When you think about it, ice cream is not only a culinary marvel but a technological one as well. Invented long before the days of refrigeration, the...
Eggs come in six sizes—jumbo, extra-large, large, medium, small, and peewee—and in three grades—AA, A, and B (grades are United States classifications...
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and educators also worried about keeping school-aged children safe from food allergies, especially peanuts—with...
According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, there are between 115,000 and 125,000 beekeepers (hobbyists, part-time, and commercial) in...
On July 31, 1790, the inventor Samuel Hopkins was awarded the first US patent for a new method of making potash and pearl ash. Potash, later termed...
Living in downtown Washington, DC, during the pandemic means that every day there is news of yet another local restaurant closing its doors. I hear...
Navigating a supermarket today is strikingly different than only three months ago. Store layouts designed over the past 100 years encouraged shoppers...
As any one of my good friends will tell you, I love talking about my experience working in the food industry. From the time I was legally eligible to...
Sunil CherianSunil Cherian, the founder and CEO of Spirae, Inc. in Fort Collins, Colorado, works on smart grid technology that balances variations in...
Right now in Spark!Lab, we’re exploring the theme “Eat.” Watching visitors devise creative new ways to grow, harvest, transport, and cook food has...
With famous boxer George Foreman’s smiling face as its TV pitchman and a catchy marketing name, “the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine,” the...
On October 1, 1917, chemist Charles Wilderman Trigg (1898-1989), wrote in his laboratory notebook at the Mellon Institute, “fellowship renewed for one...
It seemed like a simple, straightforward publication request: please write a 1,000 word biography about Percy LeBaron Spencer, the inventor of the...
Every spring I join thousands of mycological nerds on a hunt. I find myself spending hour after frustrating hour in search of an elusive prize: the...
The potato chip is one of the US’s favorite snack foods. The snack's invention is an interesting legend, but spin-off potato chip inventions are just...
My family is obsessed with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. The ubiquitous pink and orange logo is emblazoned in my memory. Grandpa Andy’s routine consists of a...
Charlotte Cramer Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1907. In 1924, she moved to New York, and in 1945, she married Alexander Sachs, an...
