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In Houston, Diversity You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Chef Anita Jaisinghani owns Pondicheri, a casual spot serving up her take on the street foods of her native India. Liz Halloran/NPR hide caption

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Liz Halloran/NPR

Texas 2020

In Houston, Diversity You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Forget the old stereotypes. Today's Houston is a fast-growing mash-up of color, culture and ethnicity. One of the most visible signs of the city's metamorphosis is in its dynamic food scene. Africans, Mexicans, Asians and African-Americans migrating north to south are all adding to the melting pot.

Preserving The Season's Fruits With A Canning Evangelist

For the sweetest, smoothest strawberry jam, author Kevin West suggests staying as far away as possible from what he calls "Pamela Anderson fruit": the big strawberries found in regular supermarkets. He prefers picking small, red berries from farm stands, instead. Kevin West/Knopf hide caption

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Kevin West/Knopf

The Salt

Preserving The Season's Fruits With A Canning Evangelist

Kevin West, author and blogger, takes NPR's Lynn Neary to a farmers market to choose the summer's best produce for canning. "You take this experience ... and you put it in the jar. And six months from now we will re-experience that moment," West says.

Avocado-Fed Pork? Why Animal Feed Is Going Gourmet

Russ Kremer with some of his hogs on his farm in Frankenstein, Mo., in 2009. Instead of buying conventional feed, Kremer grazes his hogs in a pasture, and grows grains and legumes for them. Jeff Roberson/AP hide caption

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Jeff Roberson/AP

The Salt

Avocado-Fed Pork? Why Animal Feed Is Going Gourmet

Some farmers say they are willing to shoulder the extra cost and time of specialty feed because they're turned off by conventional feed mixes. A few will even take custom feed requests from chefs and diners.

Composting On The Way Up In New York City High-Rises

Compost bins at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn, N.Y. are part of a pilot program to get New Yorkers to recycle their food waste. Courtesy of Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket hide caption

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Courtesy of Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket

The Salt

Composting On The Way Up In New York City High-Rises

This summer, New York City is expanding food waste recycling into more neighborhoods, with an eye toward eventually making the program mandatory. Officials are hoping the changes will help improve on the city's dismal recycling rate, which remains stuck at 15 percent.

What The Rise Of Cage-Free Eggs Means For Chickens

Cage-free chickens in Harold Sensenig's barn near Hershey, Pa., get to roam and perch on steel rods, but they don't go outside. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption

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Dan Charles/NPR

The Salt

What The Rise Of Cage-Free Eggs Means For Chickens

Promises from big food companies to switch to "cage-free" eggs have set off a supply chain reaction among egg producers. Some producers are adding more cage-free houses to their operations. But scientists are still trying to measure whether cage-free chickens are really better off.

Moonshine As Moneymaker? Eastern Tennessee Will Drink To That

Ole Smoky's bottles are designed in keeping with the local eastern Tennessee tradition to "pass the jar." Moonshine was typically drunk out of old Mason jars. Van Gallik/Courtesy of Ole Smoky hide caption

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Van Gallik/Courtesy of Ole Smoky

The Salt

Moonshine As Moneymaker? Eastern Tennessee Will Drink To That

Locals in eastern Tennessee have been making moonshine for centuries. But until a few years ago, it was pretty hard for most distillers to do so legally. Now, entrepreneurs have turned their moonshine heritage into a way to boost the local economy and help farmers, too.

Coffee Futures: The Highs And Lows Of A Cup Of Joe

Want to invest in coffee futures? One roaster says when it comes to the price of coffee, it "is like a roller coaster." Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Salt

Coffee Futures: The Highs And Lows Of A Cup Of Joe

NPR's Uri Berliner gets a taste of the commodities market with a $227 wager on coffee. The futures price for coffee has tumbled for more than three years. But as he learns from interviews with coffee roasters and a futures broker, trying to predict coffee prices is not for the faint of heart.

Can You Be Addicted To Carbs? Scientists Are Checking That Out

Eating refined carbohydrates like bagels may stimulate brain regions involved in reward and cravings, research suggests. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

The Salt

Can You Be Addicted To Carbs? Scientists Are Checking That Out

Researchers are trying to figure out if it really is possible to be addicted to food. A study of brain activity finds there's more going on in areas linked to reward and addiction after people drink a shake with lots of refined carbohydrates. But it's not clear how that factors into overeating.

Rosie The Robot Won't Serve Your Food, But She'll Pick It

A lettuce thinner manufactured by Ramsay Highlander removes excess seedlings from the field so that others have room to grow. Just one worker is required to operate the machine. Rachel Estabrook hide caption

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Rachel Estabrook

The Salt

Rosie The Robot Won't Serve Your Food, But She'll Pick It

Labor-starved farmers are now eyeing lettuce-picking robots to help with the harvest. But more robots on the farm could also spell trouble for smaller producers that can't afford them.