Here are some of the headlines that caught our eyes this week:

Farm Waste and Animal Fats Will Help Power a United Jet (The New York Times)

This summer, a United Airlines flight will take off from Los Angeles International Airport bound for San Francisco using fuel generated from farm waste and oils derived from animal fats.

Sugary Drinks Linked to 25,000 Deaths in the U.S. Each Year (The Los Angeles Times)

Sugar-sweetened sodas were just one of many beverages that contributed to obesity rates and death throughout the world. A new study tallies their toll.

EPA Considers Ban on Hazardous Pesticide Widely Used in California (East Bay Express)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this week that it is considering a potential federal ban on chlorpyrifos—raising questions about the chemical’s ongoing applications in California.

What the Worst Bird Flu Outbreak in U.S. History Means for Farms (Forbes)

Large poultry producers have been caught off guard by a disease that has killed almost 50 million birds.

Four Accused of Aiding Slave-Labor Ring on Ohio Egg Farms (Columbus Dispatch)

A federal indictment accused a team of four of running or aiding a slave-labor ring that smuggled Guatemalan teenagers as young as 14 into the U.S., forcing them to live in horrible conditions and taking the money they made working at central Ohio egg farms.

JBS to Purchase U.S. Cargill Pork Assets for $1.45 billion (Reuters)

JBS SA, the world’s largest meat packer, is buying Cargill, Inc’s U.S. pork business for $1.45 billion, free of debt, in a a deal that would make it one of the largest and most powerful meat companies in the U.S.

Fresh Ideas–and Foods–at Food Pantries (The Boston Globe)

The Open Door pantry in Gloucester, Massachusetts is among many in the state that are remodeling facilities to offer more fresh produce, fruits, and meats to clients.

A Dose Of Culinary Medicine Sends Med Students To The Kitchen (NPR’s The Salt)

Doctors at the University of Chicago launched a pilot based on a culinary medicine course taught at Tulane University, where med students are required to take it.

‘Right To Farm’ Amendment Upheld By State Supreme Court (KBIA)

What’s in Your Soda? An Oil Dispersant That Might Make You Fat (Environmental Health News)

A chemical used in sodas and some laxatives for years, dicotyl sodium sulfoscuccinate, assumed safe by federal health officials might make people more prone to obesity.

White House Looks to Update GMO Standards (The Hill)

In a push to produce a more transparent regulatory process, federal agencies will review their standards for genetically engineered food, plants and animals, the White House announced.