News You Can Use

The Huffington Post picks up on the mixed feelings in the burgeoning food community on the onset of ramp season, which reached a head yesterday on Food Republic with chef Tyler Kord proclaiming that "spring is a bummer." Ah, the humanity.

Grist takes a look at how topsoil erosion on Iowa farms is increasing because farmers, motivated by the high prices they're getting for corn and soy, are farming more of their land. If they'd just leave a few trees standing and a bit of grass, a lot of this could be prevented. Where have we heard something about this before? Oh yeah.

Imagine a brighter future, where bottled beer stays fresh forever. "Born-on dates" would be rendered irrelevant. We beer drinkers would never again wince as that stale taste hits our lips. Yes, German researchers (who else?) studying beer chemistry at the Technical University of Munich found that if brewers lower the acidity in bottled beer it can stay fresh longer, maybe even forever! Though the BBC, in the article, inadvertently dampens the excitement when it concludes the report with one of beer's great truisms: "The simplest route to keeping beer tasting fresh is to keep it cool." Amen, brothers.