Mediavore

Country Ham Is the New Bacon; Recession Hits Organics

• Country ham is the latest pretender to bacon’s throne. [Salon]

• After years of sharp growth, organic food sales are starting to plateau, a change attributed to shoppers’ shifting priorities through the recession. [Reuters]

• High-alcohol craft beers are now served in cans, which can have unexpected effects on drinkers. [Daily News]

• Police have been called to an Upper Darby bar 180 times in the past 15 months and a man was shot to death there yesterday, yet the PLCB has still not shut it down. [Daily News]

• Cheese has benefited from America’s increasing interest in food, with once-exotic varieties like gruyere now appealing to more palates. [NYT]

• Michelle Obama’s crusade against childhood obesity has major companies like Kraft and Mars making public changes to their products and packaging. [The Atlantic]

• A new prototype for a produce barcode fades over time, indicating the decreasing freshness of the fruit or vegetable. [UberGizmo via EMD]

• Despite their decreasing numbers, bluefin tuna were not included on the UN’s list of protected fish out of a concern that it would hurt fishing economies. [Guardian]

Country Ham Is the New Bacon; Recession Hits Organics