Articles

The seven-story Don Quijote megastore in the Shibuya district of Tokyo is open 24 hours a day, but it’s hard to say when it’s rush hour, because there’s always a rush. A labyrinth of aisles leads to one soaring, psychedelic display after another presided over by cartoon mascots, including the mascot of Don Quijote itself:… The story of how Kit Kats, once a British chocolate export, became a booming business from Hokkaido to Tokyo — and changed expectations about what a candy bar could be.

A decade ago, Greek yogurt was ascendant in America. In New York state, the hope among farmers and politicians was that their fortunes would benefit as well. In 2005, Hamdi Ulukaya spent less than $1 million buying an old Kraft yogurt processing plant in New Berlin, 150 miles northwest of New York City. Within two… America is drowning in milk nobody wants

SAMBAVA, Madagascar — Bright moonlight reflected off broad banana leaves, but it was still hard to see the blue twine laced through the undergrowth, a tripwire meant to send the unwary tumbling to the ground. “This is the way the thieves come,” said the vanilla farmer, lowering his voice and sweeping his flashlight beam over… Vanilla brings cash and crime to Madagascar

You can easily figure out a bar manager’s secret passion. All you have to do is take a close look at the bottles behind his or her bar. No matter how diverse the selection, there is almost always a collection of spirits that are a bit out of place. Perhaps, it’s an oddly robust group… Is Apple Brandy the Next Big Thing?

It began as a mimeographed score sheet, compiling the opinions of about 200 avid restaurant-goers in New York City. A fun side project dreamed up by lawyers Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, the guide evolved to feature pithy, compact 60-word reviews that showcased contributors’ honest and colorful remarks (”the rise and fall of Rome… Remember Zagat? The iconic burgundy guidebook that helped shape the modern comsumer era, its back.

Around two years ago, the then 10-person team of Bowery, an indoor farming startup, started growing a small array of leafy greens out of what was once a shipbuilding yard in Kearny, New Jersey. Undeterred by the rather harsh post-industrial environment, the Bowery team was just looking for somewhere to set up that had a… Automated Indoor Farming Growing so Fast it Might Just Work

American eating habits are changing faster than fast food can keep up. Instead of dining out, more Americans than ever are staying in. Restaurants are getting dinged by the advent of pre-made meal kits and online grocery delivery. Dining out has dropped to an average 185 times a year, down from a peak of 216… Why Americans Are Eating Out Less

Tiny bits of plastic have seeped into soil, fish and air, posing a threat to animal and human health. Mark Browne had a suspicion. He hoped the samples of dried blood taken from a blue mussel and placed under a special microscope would tell him if he was correct. As a fuzzy, three-dimensional image of… From Fish to Humans, A Microplastic Invasion May Be Taking a Toll

On a projection screen in front of a packed room in a coastal Maine town, computer-animated salmon swim energetically through a massive oval tank. A narrator’s voice soothingly points out water currents that promote fish exercise and ideal meat texture, along with vertical mesh screens that “optimize fish densities and tank volume.” The screens also… The Future of Fish Farming May Be Indoors

Like nearly a quarter of students in the College, rising third-year Max Teplitz is an economics major. But he’s minoring in modern Hebrew. “My Jewish identity has always been pretty important to me,” he said. Last summer, with a research grant from the University’s Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies, Teplitz got… Student film digs into history of New York delis

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