There’s something about caring for a tomato plant that brings out every nurturing instinct in me. I am literally in constant motion during peak season, in a long, choreographed dance of pruning, irrigating, mulching, deworming, and finally, harvesting — my own version of tomato salsa. But there may be another living being that likes tomatoes more than I.

While the ink is barely dry on the new farm legislation, the campaign for the 2012 Farm and Food Bill has already begun. Critics have likened the farm bill wins to “crumbs” because they represent a small part of the overall Farm Bill loaf. The relative merits of incremental change can be debated endlessly. But for people serious about changing the food system, the $14 billion of funding won in the new bill for programs that support everything from beginning farmers to organic production to conservation on working land represent real reforms that can benefit real people doing some really good things on/for the land and in their communities.

Earlier last week the Corn Refiners Association launched a multimillion-dollar media campaign to defend high fructose corn syrup as a “quality” sweetener, in the face of mounting public perception that this cheap, ubiquitous compound has played a not-so-sweet role in making Americans chunky and sick.

of the Mississippi into most of the city.

Time in New Orleans is now reckoned in relation to Katrina, and the organization that is helping Joe with his garden — New Orleans Food & Farm Network (NOFFN) — had projects in his neighborhood before Katrina as well as after Katrina.

Heads of state, movie stars, and tycoons gathered in Tokyo to pay tribute to the world’s favorite sushi fish: the bluefin tuna. The occasion marked the passage of exactly one month since the bluefin was declared extinct.

Mary and Jill are working to take this farm back. Originally built in the mid-19th century, it had fallen into disrepair and overgrowth. They are working on rebuilding pastures and thinning out thickets to let hardwoods and grasses grow. They make it personal. They name most of their animals, care for them gently, and love them.

The ETC Group , a Canadian organization that has been following the worldwide corporate concentration of seed ownership for decades, says the biotech industry has begun patenting genes that give plants the ability to respond to drought, heat, cold, abiotic stress, and salt resistance, called “climate-ready” genes. … My Irish ancestors understood all too well that if you give the King power over the fertility of the land, and if you make the farmers serfs to the ruling class, when something like a disease or a drought comes along, there will be famine.

Recently a new “restaurant” opened up where I live. This eating establishment, called Cereality, is a franchise with five other locations. It calls itself a “Cereal Bar and Café” and its menu primarily features different kinds of cold cereal that you can mix and match along with a variety of toppings. What’s not to like?

A look back at past food crises can tell us a lot about the origins of today’s global riots over high food prices — and what we need to avoid them in the future. Guest post by U Tennessee ag economist Daryll Ray.

Between them Tom Cary and Gail Philbin have built several viable small-scale good-food enterprises in West Michigan. But as the sustainable food movement heads mainstream, will such endeavors have to get big or get out?

Dolcezza takes up a cute little corner spot at the intersection of Q Street and Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, an area perhaps better known for its shopping than for the university just a little father west. The gelato here is made in the Argentine style, meaning it contains no eggs but more cream (more cream!) than Italian gelato. It is, quite simply, some of the finest I’ve ever tasted — among the ranks of Capogiro in Philadelphia or the Bent Spoon in Princeton.

A beef butchering workshop at Lionette’s Market in Boston is a recipe for sustainability and responsible sourcing, with a healthy helping of community.

To find the friendliest face of the Grand Rapids local food scene, you can’t go wrong by making Marie Catrib’s your first stop. The intentional care of customers and community is what has made this comfortable restaurant one of this city’s favorites and a chilly Midwestern foodie’s dream come true.

Stop busting my chops: Researchers at Texas A&M have introduced a genetically modified hog that has a pair of succulent jowls at each end. Targeted at the “foodie” market, the new animal provides twice the usual amount of the cut used to make gourmet guanciale. (Charcuterie Today)

Sing for your supper: Responding to studies linking the beef-cattle industry with deforestation, Wendy’s plans to test-market a burger made of starlings. (News on the Wing)

Agribusiness stocks rose sharply today, following the announcement this morning of a new technique that transforms conventionally raised produce into organic, instantly and at almost no cost.