Kiko's Food News, 3.2.12

A New York federal court dismissed the lawsuit against agribusiness giant Monsanto brought by thousands of certified organic farmers, ruining their hopes that the suit would protect them against infringing on the company’s crop patents in the future: (full story)

I’ve added a new book to my “to-read” list: Tracie McMillan’s The American Way of Eatingexposes US food distribution the way Pollan exposed our agricultural system by chronicling her work as a laborer in California’s farm fields, a produce clerk at Walmart, and in the kitchen at Applebee’s: (full story)

A study on fruit and veggie consumption in six low-income, primarily minority neighborhoods in Chicago found that convenience was key among those who eat more produce, and the price of the produce didn’t matter; this furthers the argument that Americans aren’t skipping healthy food because of its cost, but rather because cooking with fresh produce takes a little effort: (full story)

Fresh Direct, NYC’s grocery delivery success story, has grown from a small start-up to almost 2,000 employees and is relocating headquarters to the Bronx to stay within the five boroughs; Mayor Bloomberg makes an argument for how keeping the business local achieves the city’s “number one priority” of job creation, and will benefit NY residents for decades to come: (full story)

Starting this week, raw meat sold at grocery stores must carry a nutrition label with info including calories, protein level, cholesterol, saturated fat, sodium and more: (full story)

A Food Safety News investigation revealed that one-third of America’s honey supply is probably smuggled in from China and could be tainted with the antibioticChloramphenicol used by Chinese beekeepers to stave off a bacterial infection that threatened to cripple the country’s honey industry in the late 90s; the drug is outlawed in the U.S.:(full story)