Politics

From superbugs in meat to undercover animal abuse bills to farm labor advocacy the week brought both alarm and reform. But hey, there's a gif from the Atlantic maps out America’s growing obesity problem with unsettling clarity! Read on for the week in food politics.

Fast food workers go on strike, Minnesota debates GMO labeling, kids' meals fail nutrition standards and Mark Bittman goes in search of healthy versions of junk food. 

On the front page of today’s New York Times lands a story about austerity measures being taken in China under the newly anointed President Xi Jinping. Austerity does not come easy in a country where spendy government-sponsored retreats are a matter of course. But it appears that the Communist party leaders are being hit hardest in the belly, with calls for “self-restraint” when  ordering food and drink. And what that means?