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Jason Lee / Reuters How the Microscope Challenged Vegetarianism
Scientific innovations have a long history of fueling debates over the morality of eating meat.
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Bernadette Szabo / Reuters The Threats to the World's Chocolate Forests
A taste for chocolate has spread around the globe, but its supply is in jeopardy.
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Larry Crowe / AP The French Aristocrat Who Invented the Restaurant
Originally a “restaurant” referred to a type of soup.
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Eric Thayer / Reuters The Medical Origins of Seltzer
Before the advent of modern medicine, people “took the waters” in naturally carbonated springs to cure all varieties of illness.
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Reuters / Lucy Nicholson The Flavors That Define American Cuisine
Contrary to its bland reputation, American food has been spicy from the start.
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Nicola Twiley The Healing Powers of Honey
Thousands of years after the ancient Egyptians dressed their wounds with the sweet stuff, modern medicine is still exploring honey's antibacterial properties.
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Regis Duvignau / Reuters We Are in the Golden Age of Oysters
But climate change could end it.
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Jeff Rotman / jeffrotman.com How Many Fish Are in the Sea?
Counting fish is a daunting but essential task in protecting aquatic ecosystems—and now artificial intelligence, autonomous submarines, and drones can help.
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Larry Crowe / AP Kelp Is the New Kale
The global seaweed harvest is worth more than all the world's lemons and limes.
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Yuya Shino / Reuters The Salt Wars
A look at the many conflicts over the precious, tasty mineral that humans need to survive
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Charles Krupa / AP The Mystery of Kombucha Culture
The fizzy, fermented tea is not the cure-all that its devotees want it to be, but it still might have health benefits.
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Shannon Stapleton / Reuters When Jewish Law Met Processed Food
The quest to keep kosher has shaped America’s grocery stores.
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Al Behrman / AP As American as Fried Chicken
The dish, like the nation that popularized it, has a complicated, often contradictory history.
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Baloncici / Shutterstock Can Edible Ice-Cream Containers Reinvent Food Packaging?
The environmental cost of boxes, cans, and jars has sparked a movement to change how food is stored.
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo Who Invented the Cherry Tomato?
The fruit's origin is a culinary mystery.
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Sara Hylton / Reuters Is Beer Made With Roast Chicken Tasty?
Independent brewers are playing with ancient ingredients to invent new flavors.
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Chris O'Meara / AP The Secret History of Citrus
The fruit isn't as commonplace as it seems—at one point, it even inspired the Mafia.
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Jack Kurtz / Zuma Press / Corbis A History of the Greatest Food Heists
From the Hamburglar to boosted almond trucks
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Mario Anzuoni / Reuters The World’s Most Popular Drug
Why caffeine has such a hold on the brain and body
