Free Republic

Muslim passengers being deported from Ireland to Pakistan were insensitively served pork sausages as part of a breakfast during their chartered flight. A Government-appointed human rights monitor branded the meal choice "inappropriate" aboard the journey from Dublin to Islamabad transporting 24 men to the Muslim-majority nation. The monitor's assessment noted "the quality of food was a low standard" and criticised the decision to include pork products for individuals travelling to an Islamic country – naturally defying the dietary practices of the religion. Before the flight – which cost Irish taxpayers €473,000 – the men were detained overnight across three separate...

Organ meats sit on the butcher’s shelf at a fraction of the price of premium steaks, yet most Americans walk right past them. Liver, heart, and kidneys deliver more vitamins and minerals per dollar than almost anything else in the grocery store, but cultural squeamishness and decades of convenience marketing have rendered them nearly invisible on American tables. Even as the Make America Healthy Again movement highlights these nutrient powerhouses, the rejection persists — a telling symptom of how far we have drifted from sensible, stewardship-minded eating. Beef liver, often called nature’s multivitamin, provides extraordinary levels of vitamin B12, vitamin...

With current events stirring up global energy prices, corn ethanol is again being dressed up as if it is a domestic energy source and agent of energy security. The truth is that corn ethanol is an energy sump, and that it takes more fossil fuel energy to make a gallon of corn ethanol than a gallon of gasoline. It is time to face this unpleasant truth and the other perverse outcomes achieved by twenty years of misguided policy. In 2005 and 2007, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Energy Independence and Security Acts that together created the Renewable Fuel Standard...

Though it’s a watered-down version of the long-discussed PRIME Act authored by the Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, the House has passed an important measure to start returning the regulation of intrastate food production to state and local authority. In practice, the return of meat production to local control will be a victory for producers and consumers, restoring flexibility and real community markets. But first, go back to 1942, when the farmer Roscoe Filburn grew wheat on his Ohio farm that he only intended to use on his own property. Penalized for violating the federal Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, Filburn...

A stomach-churning viral video appears to show a McDonald’s employee shoveling french fries in her mouth and then putting them back in a box, possibly to serve to customers — and police are investigating. “So you want french fries today, right?” the woman says to the camera, before placing the fries in her mouth while a co-worker laughs behind her in the kitchen of the East Main Street McDonald’s in Southbridge, Mass., according to the disgusting video obtained by Boston 25 News. The employee then puts the fries back in the box, the vile video shows. “That’s disgusting, are you...

When Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping sit down to a lavish state banquet in Beijing on Thursday, one Chinese cuisine is likely to feature on the menu: Huaiyang food, from the region surrounding Shanghai, known for its mild and subtle flavours, refined knife-work and emphasis on seasonal dishes... "One of the key strengths of Huaiyang cuisine is its broad appeal. Its flavours are widely acceptable and accessible to most people ... including international guests," said Shi Qiang, executive chef at Gui Hua Lou, an upscale Huaiyang cuisine restaurant in Shanghai... China even created a chicken dish named after US...

As if humanity needed another reason to embrace its early morning (or evening) espresso, scientists have just discovered a way that coffee potentially boosts health and longevity – and caffeine only plays a minor role. Instead, coffee seems to exert its purported anti-aging properties primarily through plant-derived compounds found in fruits, vegetables, and herbs. After all, the coffee bean from which all macchiatos manifest is itself from a fruit. Accordingly, it has been observed that coffee drinkers live longer and exhibit lower incidences of chronic and age-related disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and dementia. But many past studies have been...

Garlic has been praised for centuries as one of those humble kitchen staples that seems to do more than simply flavor food. It shows up in family recipes, old home remedies, and now, increasingly, scientific studies looking at how natural compounds may affect the body as it ages. A new study suggests one particular compound found in aged garlic extract may have a surprising relationship with muscle health — and the path may run through fat cells. The research, summarized by StudyFinds and published in Cell Metabolism, focuses on a sulfur-containing compound called S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine, or S1PC. In laboratory and animal...

An eco-warrior politician has sparked outrage in Denmark after she defended guidelines limiting residents of government-run nursing homes to just 2.8 ounces of beef a week — which is less than one Big Mac. Birgitte Kehler Holst of the left-wing green Danish party The Alternative was also accused of saying old people in nursing homes should be “punished” by restricting their meat intake in comments made in a meeting of Copenhagen’s City Council on April 30. She was speaking against plans to exclude nursing home residents from guidelines in the Danish capital that restrict meals at government-run sites to just...

Potato-linked financial contracts have risen over 700% in a few weeks, despite a current oversupply in Europe, due to speculative trading surrounding the volatile environment caused by the Iran war. Potato contracts for difference (CFDs), which track the benchmark market for the commodity, have seen prices soar roughly 705% in less than a month. Since 21 April, the cost per hundred kilograms has risen from approximately €2.11 to a staggering €18.50. However, this price is in fact still very low compared to where the potato market was in the last two years. This is due to the underlying physical market...

