Eliza Barclay

It's hard to predict how quickly a woman's fertility will decline and if she'll be a good candidate for egg freezing. But doctors try to figure that out with something called an ovarian reserve test.

Sugar and tea have a love story that goes way back.

As The Salt's Maria Godoy has written, they are a "power couple that altered the course of history. It was a marriage shaped by fashion, health fads and global economics," and, of course, the slave trade.

Tea, especially ...

If you're enjoying a late-summer fruit pie this Labor Day, consider what went into growing and harvesting that fruit. Chances are, it took a lot of human hands to ensure its skin would be perfect and smooth when you bought it.

While machines have replaced human hands for a lot ...

Most of America's pigs dine on slop or corn-and-soy-based feed — pretty boring stuff.

But some pigs feast upon truly delectable food that's just past its prime: bread, dough, pastries and other bakery byproducts. Farmers have even been known to feed their pigs Cap'n Crunch and chocolate.

These woolly ...

It's that time of year when some gardeners and tomato-coveting shoppers face a vexing question: What on earth am I going to do with all these tomatoes I grew (or bought)?

A select few up to their elbows in tomatoes may have an additional quandary: How am I going to ...

We're not shy about our affinity for the Cherokee Purple, a purplish package of sweet, acid and savory tomato greatness.

But every year, the Cherokee Purple's preeminence (in our mind, anyway) is challenged by new heirlooms we've never tried before. This year, we're wowed by the Paul Robeson, a ...

If, like me, you're an amateur taster of beer and wine, inevitably you've asked yourself why you don't taste that hint of raspberry or note of pine bark that someone else says is there.

Genetics certainly have something to do with why we have different perceptions of tastes. Scientists have ...

Fortunately for those of us who are suckers for novelty, every year fruits and vegetables seem to come in more bewitching colors, shapes and flavors. In recent years, we've been transfixed by Glass Gem Corn and the vibrant orange Turkish eggplant.

If you go to the farmers market ...

Bespoke, artisanal water could, conceivably, be a thing. Artisanal ice is real, after all.

The artisanal water we discovered recently is, however, just a vivid figment of filmmaker Paul Riccio's imagination.

"I had just rolled my eyes one too many times watching something about the artisanal food ...

Editor's note: A version of this story was first published Aug. 1, 2014.

When Leanne Brown moved to New York from Canada to earn a master's in food studies at New York University, she couldn't help noticing that Americans on a tight budget were eating a lot of ...

Sugar gives the human brain much pleasure. But not everyone revels in cupcakes with an inch of frosting, or milkshakes blended with candy bars, though these crazily sugary treats are increasingly the norm.

Scientists have known for a decade that cats and other felines don't have taste buds for ...

July 24 is Pioneer Day in Utah, honoring the arrival of Brigham Young and other Mormon settlers at Salt Lake Valley in 1847. State offices and banks are closed, employees have the day off, and there are parades and fireworks throughout the state.

Non-Mormons in Utah celebrate the day ...

As Dan Charles reported on Monday, yogurt has a way of igniting passions. In his story of arson, the flames were literal.

Once you start looking, it's really not hard to find people — even entire countries — deeply attached to this nourishing and calming food.

Back in ...

Tunde Wey wanted to share the food of his West African childhood. So he crossed the U.S. by bus, hosting pop-up dinners along the way. But Wey, like many immigrants, found success can unravel quickly.

Chocolate might be headed toward a crisis, depending on whom you ask.

That's at least what the 2015 Cocoa Barometer has to say. It's an overview of sustainability issues in the cocoa sector, written by various European and U.S. NGOs, and was released in the U.S. this week. And ...

There were plenty of tasty tidbits packed into the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report that came out back in February.

As we reported, the panel of nutrition experts that wrote the report said it was OK to eat an egg a day. The scientific evidence now shows it won't ...

What are the makings of a great salad? You need fresh greens, of course, and then a layer of colorful vegetables like tomatoes and carrots.

That's a good start. But to help the body absorb more of the nutrients packed into this medley, you may want to add something else: ...

Would you drink fewer cans of soda if a national tax jacked up the price?

When it comes to schemes to counter the staggering rates of obesity and diabetes around the world, there's a growing consensus that taxes that force consumers to reckon, via their pocketbooks, with their food and ...

On Wednesday, in advance of a Friday shareholder meeting, Wal-Mart executives told employees it would turn up the heat and mix up the music in stores — after complaints that workers were chilly and subjected to endless repetition of Celine Dion and Justin Bieber songs.

"Taking care of ...

In the last couple of years, we've detected a faint buzz about crispy crickets and crunchy mealworms. Companies pedaling scorpion lollipops and peanut butter-and-jelly protein bars made with cricket flour have thrust their wares into our hands and mailboxes.

It's truly gotten easier to snack on bugs, should you want ...