"The ingenuity of the food manufacturers and marketers never ceases to amaze me," remarked author Michael Pollan. "They can turn any critique into a new way to sell food." Marketers are appropriating language from the "eat local" or "locavore" movement, which encourages support for small farms, sustainable practices and better treatment of animals.

The Victorian government has spent $222,000 Australian on a television program promoting the attraction of living and working in areas outside the major metropolitan areas. The program, ''Changing Places: Life in Provincial Victoria,'' was broadcast on commercial television at Easter.

When Barack Obama announced new fuel efficiency standards for passenger vehicles, the Cato Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, reacted angrily.