A B.C. solution to taking the sting out of honey fraud

Nutrition labeling on sugary drinks hardly gives understandable measurements so that consumers can make informed choices for their well-being. Outside of the United States, other countries like Mexico have tried the “12 teaspoonfuls” campaign that clearly informs consumers what is in their soda, and Ecuador has tried the traffic-light label to demonstrate nutrition information through colorful symbols. Both of these approaches have shown to be successful at reducing the consumption of high-sugar goods.

Sourcing food locally is an increasingly popular trend. New tracing technologies will make it easier to see where fish are coming from. 

To decrease the nation's food waste, activists in Denmark showed the people that it was safe to buy and consume items that were very recently expired. From live demonstrations where celebrity chef features expired items in the entrees to reducing prices for out-of-date items, "Danes now throw away 25 percent less food than they did five years ago."

Dutch farmers are saying no to antibiotics for livestock. The Netherlands is in the midst of a high-stakes, government-mandated experiment: Can large-scale meat production succeed without routine use of antibiotics?

In India, the food business has lacked transparency and people have depended upon imported foods that have been chemically treated. New programs, such as Jivabhumi and Organic Mandya, connects consumers with organic farmers to receive locally-made chemically-free food. The organic food industry is expanding to offer tourists the ability to see where their food comes from in order to encourage informed consumerism.

New Jersey legislators are introducing a series of actions that can help drastically reduce food waste and ensure more food is provided to those going hungry. The varied measures include provisions for farms where post-harvest produce is collected and donated, as well as clarifications on food labeling to help prevent confusion about expiry dates.

Leftover food from publicly-funded school meals is not simply an issue of wasted tax dollars and environmental concern, it is a detrimental misallocation of much needed food for many students who still go hungry in schools across the country each day. The Share Tables program is helping to more equitably distribute food by providing a space where unopened items from one student's lunch may be deposited on a designated table (or tub, or shelf) for hungry peers to take - not only reducing food waste and child hunger, but helping students develop empathy and healthier eating habits.

Vermont's passage of a law requiring food that is genetically modified to be labeled spurred action at the national level to create one standard, rather than a patchwork of state laws, that offers food companies several ways to label foods with GMOs. The national bill did eventually pass, but as this piece illustrates, no one seems very happy about it. Environmentalists feel it leaves large loopholes and while the food industry likes one standard, it does not like the stigma the GMO label confers.

As skepticism increases around the health of consuming meat products due to inhumane ways the animals are being reared and raised, this Vermont packinghouse is embracing transparency by letting the public see all. From tours of the facility to learning how the animal was raised and later killed, this slaughterhouse is trying to change the narrative around the secrecy behind the meat on your table.

The life-saving vitamin folic acid is added to flour in the United States, but Hispanics tend to eat little flour. Adding folic acid to corn flour would reduce birth defects in Hispanic women in the U.S.