The Pesticide Controversy

What Is the Pesticide Controversy? Margot Woelk was ninety-five years old before she revealed her role in Nazi Germany as Hitler’s food taster. Fearful the British would poison him, Hitler made sure to eat food only after it was eaten by Margot and fourteen other...

What I Eat Is Your Business

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who studies the different values held by liberals and conservatives. He writes in his 2012 book, The Righteous Mind, “Liberals sometimes say that religious conservatives are sexual prudes…But conservatives can just as well make fun of liberal...

Parting Thoughts

News at The Onion may be fake, but it often speaks a deep truth about society. In September 2013 The Onion ran an article with the headline “Guy Looking to Feel Horrible about Aspect of Everyday Life Decides to Watch Documentary.”...

Controversies About Livestock

The Well-Being of Livestock Raised for Food How Do You Define Animal Welfare? Most people are omnivores, and because they also have empathy for farm animals, they want livestock to live a pleasant life—or at least not suffer. Our research has revealed that 31 percent...

The Local Food Controversy

What Is the Local Food Controversy? As Romania exited the Soviet bloc in 1989 and began integrating with western Europe, it returned the land comprising its collective farms to its owners prior to collectivization (or their heirs). As the country transitioned towards a market economy,...

The Carbon Footprint Controversy

What Is the Carbon Footprint Controversy? Nearly all humans consume meat, dairy, and egg products in some form. In recent years the environmental movement has touted the necessity of reducing one’s “carbon footprint.” Can we reduce our footprint without changing our diet? Much controversy surrounds...

The Farm Subsidy Controversy

What Is the Farm Subsidy Controversy? The last twenty years have witnessed a stunning rise in food activism, where authors like Michael Pollan, activists like Alice Waters, politicians like former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, and over twenty food documentaries at Amazon Instant Video...

The GMO Controversy

What Is the GMO Controversy? Suppose you are a citizen of France, China, or Germany—three among ten nations that consume horse meat. You enter a store to purchase a few pounds of the meat, but for some reason are worried that the owner is actually...

The Chemical Fertilizer Controversy

What Is the Chemical Fertilizer Controversy? Chemical fertilizer has an almost miraculous impact on crop yields—so miraculous, in fact, that some people mistake it for a divine miracle. Evangelical Protestants in Guatemala have recently been stealing adherents from Catholicism, while at the same time the...