Anthony Bourdain doesn't hate everything on the Food Network.

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor:

• A vitally important national security issue if ever there was one.: Leahy, Collins, Sanders, Snowe, and Others Propose MAPLE Act.

• The makers of Necco wafers, that staple of my childhood, have abandoned course, ditching their natural-flavored candies in the wake of plummeting sales. The Atlantic's Corby Kummer says they've returned to their "bad old ways." Corby, babe: It's CANDY, for chrissakes, not factory-farm chicken.: New Natural Neccos Now Old News.

Ann Limpert, food and wine editor:

• A two-part expose in the Boston Globe found that in Massachusetts, a state that’s pretty much synonymous with seafood, fish mislabeling is rampant. Escolar—which has earned the lovely nickname ‘ex-lax’ for the digestive problems it causes—is frequently passed off as white tuna. The ubiquitous tilapia is often sold as the more expensive red snapper. In all, 48 percent of the fish the Globe sent for DNA-testing came back as different species.: Fishy Business.

Target: Danny Meyer?

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor:

• Occupy Wall Street has gone after ... Danny Meyer? This thing's getting interestinger and interestinger: Occupy Wall Street Occupies Danny Meyer.

• The Harvard Business Review examines—and examines—KFC's latest strategy in the burgeoning Chinese market.: KFC's Radical Approach to China. 

• Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me—but not before I whipped up a nice batch of warm cookies: Emily Dickinson, baking whiz.: Emily Dickinson, Sweet Genius.

Ann Limpert, food and wine editor:

• Until last month, Brian D. Price’s job was to prepare the last meals for Texas’s condemned prisoners. Now that the state has ditched the practice—and rejected Price’s offers to continue making the dinners for free—Price talks about the job’s challenges. The toughest? The chef can only work with what he's got in the kitchen.: “One man requested dirt from the grave he was going to be buried in, as some kind of ritual. He was served yogurt instead.”: Former Inmate Share Tricks of the Trade of a Death Row Chef.

• Speaking of last meals, Liam Neeson reveals what he’d want for his—and I get all teary at my desk.: My Last Supper.

If you're lucky, this came off a grocery store shelf.

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor:

• Gay Coffee debuts—on Castro Street, in San Francisco. (Insert punchline here).: Gay Coffee: Not Quite as Fabulous as the Name Suggests.

• Sam Sifton's swan song as New York Times restaurant critic—a review of Per Se, the "best restaurant in New York." Dog bites man.: A Critic Selects a Last Meal.

• I just heard a story over dinner the other night of a yuppie couple in DC that was raising its own pigs to butcher and eat, and now comes this curious story in The Atlantic about "urban homesteaders," a.k.a. wanna-be farmers. A controversy has erupted in Oakland over their insistence on doing their own slaughtering of their "backyard animals": Should Urban Farmers be Allowed to Slaughter Backyard Animals?.

The latest entry in the "Is this the new cupcake?" category: petit fours.

Sophie Gilbert, assistant editor:

• Paging Paula Deen! Denmark, one of the slimmest countries in Europe, is adding a new tax on butter and oil to "discourage poor eating habits." One nugget in this story—the UK is now the third fattest nation in the world, after the US and Mexico.: Denmark Taxes Butter and Fat, but Will It Work?.

• This is heartbreaking: Sesame Street's newest character, Lily, was created to address the growing issue of child hunger, or "food insecurity" as it's also known. Lily, a bright pink seven-year-old puppet, confesses to Elmo in an hour-long PBS special that she doesn't always know where her next meal is coming from.: Meet Lily, a Muppet Facing Growing Concern: National Hunger.

• The Guardian has this delightful ode to mac and cheese, but be warned, the measurements are all in British. Lovely pictures though.: How to Cook Perfect Macaroni and Cheese.

• And file this one under "duh": A curry-eating contest for charity in Scotland sent two people, including one American to the hospital. Luckily healthcare is free over there and all, so it probably didn't negate the £1000 the event raised.: Curry-Eating Contest at Edinburgh Restaurant Kismot Sends 2 to Hospital.

More coffee, less Wellbutrin?

Ann Limpert, food and wine editor:

• An ode to glorious, glorious chicken skin, plus the backstory of the brilliant pic that lit up the foodie Twitterverse yesterday.: Chicken Skin Beguiles Chefs.

• Conde Nast is running Vogue Cafes? It's not from The Onion.: Conde Nast Sets More Restaurants.

• A staffer reveals what it’s like to work at Apple headquarters cafeteria Caffe Macs, where Steve Jobs grades the quality of his gelato scoops, omelets are made with Humboldt Fog cheese, and “food price and waste seem to mean nothing.” In other words, jealous.: Apple Cafeteria Diary: A Caffe Macs Employee Tells All.

• Eater is back at the Sam Sifton out-of-the-mouths-of-kittens game: The Worst Lines of Sifton's Zero Star Reviews, With Cats.

• Pat Collins takes a break from the crime beat.: Banana Man's Suspension Suspended.

What secrets lie behind Shake Shack's official menu? Photograph by Scott Suchman

Sophie Gilbert, assistant editor:

• This is interesting reading from Alton Brown: a polite—but firm—letter to his fans on things he will do (pose for pictures, sign autographs) and steadfastly refuses to (talk to fans while in the restroom, sign living things).: My Fanifesto.

• This week's chillier weather has me super stoked for fall, so here, in preparation, is a photo slideshow of ridiculously oversized vegetables (including, of course, gourds).: Giant Vegetables—in Pictures.

• More on Sam Sifton stepping down as the New York Times' restaurant critic. What, exactly, does it mean to be a professional restaurant critic in this day and age?: How the New York Times Can Reform Restaurant Criticism.

Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor:

• The New York Times takes a look at the future of food-focused television programming, and it isn't necessarily based in the kitchen: Throwing Out the Recipe for Daytime TV.

• A Q&A on hunting, killing, and consuming your spirit animal: Eating Your Spirit Animal: An FAQ.

Eater's cat-filled anti-homage to Sam Sifton: an oldie but a goody.

Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor:

• Sam Sifton's departure as the New York Times restaurant critic set off a flurry of media reactions. The Atlantic has a contemplative piece on the role of the modern food critic: The End of the Career Food Critic.

• But I may prefer Eater New York's send-off, curated by Scandinavian design firm Kinderbrod. And it doesn't matter if you've never been to the zero-star Imperial No. 9. You must read the illustrated version of Sifton's review.: The Worst Lines of Sifton's Imperial No. 9 Review, With Cats.

• If you think the food at Minibar is out-there, check out Fast Company's report on printer-made edibles: Ramen by HP? The Wild Possibilities of Printing Food.

• Cold weather is (eventually) coming, which means goodbye margaritas, it's Manhattan time: I'll Take Manhattans, With a Twist.