U.S. Department of Agriculture

The "Ag-Gag" War: Behind the Scenes of the Death Match Between Big Ag and Undercover Animal-Rights Activists

Obama Signs Monsanto Protection Act

Unless you've been locked up in a bomb shelter, hiding out, for the past few years, it's fairly apparent: our government has turned into a shit show. Rather than do things, like, govern, our elected Representatives have been too busy bickering over one thing after another.Well, there is some good ne ... More >>

Monsanto Protection Act Makes Its Way Through Senate

It's no secret: The Senate Budget Resolution has been a shit show for the better part of a year now. It's been pushed back over and over again with the Nation's fiscal security on the edge of a cliff. On Wednesday, the Senate finally got it together and passed an agreement. Unfortunately, anti- ... More >>

Planck Institute Clams Up on Animal Welfare Practices: "Reputation Speaks for Itself"

We're not sure which phrase best describes the Max Planck Institute's response to our questions about its treatment of the hundreds of animals it holds captive and on whose nervous systems it experiments. Perhaps "Nothing to see here. Move along." Or "We ask the questions." We're not happy with eith ... More >>

Feds Cite Planck Institute Over Animal Welfare. Activists Demand CEO's Head

The Max Planck Institute for Neuroscience, in Northern Palm Beach, has hundreds of animals in its care, though "care" may not be quite the word. In the last fiscal year, according to USDA documents, 280 of those animals had their nervous systems experimented on. The animals did not choose to be ther ... More >>

PETA Wants the Feds to Investigate SeaWorld Dolphin Bite Incident

It was only a matter of time before PETA got involved with SeaWorld Dolphin Bites Little Girl Gate. Eight-year-old Jillian Thomas was bitten in the hand by a dolphin she was feeding at the theme park over the weekend. The attack left several dime-shaped punctures in her hand. See also: - Dolphin ... More >>

Is Peanut Butter Racist?

The Portland Tribune recently wrote about a program in Portland public schools called "courageous conversations", where educators attend training sessions and meetings designed to understand their own 'white privilege' so that they can "change their teaching practices to boost minority students' per ... More >>

Three More Plead Guilty in Million-Dollar Toilet Paper Ripoff Scheme

A million-dollar scheme in Palm Beach involving bogus government toilet-paper regulation is slowly... unraveling.Three men pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy charged linked to their involvement with FBK Products LLC, which sold a septic tank treatment they claimed helped break down "sec ... More >>

Father's Day is June 17: Where to Take Dad in Broward County

Father's Day is Sunday, June 17. For many families, that means backyard or beachside barbecues and other meaty affairs. If you don't have the facilities or inclination to put together a holiday meal on your own, Father's Day in a restaurant in Broward County may be the easiest option. After the ... More >>

I Watched a Hog Get Slaughtered

Supermarket Eggs: Organic, Cage Free, Free Range, and Whatever All That Means

Walk into any egg section of any supermarket, you are bound to be bombarded with dozens of varieties, with multiple labels and certification seals. Do you merely walk over, pick up a dozen, and just get on with your shopping? Or do stand in front of the coolers studiously reading the labels wonderin ... More >>

Red the Steakhouse to Open in Boca Raton

​In South Beach, the area south of Fifth Street (SoFi if you like acronyms) is the place to get a serious steak. In that patch of land, you'll find Prime One Twelve, Smith and Wollensky, and Red the Steakhouse.  Red the Steakhouse differentiates itself from the others by providing high-calibe ... More >>

NYY Steak Opens in Expanded Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek

​If you're still riding high on NY pride after the Giants' big victory in Sunday's Super Bowl, you may want to give a look at the newest steak house to hit Broward County. The recently unveiled $150 million expansion of Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek includes the first Florida location of high-e ... More >>

School Lunch Changes Mean Fewer Animal Crackers and No Canned Fruits

​No more animal crackers for iron at your kid's cafeteria. In the first overhaul of school food in 15 years, all schools must be in compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school food rules by July 1. Florida schools have prepped for the changes by switching control of the school lunc ... More >>

Funky Chicken No More? USDA to Revamp Inspections

​Studies show that two-thirds of chickens are contaminated with salmonella, which would especially be troubling if we ate it raw. The government says that changing inspection procedures should help. In a cost-saving measure, the federal government is revamping how it inspects birds. The U.S. Depar ... More >>

McNugget News: Are You Gonna Eat That?