Dark earth, the strange patches of black soil rich in nutrients that cause plants to grow at accelerated rates, while also capturing unusually high amounts of carbon from the air, is one of the Amazon rainforest’s greatest mysteries. Since these patches of dark earth were first discovered by European colonizers in the 1880s, debate has raged over their origins, with ideas ranging from the natural to the artificial. Variants of this dark, nutrient-rich soil have been found in a range of locations around the world, and are most often associated with the accumulation of materials in soil after long periods...

The price didn’t just go up. The product went down. This is shrinkflation on steroids. The cost increased. The value didn’t. BRIEFING Grant here. Shrinkflation is everywhere nowadays. It's actually becoming so common that we seem to just almost be throwing up our hands and accepting it. Well, for the most part.... Because this latest video showing what an absolute rip-off the classic McDonald's sundae has become has people pretty darn heated. Let’s break it down. A popular X video shows a woman holding her obnoxiously tiny McDonald’s hot fudge sundae. I mean, it's comically small. It looks like something...

Central California farmers are expected to gain up to $9 million in federal aid to help remove 420,000 clingstone peach trees following the closure of Del Monte Foods’ canneries earlier this year. Del Monte permanently closed its Modesto and Hughson canneries in April after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July. The factory closures left hundreds of workers without a job while also leaving farmers in dire straits as they navigated what to do with their crops. In March, the Sacramento Bee reported that many Central California farmers had their 20-year contracts to grow peaches with Del Monte canceled while...

The neighborhood where NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is planning to build a government owned grocery store already has almost 50 markets within walking distance, raising further questions about his far left pipe dreams. Is the new store even necessary? Mamdani probably does not care about that. This is merely a campaign promise and he likely sees it as something on which he has to deliver. What is often not discussed is the competition this government owned store is going to create for all of these other privately owned stores. Ask any business owner, and they will tell you it is...

Butter is having a moment. No longer just a bit player in baking or a back-of-fridge standby, it’s taking center stage — whipped into sculptural boards, swirled into pastas, slathered generously on crusty bread. And yet, most of us still toss the same familiar yellow box into our grocery carts week after week. What actually makes a butter “better,” and which store-bought slabs are worth the splurge? To find out, we talked to chefs, cheesemongers and cookbook authors obsessed with butter — not just for the flavor, but for the science and soul behind it. We asked about butter for...

(Photo credit: Exclusive Image for Unsplash+) Research Shows That Avoiding Eggs Entirely Linked To 22% Higher Risk Of Memory-Stealing Disease In A Nutshell People who ate eggs regularly had lower Alzheimer’s diagnosis rates over 15 years. The lowest risk appeared in those eating eggs five or more times per week. Eggs provide nutrients linked to brain health, including choline and vitamin B12. The study shows a connection, not proof that eggs prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Eggs have spent decades bouncing between dietary hero and villain, praised for their protein one year and vilified for their cholesterol the next. A new study...

Today, just four companies — JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef — control roughly 85% of the cattle processing market. That level of concentration has surged from just 25% in 1977 to 71% by 1992, and now to an astonishing 85%. Together, these companies operate through dozens of subsidiary businesses, creating a landscape that leaves many of our cattle producers with limited marketing options. For some ranchers this means less marketing opportunities, complicating an already challenging marketplace. We must work to address this to protect our ranchers and consumers. @POTUS and this administration are focused on promoting fairness and...

[...] “You may still be seeing the inflationary impact of food industry costs for the next 12 to 15 months,” he said. [...] If this sounds hyperbolic, consider the importance of fertiliser. Some 40-50 per cent of the world’s food production depends on artificial nitrogen-based fertiliser, which is created by combining nitrogen from the air with hydrogen from natural gas to make ammonia. In turn, this is combined with either nitric acid or carbon dioxide to produce ammonium nitrate, or urea. The problem is that 34 per cent of global urea passes through the Strait of Hormuz, having been produced...

When it comes to storing food, many of us follow the practices our parents and grandparents used. Who cares about reading the package instructions when Grandma left her butter in the butter bell all day, every day, right? So, maybe your butter's home is on the counter in a dish. Or if not on the counter at all times, perhaps you leave your butter sitting out overnight to soften before baking. But, should you leave butter sitting out, unrefrigerated? And, if so, how long can it be on the counter before it becomes unsafe to eat? We asked the experts...

“Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar’s name appears at least six times in recently resurfaced court documents from the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case, fueling speculation about whether the Minnesota socialist had a hand in the widespread scam in her district. The documents were part of the 2025 federal trial of Aimee Bock, the founder of the Feeding our Future nonprofit who was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy, and bribery for masterminding the scheme that falsely claimed to serve millions of meals to children while pocketing federal funds through bogus food sites and shell companies. Bock is in custody awaiting...