• Cell-bound Whitey Bulger will feast on blueberry pancakes, roast beef, potatoes, and pasta with meat sauce on Christmas Day. [Herald]
• Research indicates that feeding babies starchy processed foods early on influences a later taste for salt — and probably fosters more than a few budding chefs. [US News & World Report]
• Exercise labels seem a pretty effective way of keeping people away from junk food. Would you still want a can of soda if you knew you had to jog for 50 minutes to burn it off? [NYDN]
• Casual dining restaurants like the Olive Garden and Applebee’s are increasingly courting a foodie clientele with special menu items. [WSJ]
• Thanks to greater demand, more and more farmers markets are selling year-round. Hope you like root vegetables! [USAT]
• Aw, this is sweet: Slate readers sent in holiday recipe cards from their grandmas; here’s a slideshow. [Slate]
• Kim Jong Il’s death came just as the U.S. was preparing to resume food aid to North Korea; now starving people there may not see assistance until the New Year. [National Security/ABC News]