​Tastes like chicken!Making the rounds online and on the Face -- again -- is "poultry paste," mass-produced chicken that even has a USDA-official name: mechanically separated poultry. If you're a meat eater and you've ingested grocery-store hot dogs, frozen chicken patties -- or if you had McNugge ... More >>

Free Fries This Friday at Burger King: Should You Care?

The fantasy​December 16 marks free fries Friday at Burger King locations across the country, the nationwide launch of "fluffier" fries with "more potato flavor" part of a rollout that started December 5. The new fries

Three Plead Guilty in Scam Based on Government-Regulated Toilet Paper

​Question: How much money can three Palm Beach County scam artists make by convincing old people there are new government regulations that ban traditional toilet paper?Answer: Around $1 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.Mary Moore, 54, Joseph Nouerand, 52, and Christopher Lincoln, 4 ... More >>

What's Cooking, Uncle Sam? Exhibit Examines Government's Role in the American Diet

nationalarchives.govPoster created by the USDA to encourage farmers to use quality feed for pigs. ​If you're anything like me, your food pyramid is inverted and looks more like a yield sign. The "food groups" in your yield sign probably have little to do with portion control or balance and everyth ... More >>

Michelle Obama and USDA Say Food Pyramid Out, My Plate In

flckr/ Rapid City Public LibraryThis food pyramid is old news. America, it's time for a new food lesson...​ Remember that food pyramid you learned about in grade school and kept seeing around the place? Well, it's outta here. The United States Department of Agriculture has launched a new visual i ... More >>

We Love the Smell of Burgers — Smells Like Victory!

Want a New Weed Research Unit? Federal Government Lists Unwanted Properties

Not on the list. Er, this is awkward.​Attention geography nerds, real-estate speculators, and government-haters (that includes something for everyone, doesn't it?): you may soon be able to pick up a federally owned property on the cheap thanks to a new online listing service from the U.S. Governme ... More >>

Valentine's Day Dinners in Palm Beach

​It's not too early to make those rezzies for you and your honey to get all sloppy and romantic over Valentine's Day dinner (which, for those of you who don't want to be sleeping on the couch for the rest of the month, is Monday, Feb. 14). So here are a half-dozen Palm Beach County restaurants whe ... More >>

So You Want to Be a Farmer?

Photo © The Urban Farmer​Turns out President Obama wants YOU ... to be a farmer. In the last year or two, it seems like small, urban farms and CSAs (like The Urban Farmer in Pompano Beach) are popping up throughout South Florida. And that's a great thing for anybody who values fresh produce that ... More >>

Prime Delray Opens on Atlantic Avenue

​"Glamour" isn't a word applied much to restaurants nowadays, but the glamour and cachet of 1940s-era supper clubs was the inspiration behind Prime Delray (110 E. Atlantic Ave., 561-865-5846), the newest restaurant to debut on the town's dining-rich Atlantic Avenue.Steven Pellegrino, also propriet ... More >>

Burger, Stogies and Reservations (!) All Come to The Office

​Chances are your office doesn't serve a big fatty of a burger made with USDA Prime beef dry-aged for 26 days, but one is now on the menu at David Manero's The Office in Delray Beach.  Even better, you no longer have to cool your taste buds at the bar waiting for a table, as the restaurant is ... More >>

Florida Ranked 36th Most Obese State (Tickets to Gun Show Now on Sale)

