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When Michelle Obama Speaks, Kraft Listens; Is Portland the Food Truck Capital?

• Michelle Obama’s crusade against childhood obesity has major companies like Kraft and Mars making public changes to their products and packaging. [The Atlantic]

• A new design for a produce barcode will be released that fades over time, indicating the decreasing freshness of the fruit or vegetable. [UberGizmo via EMD]

• While L.A. might think it’s the food truck capital of the country, Portland has 450 of its own mobile vendors. [WRex]

• L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz is taking a stance against guns in Starbucks. [KTLA]

• Salads at fast food chains can pack as many as 1400 calories. [KABC]

• Cheese has benefited from America’s increasing interest in food, with once-exotic varieties like gruyere now appealing to more palates. [NYT]

• Country ham is the latest pretender to bacon’s throne. [Salon]

• Despite their decreasing numbers, bluefin tuna were not included on the U.N.’s list of protected fish out of a concern that it would hurt fishing economies. [Guardian]

• After years of sharp growth, organic food sales are starting to plateau, a change attributed to shoppers’ shifting priorities through the recession. [Reuters]

When Michelle Obama Speaks, Kraft Listens; Is Portland the Food Truck Capital?