U.S. Department of Agriculture

TXU's Winged Friends

ACS to Fork Over $2.6 Mil to Feds

The Elephant in the Room: The Dallas Zoo's Response to Concerned Citizens

Off the Killing Floor

Dallas-based Supreme Beef wins a major round in its court battle with the USDA

Oldie but goodie

Lawry's The Prime Rib: an old wrinkle ahead of its time

Crying fowl

Wildlife activists claim that the managers at Samuell Farm Park are abusing the land, its animals, and anyone else who gets in their way

Barnyard stench

City auditor believes something stinks at Samuell Farm Parkand it's not just the cow manure

Like Shootin' Hogs From a Helicopter!

What we don't want, insists state Rep. Sid Miller, is "some Bubba flyin' around, sayin', 'Pass me the beer and the ammo!'" The District 59 rep's talking about his most recent proposal, H.B. No. 836, which calls for extending aerial hunting of feral hogs -- which currently is done only by Texas Wildl ... More >>

How Dry It Is

Why shouldn't we order well-done steaks?

Fly Cook

Jeff Moschetti joins team ZaZa

Food For Thought 3.25.09

"Because it sells, food companies are slapping it on anything. And consumers believe natural equals nutritious. Actually, it's a bit like Alice in Wonderland. It means what I want it to mean." (Julie Miller Jones, professor of food safety and nutrition at College of St. Catherine in Minnesota on th ... More >>

Re: FYI, Read This ASAP. OMG!

The following is a prime example of my curse here on Earth. A fleeting thought sprouts into a mild observation, only to bloom into a thesis that eventually flourishes into a blog item with sports branches. My apologies ... Got a text the other day, the salutation of which was LOL ... More >>

Neighborhood Services

Goods things here are worth waiting for

Giving Up The Goat

Goods things here are worth waiting for

Horse Opera

Goods things here are worth waiting for

Dare Call It Prime

The fare is disappointing at this upper-end steak house

How Now Mad Cow?

For Texas cattle ranchers, "What's for dinner?" is a touchy question

Out Back

Jasper's revels in the new age of backyard cuisine

EU Brew

Old Coppertank space in Deep Ellum to get new life

Wabbit Season

Animal rescuers try to find a Texas home for Miami's unwanted bunnies

Right and Wronged

The taste of victory is bittersweet for a local meatpacker who challenged the USDA

Catch Those Tigers

Years of little or no regulation have made Texas a place where big cats prowl--and sometimes kill

Sour Victory

Supreme Beef wins in federal appeals court, but not soon enough to save its plant

Corraled

The USDA backs off its tough new meat-inspection standards. That's a good thing, beef producers say.

Slaughterhouse Jive

Dallas-based Supreme Beef fought what it believes are unfair regulations, only to wind up on the USDA's killing floor

Animal-free Farm

Ducks and chicks and geese better scurry from Samuell Farm

Seeds of Discontent

Can growing protests stem the tide of genetically engineered crops?

Silent Scream

Mute and immobile, Alice Joy Taylor couldn't cry out when fire ants attacked her in her nursing-home bed, but would anyone have heard her if she did?

Fat Is Good

Is prime beef really prime?

Down on the farm

The Farmer's Market is finally turning a profit, and the city has plans to make it even better. So why isn't everyone happy?

Food For Thought 5.1.09

"It's killing our markets. Where they got the name, I just don't know." (Iowa hog farmer Francis Gilmore on the effect of swine flu on the value of his product. Since the outbreak and spread of this virus, hog prices have dropped from a $62 per 100 pounds average to $59 per 100 pounds, on ... More >>

Bye-Bye, Sugar High

Reporter Megan Feldman Goes Without Refined Sugar. Her Life May Never Be The Same. When my doctor recently recommended I stop eating refined sugar as part of a broad plan to curb a bout of allergies and eczema, I didn't think it'd be such a big deal. "Sure," I said, thankful it wasn't something mo ... More >>

So What Exactly Are You Eating When You Order Fajitas In A Tex-Mex Restaurant?

Reporter Megan Feldman Goes Without Refined Sugar. Her Life May Never Be The Same. When my doctor recently recommended I stop eating refined sugar as part of a broad plan to curb a bout of allergies and eczema, I didn't think it'd be such a big deal. "Sure," I said, thankful it wasn't something mo ... More >>

The New Faces of Hunger in North Texas

​When the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report earlier this week that placed Texas second only to Mississippi when it comes to the swelling ranks of hungry residents, Jan Pruitt wasn't surprised. After all, the president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank had just released her own da ... More >>

On The Range: Machacado Con Huevos

​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Growing up, the most magical place in the world was not Six Flags, Playland Park, or Disney World. Nope, not even the State Fair of Texas. You see, the place near and dear to every child's heart--before the inventio ... More >>

If Not For Illegal Immigrants, Would It Cost Us More To Eat?

