Mark Bittman notices people increasingly giving the farmer credit (more so than the chef) for a delicious plate of food, and discusses why we need to advocate for real farmers who grow real food (as opposed to “businessmen riding on half-million-dollar combines”): (full story, New York Times)

The summer drought continues to kill crops across the country, but many of the farmers (some interviewed in this radio clip) are doing just fine with their crop insurance (on which taxpayers spend about $7 billion annually): (full story, NPR)

The same lawyers who took in millions suing big tobacco are now aiming their sights at Big Food, filing suits against players like ConAgra Foods, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani asserting that they mislead consumers and violate federal regulations by mislabeling products: (full story, New York Times)

GMO labeling advocates (guess we’re called the “yes on 37″ clan) definitely have our work cut out for us, since major bio-tech and food companies from Campbell Soup to Coca-Cola have just pumped almost $10 million into the campaign to defeat Proposition 37: (full story, Los Angeles Times)

And speaking of wanting to hide the GMOs in food, check out this roundup of ten lies told by Monsanto about the Proposition: (full story, Right to Know)

Local governments have been charged–rightfully so!–to reduce the amount of trash we all put into the waste system, and more and more California cities are banning plastic bags at store checkout lines (San Francisco already has this rule in place, and as of 10/1 will require we retailers to charge 10 cents per paper bag to encourage reusables): (full story, Los Angeles Times)