How much are the calorie counts that some cities require on menus helping us eat healthier? Perhaps ignorance wasn't as big of an obstacle to healthy choices as appetite, compulsion and ingrained habit still are: (New York Times)

As farming becomes ever trendier, the discrepancy between the reality and the aesthetics of agriculture grows; this photographer and farmer points out how the truly gritty side of farming is often under-represented: (Modern Farmer)

Multi-year droughts across states that produce most of the country's beef cattle has led to a dearth in available feed, pushed the U.S. cattle herd to its lowest point since the 1950s and driven up beef costs to historic highs this summer: (NPR)

Meanwhile, the USDA is trying to keep our beef safe with a newly proposed system that would require all cattle to have electronic ear tags, which help track and control tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth, and mad cow disease: (NPR)

The European Union came close to exerting a little control over the quality of olive oil in restaurants by requiring that it be served in original, tamper-proof bottles that state the oil's credentials on the label; that transparency was apparently too much for some to swallow: (Huffington Post)