A bowl of creamy cheese grits. Food writer Erin Byers Murray hopes that exploring the story of grits will help spur more discussion about how food shapes our culture, as humble ingredients are elevated into expensive dishes even as we come to terms with long-lost, or ignored, origin stories that deserve recognition. Lauri Patterson/Getty Images hide caption
Jessica Holloway-Haytcher uses an app that helps her track meals, exercise and keep in touch with an online coach. Mark Rogers Photography hide caption
Challah, borscht and a bialy are among the items listed in The 100 Most Jewish Foods. Noah Fecks/The 100 Most Jewish Foods hide caption
A bowl of Honey Toasted Kernza. General Mills made 6,000 boxes of the cereal and is passing them out to spread the word about perennial grains. Olivia Sun/NPR hide caption
Some of the 20 different types of rice used during the three-month festival Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India. Chefs served two varieties of rice every day, along with multiple dishes of vegetables and meat or seafood. Salam Olattayil/for NPR hide caption
These Palmer amaranth — or pigweed — plants, seen growing in a greenhouse at Kansas State University, appear to be resistant to multiple herbicides. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
The ferries Malaspina and LeConte are docked near Juneau at sunrise. Both ships are part of Alaska's state ferry system, which could face steep budget cuts Oct. 1, under a proposal by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Nat Herz/Alaska Public Media hide caption
After starting a brewery in Seoul, Booth Brewery co-founders Heeyoon Kim (left) and Sunghoo Yang moved their operations to California to make Korean beer and ship it back. Courtesy of The Booth Brewing Co. hide caption
Animal rights protesters link arms to block an intersection in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, on Monday. Ellen Smith/Reuters hide caption
At George Mason University in Virginia, a fleet of several dozen autonomous robots deliver food to students on campus. Patrick Madden/WAMU hide caption
Onwuachi cooks in the kitchen of his D.C. restaurant, Kith and Kin. His food encompasses a range of African, Caribbean, African-American and other influences. Noah Fortson/NPR hide caption
Left: M., a survivor of sexual violence during the Kosovo war, holds a jar of red pepper spread that she prepared at her home to sell at a new artisanal food shop in Gjakova, in western Kosovo. Working with food is a form of therapy for M. Right: B., also a survivor, prepares fresh clotted cream from her home in a village in western Kosovo. Valerie Plesch/for NPR hide caption
The new standard in Kansas, which took effect on Monday, lifts the cap on beer alcohol levels, but only to a degree. The new maximum is 6 percent alcohol by volume. Frank Morris/KCUR hide caption
A lawsuit filed by attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia says the weakened federal nutrition standards for school meals are putting kids at greater risk of health problems linked to diet. JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images/Tetra images RF hide caption
Poor diet is the leading risk factor for deaths from lifestyle-related diseases in the majority of the world, according to new research. John D. Buffington/Getty Images hide caption
Cattle eating a mixture of antibiotic-free corn and hay at Corrin Farms, near Neola, Iowa. Their meat is sold by Niman Ranch. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption
Cherokee Nation Cultural Biologist Feather Smith-Trevino holds an unripe Georgia Candy Roaster Squash at an educational garden in Tahlequah, Okla., where traditional native plants are grown. Courtesy of the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank hide caption
Trucks wait to enter the United States at the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2017. More than $1.6 billion in goods flow across the border each day. Jorge Duenes/Reuters hide caption
An aerial view of a combine harvesting corn in a field near Jarrettsville, Md. A new study ties an estimated 4,300 premature deaths a year to the air pollution caused by corn production in the U.S. Edwin Remsberg/Getty Images hide caption
With repair costs mounting, Air Devil's Inn owner Kristie Shockley wasn't sure the bar would make it through the summer, so she put out a call for help on social media — and some regulars planned a benefit. Ashlie Stevens/WFPL hide caption
The Salt Institute spent decades questioning government efforts to limit Americans' sodium intake. Critics say the institute muddied the links between salt and health. Now it has shut its doors. ATU Images/Getty Images hide caption