MARY CLARE JALONICK

Read the latest stories and analysis from MARY CLARE JALONICK.

First lady Michelle Obama speaks to school leaders and experts surrounding school nutrition, Tuesday, May 27, 2014, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Michelle Obama to hear directly from them about the work they are doing to improve school nutrition in their local districts. She stressed the importance of students, parents, school officials, community leaders, and health advocates coming together to protect and advance the tremendous progress that has been made in schools across our country. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

First lady responds to school meal critics

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 27, 2014 9:02 pm

House, Senate bills to OK spuds in moms’ food plan

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 22, 2014 7:02 pm

USDA delays whole grains rule for school pastas

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 21, 2014 12:51 am

House GOP bill would roll back school lunch rules

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 19, 2014 5:38 pm

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2013, file photo, small coffee producer Hector Perez show coffee beans damaged by the roya fungus in San Gaspar Vivar, Guatemala. The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to help Central American farmers fight a devastating coffee disease _ and to keep the price of your morning cup down. A fungus called coffee rust has already caused more than $1 billion in damage across the Latin American region. It is especially deadly to Arabica coffee, the bean that makes up most high-end, specialty coffees, and it is already affecting the price of some of those coffees in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

Coffee fungus raising prices for high-end blends

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 19, 2014 3:28 pm

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2013, file photo, small coffee producer Hector Perez show coffee beans damaged by the roya fungus in San Gaspar Vivar, Guatemala. The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to help Central American farmers fight a devastating coffee disease _ and to keep the price of your morning cup down. A fungus called coffee rust has already caused more than $1 billion in damage across the Latin American region. It is especially deadly to Arabica coffee, the bean that makes up most high-end, specialty coffees, and it is already affecting the price of some of those coffees in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

Coffee fungus raising prices for high-end blends

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 18, 2014 12:31 pm

FILE - In this April 24, 2014, file photo,, Katie Spring rolls up plastic that was used to cover certain plants during the winter in a field at the Good Heart Farmstead in Worcester, Vt. Spring and her husband Edge Fuentes, who both own the farm, back the GMO labeling bill passed by the Vermont legislature. Genetically modified foods have been around for years, but most Americans have no idea if they are eating them. The Food and Drug Administration says they don't need to be labeled, so the state of Vermont has moved forward on its own. On May 8, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed legislation making the state the first to require labeling of GMOs _ technically genetically modified organisms. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

Energy and Environment

Genetically modified foods confuse consumers

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 17, 2014 1:50 pm

Ag Secretary Vilsack subpoenaed in Breitbart suit

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 16, 2014 6:44 pm

FILE - In this April 24, 2014, file photo,, Katie Spring rolls up plastic that was used to cover certain plants during the winter in a field at the Good Heart Farmstead in Worcester, Vt. Spring and her husband Edge Fuentes, who both own the farm, back the GMO labeling bill passed by the Vermont legislature. Genetically modified foods have been around for years, but most Americans have no idea if they are eating them. The Food and Drug Administration says they don't need to be labeled, so the state of Vermont has moved forward on its own. On May 8, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed legislation making the state the first to require labeling of GMOs _ technically genetically modified organisms. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

Genetically modified foods confuse consumers

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 9, 2014 4:53 pm

Becky Domokos-Bays, the Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Alexandria City Public Schools, holds up a tray of food during lunch service.

Healthier school meals: How 5 districts are faring

MARY CLARE JALONICK · May 5, 2014 8:55 pm

FILE - This march 8, 2010 file photo shows the sandwich board at a Panera store with the calorie count for each item, in Brookline, Mass. Diners could soon see calorie counts on menus of chain restaurants. But what about the roasted chicken sold at grocery stores, or the hot dogs convenience stores sell? Will movie theaters have to tell patrons the number of calories in a giant soda and bucket of popcorn? The food industry is closely watching the Food and Drug Administration to see which establishments are included in the final menu labeling rules, expected this year. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Where will calorie labels appear? Not just menus

MARY CLARE JALONICK · April 25, 2014 3:58 pm

Judge upholds country of origin label for meat

MARY CLARE JALONICK · March 28, 2014 3:25 pm