In a rare bit of bipartisan agreement in polarized times, ultraprocessed foods are under attack from both Democrats and “Make America Healthy Again” Republicans. This could change the way you eat.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed the country’s first law to “define and ultimately ban unhealthy ultraprocessed foods” from school lunches, said CNN. The law arrives at the same moment Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading a revamp of federal dietary guidelines that put “ultraprocessed food in the spotlight,” said NPR. 

What did the commentators say?
Focusing on ultraprocessed foods “repeats America’s missteps on nutrition,” David S. Ludwig, of Harvard Medical School, said at The Washington Post. The federal government once “launched a massive public health experiment” to promote low-fat diets it said would “prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease” and some cancers. The result? “Processed carbs flooded the food supply,” obesity rates soared, and now those processed foods are the “new dietary villain.” 

“For decades, liberals championed whole foods,” Nutrition Coalition founder Nina Teicholz said at The Wall Street Journal. Now they have “lost the Whole Foods vote” because they “championed ultraprocessed plant-based foods” as a replacement for meat, envisioning a world where “lab-grown meats replace real meat from real cows.” American voters increasingly favor foods that are “whole and ancestral, including meat.” It’s a vision that can unite “Berkeley hippies and MAHA moms.”

What next?
The question of what foods will be banned from California schools is “complicated,” said the Los Angeles Times. “Minimally processed prepared foods” like canned vegetables will not count. The picture will become clearer over time, as the law requires the state’s Department of Public Health to create a list of off-limits foods by 2028.

Kennedy’s MAHA movement crusade against ultraprocessed foods coincides with the Trump administration’s defunding of programs that helped “food banks, schools and child care centers procure fresh food from local farmers,” said The New Yorker. The defunding will challenge cooks faced with making “hundreds or even thousands of servings per day” of school lunches required to be both cheap and healthy.

Actors, stage managers and musicians could be on the verge of shutting down Broadway. The groups are negotiating their contracts with the Broadway League, which represents producers and theater owners. If they vote to strike, this would be the first Broadway strike since 2007 and could affect virtually every show on the Great White Way.

Why are the workers considering a strike?
Broadway’s two major labor unions are “simultaneously in negotiations for new contracts with the industry’s commercial producers,” also called the Broadway League, said The New York Times. The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents actors and stage managers, and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, which represents musicians, “want a greater share of the revenue generated on Broadway ($1.89 billion in the 2024 to 2025 season),” said What’s On Stage.

Health care is another issue for both unions. The Actors’ Equity Association is “concerned about the financial health of its insurance plan, which it says is projected to face a deficit next year,” said the Times. In addition, negotiations are concerned with attendance requirements, specifically the hiring of more swings, understudies and backup musicians. Actors’ Equity also “wants new limits on how many performances in a row actors can be asked to do without a day off,” said the Times. The Broadway League, instead, wants to generally reduce absenteeism.

What happens if the unions go on strike?
While both unions voted to authorize a strike, it doesn’t necessarily mean a strike will be called. Local 802 has continued to have “talks with the Broadway League over a new contract this week, and the possibility of bringing in a mediator is also being discussed,” said The Hollywood Reporter. A “protracted strike would be bad for everyone — producers, performers, stagehands and consumers,” said What’s On Stage.

Mediated negotiation sessions are set to resume tomorrow. “The work is intense, the schedules are grueling, and we show up with extraordinary skill, passion and commitment,” said Actors’ Equity in a letter to the Broadway League. “Now we’re asking you to show up for us.”

Cats gather in a park in Lakatamia, Cyprus. The island has one feral cat for every one of its 1 million residents, according to estimates. The government plans to triple sterilization funding, raising it from $117,000 to $350,000 annually, to control its booming cat population.
Petros Karadjias / AP

Getting swept up in a book is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon. These independent bookstores scratch the itch of every bibliophile, from mystery lovers to rare book collectors.

John K. King Used and Rare Books, Detroit, Michigan
If a title exists, your chances are high of finding it here. This massive four-story shop holds more than 1 million volumes, making an “impression on most of the five senses but especially on sight,” said The Detroit News.

Marcus Books, Oakland, California
Named in honor of activist and author Marcus Garvey, this bookstore has been shining a light on Black authors and poets since 1960. This esteemed cultural center regularly hosts “literary legends” — previous guests include Nikki Giovanni, Toni Morrison and Walter Mosley — and “engages patrons through book clubs and poetry readings,” said Reader’s Digest. You will encounter a wide selection of banned and challenged books, as well as anti-racism and allyship titles.

Steamy Lit, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Owner Melissa Saavedra wants to change the way people talk about “taboo” topics and opened her romance-focused bookstore as a way to “create a safe space to talk about sexuality, relationships and pleasure,” said WLRN. Her store showcases the “diversity in romance,” with books grouped both by subgenre, like regency or romantasy, and tropes, which include love triangles and enemies-to-lovers. The shelves are also heavily stacked with titles by Latinx, Black and queer authors.