. Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images hide caption
Kamel Guemari is a manager of a McDonald's in a neighborhood in Marseille, France, that's known for crime and drug gangs. He has been leading an employee charge to save the restaurant, which has become a vital community anchor in an under-resourced immigrant neighborhood. Eleanor Beardsley/NPR hide caption
Save The .... McDonald's? One Franchise In France Has Become A Social Justice Cause
Unlike most dairy cows in America, which are descended from just two bulls, this cow at Pennsylvania State University has a different ancestor: She is the daughter of a bull that lived decades ago, called University of Minnesota Cuthbert. The bull's frozen semen was preserved by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption