Free Republic

Forget hamburgers and hot dogs—the U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing people to grill up pineapple slices, peaches, nectarines and other fruit for their big July 4th feast. “Throw some grilled pineapple on the grill & get ready to enjoy nature’s candy,” USDA’s “MyPlate” website tweeted out this week. […] If you must grill meat, USDA is suggesting things like a “low-sodium & tasty recipe for grilled steak with Criolla sauce.” But there’s not much information on how to make a good burger. When a search for the word “hamburger” is run on the MyPlate site, the first three items...

MABANK — For the first time in four years, a gourmet extravagance — authentic Japanese Kobe beef — is allowed back into the United States. The question is whether anyone will care. An American Kobe-style brand has taken its place on restaurant menus. Wagyu cattle began arriving in the United States in the 1990s, often flown over from Japan. They are fattened longer than the average American breed; they live about eight to 14 months longer than U.S. beef cattle. U.S. ranchers often crossbreed them with Angus cattle. The glossy black cows on Meliton Rincon's ranch in Athens are not...

 (Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA expressed disappointment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) proposed rule titled “Importation of Whole Cuts of Boneless Beef from Japan,” published in Thursday’s Federal Register (70 Fed. Reg. 48,494) to amend the agency’s regulation for the importation of meat and other edible animal products that would allow Japan to export boneless cuts of beef to the United States.    “This is another example of the USDA tilting the playing field away from independent U.S. cattle producers by continuing to give market access before we gain market access,” said R-CALF...