Photo: meemalee

Food News, Things We Crave, Green Your Eats, and Tips, Tools, and Techniques. Check out this week’s tips.

Food News

• Wood pulp in your organic grated cheese? Yep! Finally, the USDA is revisiting the organic label so that we can (hopefully) feel confident that “certified organic” means something meaningful again (via the Washington Post)
• Uh oh! Rich countries are gobbling up farmland in poor countries (via the ethicurean)
• There’s a bill up in congress that would allow USDA oversight of school snack foods, including what’s available in vending machines. Learn more. Show your support. Or, even, stage an eat-in! Sounds fun! (via Reuters)
• I thought I’d lighten the news with a report of the world’s biggest hamburger! Weighing in at 185 pounds! Take a look at the picture and tell me—what’s up with the black bun? (via epicurious)
• The good peeps at the Government Accountability Office—nice name!—are asking that the FDA oversee bottled water as stringently as the EPA oversees tap water. We can get behind that. (via the ethicurean)

Things We Crave

• Stacie pinged me with this as soon as she stumbled upon it. I put it here partly because I didn’t know where else it belonged! And partly because I actually do crave the pleasure part of Kellog’s Nature’s Pleasure. LMAO! (via serious eats)
• We use glass (not plastic) in our house as much as possible—even for our 3-year-old. But sometimes, I hold my breath waiting for him to drop his bowl on the way to the sink. These tempered glass Kidishes might be just what we need (via ohdedoh)

Green Your Eats

• You know we’re all about organic and local. But when your budget just can’t support an all-organic diet, there is produce that is safer to cut costs on. Meet the Clean 15 (via lil sugar)
• And while we’re on the subject, here is the produce you should try to always buy organic. Back by popular demand… the Dirty Dozen (via lil sugar)
• Here’s one I haven’t heard before. Check out the logic behind why eating grass-fed beef can SLOW climate change (via treehugger)

Tips, Tools, and Techniques

• Another way to reduce, reuse, and recycle? Make a cute bib out of an old (cute) placemat. Here’s how (via CafeMom)
• The Niman’s top 10 pointers for affordable, sustainable eating (via Chowhound)
• This is futuristic and cool! Introducing the vertical farm from Plantagon (via treehugger)