Safeway

McDonald's has finally caught up with consumer sentiment on the subject of factory farming and the inhumane treatment of animals. The fast food giant is using its massive leverage to push its pork suppliers to phase out cruelly confining gestation crates for their pigs.

Walmart, which has long been associated with cheap, high-calorie, low-nutrition foods, wants to get healthy: Its new "Great for You" initiative aims to show shoppers it can help them eat healthy on a budget. But can the retail tiger change its spots -- or it's rep?

McDonald's reintroduction of the McRib sandwich has made news headlines and mouths water. However, the fans eagerly awaiting the limited-time opportunity to wolf down McRibs may not realize that McDonald's pork products contain a secret, unappetizing ingredient: pain.

By now we're all accustomed to hearing about the "two-speed economy," in which the wealthy flourish and the less affluent fall farther and farther behind. The widening gap between rich and poor has not been lost on the stock market: The valuations of luxury goods companies are much higher than those of lower-end firms.

Last year, grocery sales were up a modest 1.8%, yet sales of organic items more than doubled that growth rate, up 4.4%. Clearly, we're shopping differently. But are we even sure what an "organic" or "all natural" label means? It's more complicated than you might think.

Do you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you open your cupboards? If you use products made by companies like Method, King Arthur Flour Company, and Seventh Generation, you're supporting businesses officially certified as do-good corporations by the nonprofit B Lab -- where the "B" stands for "benefit."

Supermarket chains like Kroger and Safeway have posted a string of strong quarterly earnings. But with the costs of gas and agricultural products spiking, that could all change.