Flickr: TobyotterThe obese woman: An endangered Florida species​The seventh annual "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010" is, first of all, apparently an R as in Real thing. But moreover, the study revealed that Florida's adult obesity rate is 25.1 percent, making us the 36th m ... More >>

Elevation Burger Coming to the Walk in March

​After a few delays, Elevation Burger, the sustainable, free-range, grass-fed beef burger joint, is finally coming to the Walk in Coral Springs in March.The burger chain sounds sort of like Five Guys gone green. Elevation's slogan is "ingredients matter," and at least according to initial literatu ... More >>

Surf Sliders Catches Wave Into Delray

​A seemingly jinxed location and two weeks of shitty weather don't make getting a restaurant off the ground any easier, but Delray's new Surf Sliders is putting the finishing touches on its beachfront property and hopes to succeed where its two most recent predecessors have failed. 

Order Up: Callaro's Prime Steak and Seafood

​I expected not to like Callaro's Prime, a very old-fashioned steak house in Manalapan and subject of this week's Dish review. But my friend and New Times' theater critic Brandon K. Thorp convinced me the 8-year-old gin joint can cook the hell out of a steak. We dined there a couple of weeks ago b ... More >>

Ooh-la-la, Le Haute Burger

B. Citara​You don't need a weatherman to know the wind is blowing the rich, beefy aromas of hamburgers sizzling on the grill all over the country. Upscaling the humble burger is more popular than straight white teeth and money in the bank nowadays, as even recession-shafted diners can pry a few ni ... More >>

The Meatist Gets Funky With Aged Beef

Photo by flickr user aliciazs.​Have you ever had one of those moments when you look in your fridge and see that beauty of a steak that you bought a few days ago and forgot about, and it looks a little... funny? And you think, "Well, maybe it will smell all right," but you know in your gut that it ... More >>

The Meatist: How To Do Steak the Right Way

Photo by flickr user Jackie Baisa​"What the hell are you doing?" he asks me. "Getting ready to cook these steaks," I tell him. "Dude - there's a grill right outside the door, and you're heating up a pan? Are you on crack?" ​Men are supposed to intuitively know how to cook steaks. It's in o ... More >>

The Office Comes to Delray

That's what she ordered.The latest episode of The Office doesn't star Steve Carell but David Manero.  Let me explain. There are actually two Offices: one a TV show that reveals Life In a Cubicle as the mind-numbing, soul-sucking vampire it really is. The other is a coming restaurant from one of ... More >>

On Drinking, Driving, and the Cabbie That Waits Outside the Palm Beach County Jail

Photo by Lisa RabOutside the Palm Beach County Jail, transportation options are slim.After spending eight hours in a jail cell recovering from a night of ill-conceived drinking, getting ripped off by the cabbie that drives you home would seem to add insult to injury. But that's what a 30-year-old wo ... More >>

Food Stamp Nation - Florida Leads The Pack

The Miami Herald reports that "In the last two years, the number of Floridians on food stamps has increased more than 40 percent to 1.7 million. That increase is the highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture."The numbers read like this, 356,000 food stamp recipients li ... More >>

New Yard, New Grill

Letters for November 9, 2006

Puppy Love?

Only the dogs are blameless in Broward's strange war over Wizard of Claws

Attack of the Killer Weed

Can a hardy little moth stop the fern that wants to eat the Everglades?

Stagebeat

Capsule reviews of current area stage shows.

Best Hamburger

Jack's Old Fashion Hamburger House

Poison Pill

Florida's first law to protect farm workers from pesticides died a quiet death, but now it's back

A Fine Mess

A troubled wild kingdom looks to set up a SoFla outpost

What a Mouthful!

With the founding of his own steak house, Howard Schnellenberger has finally arrived

Foodstuff

Lil' Ole Caboose

Deep Roots

The wide and welcoming branches of the baobab beckon our humble scribe

Canker Sore

State workers are cutting down homeowners' citrus trees to save Florida's fruit industry. It's a South Florida chain saw massacre.