food

Long before it fueled moviegoers, popcorn helped lay the foundation for the Aztec empire. In our video, we look at popcorn under a microscope, where the rock-hard kernel's fluffy secret is revealed.

Scientists have made some attempts to link mollusks to increased libido. There's even evidence that consuming heavy doses of an amino acid found in oysters can increase sperm count – in rabbits. But do any of these findings actually prove that oysters can — ahem — amp up arousal? Not so much.

Chinese immigrants adapted their cuisine over time to appeal to American palates. So Americans looking for familiar dishes in China won't find many. But a new restaurant in Shanghai hopes to change that — offering expats a taste of home and introducing locals to foreign treats like fortune cookies.

Rodney Scott's legendary South Carolina barbecue cookhouse went up in flames last year, so friends of the pit master cooked up a plan to help him rebuild. Scott is now making a comeback with his Bar-B-Que in Exile Tour and bringing people together with his whole hog barbecue.

From sodas to truffles to butter, foods infused with THC — the chemical in marijuana that gives you a high — are already for sale in Colorado. But the federal government still considers pot illegal, so the state has to create from scratch its own system to regulate these foods.

Some farming communities are struggling to find enough contestants for the pageants that crown monarchs like the Asparagus Queen and Beef Queen. So they are relaxing the pageant rules to spice up the competition.

The proposed farm bill would cut nearly $1 billion a year from the food stamp program, known as SNAP. While it's far less than what Republicans had originally wanted, the proposal will affect roughly 850,000 households, many of which are still struggling from cuts made only three months ago.

Farmers can now deliver data from their fields, minute by minute, to big agribusiness companies like Monsanto or John Deere. Those companies promise to use the data to help farmers make money. But some farmers worry that it could threaten their privacy and give the big companies too much power.

Bacardi, Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker have some new competition these days. There's been a surge in the number of craft distilleries in the U.S. over the past few years, as more mom and pop entrepreneurs are making liquor for local customers.

A study in the journal Obesity found that students who used credit or debit cards in the school cafeteria chose fewer fruits and vegetables and more desserts than kids paying with cash. But the researchers say schools should work with the bias instead of trying to fight it.