Butter's Back? Mr. Potato Head Is Spokespud on Food Waste, & More Food News

This week, Mr. Potato Head breaks his silence on food waste, TED Ed explores how food affects mood, living conditions may be improving for chickens, and more top stories on food science and healthy eating.

1) Butter's back! A new study finds no link between butter and heart disease. Of course, butter isn't exactly a health food, but it is "better than sugar, worse than olive oil," according to the report.

2) Hasbro makes a misshapen version of Mr. Potato Head to raise awareness about food waste. As a spokespud for ugly foods, Mr. Potato Head draws attention to the fact that imperfect fruits and veggies are still tasty eating and should not be tossed in the trash.

3) More than 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter asking Greenpeace to stop trying to block the introduction of "Golden Rice" -- a genetically engineered strain of rice that could reduce blindness -- into the developing world. The letter also urged Greenpeace to "abandon their campaign against 'GMOs' in general."

4) Farmers markets can be a way to help families on federal food assistance improve their diets, according to research by Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Participants in the program increased the amount of vegetables they ate by 12 percent and lowered their daily soda consumption by 25 percent.

5) Perdue Farms announces a comprehensive animal-welfare plan that will improve how its chickens are bred, raised, and slaughtered.

6) Researchers at Cardiff University in Wales say teenagers who regularly drink sugary sports drinks are at risk of tooth decay and obesity.

7) TED Ed looks at how the foods we eat affect our brains.

8) Take the weekly health quiz from The New York Times.

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