• Over Israel’s protestations, the UN is qualifying the strike on Gaza as a humanitarian crisis: Not only are food and water supplies dangerously low, but people are scared to go outside to get what little is in stores. [AFP]
• The UK’s Oxford Farming Conference focused on enhancing domestic agriculture for “security” reasons.* [BBC News]
• A raging fire in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood took out five restaurants; no people were injured. [Boston Globe]
• Recalls! Bacon! Bacon recalls! If you’re in Colorado and have recently purchased food containing bacon bits, there’s a risk of listeria. [Denver Post]
• A folk-kitchen-science explainer goes head to head with Harold McGee on matters of the Maillard reaction. [NYT]
Bonus quote from this article: After a couple of glasses of wine, farmers here will admit they are an industry prone to whingeing.