Bacteria love bagged lettuce: Scientists are now confirming the obvious — that processing, mixing, and bagging leafy greens promotes the spread of bacteria like E. coli, just like it has in the hamburger industry. Others claim the Vegetable Industrial Complex, with its triple baths of chlorinated water, is far more hygienic than homes or restaurants L.A. Times
Cloning is already here: More on how Americans are already eating meat from animals with a clone for a parent. Kansas City Star
H2O, puhleeze: The Chronicle concludes its three-part examination of bottled water with a look at the Mercedes of the business, Fiji Water. San Francisco Chronicle
Moby duck: A brief essay on eating forbidden whale meat in remote Japan pretty much bunts on the whole ethical decision-making process. New York Times Magazine
Global warning: A group of international scientists examining causes of climate change is about to release its strongest statement that will link emissions from humanity’s burning fossil fuels to rising global temperatures, warning that more warming and rising sea levels are on the way. But will people like Frosty Hardison be convinced? New York Times
OK, but who’s the love interest?: A dispatch from Sundance about the debut of “Everything’s Cool,” a new movie about global warming that’s supposedly “an insightful, funny, and inspiring look at some of the folks on the ground in the battle against climate change.” Gristmill
Read beyond the labels: At last, a thoughtful answer to newspapers’ perennial slow-news-day question, “Should I be feeding my family organic food?” Sacramento Bee
Cold turkey on corn: An op-ed urges major changes for the 2007 Farm Bill. Baltimore Sun
What grows around, dot-coms around?: E85 is a secretive company that’s been romancing rural counties about building “a billion-dollar string of ethanol plants that will create jobs, gobble up locally raised corn, and put the town on alternative energy’s leading edge.” Is it for real? Seattle Times
Omni-honored: Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle nonfiction award. Los Angeles Times
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