​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Growing up, the most magical place in the world was not Six Flags, Playland Park, or Disney World. Nope, not even the State Fair of Texas. You see, the place near and dear to every child's heart--before the inventio ... More >>

Lion-Serving Restaurateur is King of the Bungle

What kind of fool offers to serve Americans lion burgers? Bet he resembles this extinct species.​Food lovers, many of whom aren't inclined to get worked up about disallowed goals, have saved their World Cup-related outrage for an act of culinary one-upmanship that unfolded last week in Arizona ... More >>

School Lunches: How Can Something That Taste Like One be so Hard to Make?

Low-sodium sauces​Editor's note: Apparently, feeding kids is a lot more complicated than tossing them a box of Pop-Tarts and a 3-liter jug of root beer. Who knew? For the breeders among you readers, here's a wrap-up of newsy, nutritional items Hanna shipped in from the School Nutrition Associa ... More >>

Eggs: Are They the Ickiest Common Food Around?

​My counterpart at the Houston Press recently tweeted about how pleased she was when an entrée arrived topped with an egg. Eggs, most culinerati agree, make everything better. Chefs have lately been cracking eggs with abandon. It's not just burgers and salads getting the cooked egg treatment ... More >>

Apple Juice Not Just for Kids Anymore, Though It Should Be

​Far be it from me to meddle in other people's hydration techniques, but I was surprised this weekend to come across an overheated valet chugging a gallon of frozen apple juice. I like apples, but I always figured there was an age limit on enjoying apple juice. I'd no sooner drink apple juice ... More >>

As Obama Signs Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, White House Sends Endorsement From DISD

In March '08, Dora Rivas testified before a House committee on the need for better school nutrition.​Back in August we sneak-peeked the Dallas Independent School District's new-n-improved school menus, which offer a few more healthier alternatives than in recent years. But the district has long sa ... More >>

Turnips, Happy Meals and Tainted Eggs: The Year's 10 Biggest National Food Stories

​Food lovers must talk with their mouths full, since there was plenty of discussion of many, many food-related topics in 2010. But a few national stories struck us as most important. Let us know what you think. 1. The food safety bill The massive food safety bill had been left for dead when the ... More >>

Wanna Know Why We're Fat? Let the Feds Draw You a Map.

Fast food state -- see the pretty, pretty purple.​The only thing worse than coming back from vacation is beating the rest of the world back to work -- especially if you're a reporter waiting for return phone calls. It's been a quiet day in the office. But all that time spent in silence hasn't ... More >>

College students, in meat lockers across America, compete to see who's the best judge of slabs of beef, pork and lamb.

Fast food state -- see the pretty, pretty purple.​The only thing worse than coming back from vacation is beating the rest of the world back to work -- especially if you're a reporter waiting for return phone calls. It's been a quiet day in the office. But all that time spent in silence hasn't ... More >>

Salmonella No Match For Traditional Texas Foodways

A pair of college students has discovered traditional Texas cuisine can be used to fight foodborne illnesses. ​According to research presented at last week's Texas Academy of Science meeting, a common strain of salmonella can't stand up to chili powder or certain barbecue marinades -- at least wh ... More >>

Five CSAs That Aren't Just For Earth Day

​Earth Day is this week's cause celebre. Everyone from food trucks and arts institutions to television networks and giants of industry has jumped on the green bandwagon. Come Monday, many will have forgotten the simple message of how each of us can do our part to protect our planet. One method ... More >>

Lessons in Recessionomics: Beef Prices, a Historic Drought and Hamburger

As my grandfather would say, "It's drier than a popcorn fart." We're smack-dab in the middle of the worst one-year drought ever. The costliest too. Feed prices are nearly unaffordable. Stock tanks are drying up. But the final boot to the gut of the Texas rancher never came. It's the strange artifac ... More >>

USDA: Historic Drought, Liquidated Herds ... and Fewer August Feedlot Placements?

​None of the commodity-on-the-hoof gurus saw this one coming. They had predicted another fat increase in feedlot placements, not unlike July's USDA Cattle On Feed report. Yet here we are, and the Beef Engine of America is in the midst of an historic drought, our forage exhausted, our ranchers ... More >>

We Found Someone to Try Meatless Monday. Poor Someone.

FlickrSee that green thing over there? You're supposed to eat it, apparently.​You may have heard of this whole Meatless Monday thing. It's a simple idea: to abstain from eating meat for just one day a week. It's not a radically new concept; the term was coined during WWI as a slogan (along wit ... More >>

Why Smashburger Sucks More Than It Has To

Gratuitous macro depicting maximum crustiness.​Late last year, Forbes named Smashburger America's most promising company. The article describes an American population as burger-obsessed and compares the Denver-based smashers to other chains, including Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Jack in the B ... More >>