Food & Drink

Last month, Pennsylvania saw the most recorded rainfall in a July. For many farmers in the state, the intense precipitation is part of a pattern of weather changes they are trying to adapt to.

A new report out of Penn State University says corn production in the Southeastern part of the state could be especially vulnerable in the coming decades.

Pennsylvania is far and away the largest producer of mushrooms in the U.S., mostly the white "button" variety, grown on 68 farms mostly in the Philadelphia region. That's been true for generations.

Now, for many reasons — Americans' widening interest for food grown and produced locally, a focus on low-carb diets, and encouragement of farmers by the USDA to monetize their forests — exotic mushrooms are sprouting up in this neck of the woods.

This weekend, Pittsburgh is slated to host the first festival of black craft beer brewers from around the country. Among their ranks will be Harris Family Brewery--believed to be Pennsylvania's first African-American-owned craft brewery.

The brewery started gaining attention this year after securing space for a brewpub in Harrisburg's Allison Hill neighborhood, though the road to this point has been long.

It started as a way to deal with the riffraff.

Back in the late 1980s, a local businessman came to Greg Crance with a problem. The businessman had been renting tubes to vacationers on a calm stretch of the Delaware River just south of Frenchtown, New Jersey, and just north of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Business was fine, but the neighbors were irritated.

New research from the University of Pittsburgh provides a tool for examining pollutants in farmed salmon.

Carla Ng, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, worked with Swiss researchers to look at the quality of water where salmon swim and the food they eat.

While he was studying political science at West Chester University six years ago, Frank Kurylo pondered some career options. He first considered becoming an environmental law attorney. Later, he briefly worked on a few Pennsylvania political campaigns.

Then Kurylo, now 28, changed course entirely. He became a farmer.

A northwestern Indiana city that hosts an annual festival built around a popular Polish delicacy has reached a settlement in its trademark dispute with a rival festival in Pennsylvania.

State Representative Mark Mustio (R-44) of Allegheny County is fronting a charge to repeal Philadelphia's soda tax, and prevent similar actions from taking place elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Two major proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could cause 70,000 Pennsylvania households to lose eligibility.

Pennsylvania-based chips and snack food maker Utz is recalling some of its tortilla chips because they may contain milk.

Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled House of Representatives is advancing legislation to stop the state from getting waivers that allow food stamp recipients to continue receiving the federal benefit if they don't meet work requirements.

The Republican-penned bill passed 108-79 on Tuesday, and headed to the Senate.

Opponents of Philadelphia’s controversial sweetened beverage tax, stymied so far in their efforts to defeat the levy in court, are getting some support in the state legislature.

On a recent Friday, James Dreher was hard at work stirring dozens of pounds of ground beef with a small paddle.

Ry’Anna Moore leaned over a stainless steel surface as Chef Kevin Sousa eyeballed cup after cup of heavy cream.

After school, 16-year-old Maleeke Reid works at a community gardening program in Homewood. He gets paid $5 per day for tending the vegetable gardens and attending classes, where he and his friends sometimes joke about being fed “vegan food.”

In an effort to put Pennsylvania on the map as a beer destination, the state is giving grants to 13 brew-centric projects across the commonwealth.

Seven Pittsburgh chefs and establishments have been named semifinalists for this year's national James Beard Foundation awards.

Whitfield, the restaurant inside the Ace Hotel in East Liberty, houses semifinalists in two categories: Casey Renee for Outstanding Pastry Chef, and Executive Chef Bethany Zozula for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.