The Food Fix: Recent Episodes
The Food Fix
Conversations with researchers and innovators about how to better feed the world every Tuesday at five a.m. Join in on the conversation on Facebook and Twitter @msufoodfix.
This podcast is brought to you by Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat.
Crayfish? Crawfish? Crawdads?
Regardless, they're terrorizing the state of Minnesota with their tiny claws and big appetites. The rusty crayfish is invasive in Minnesota, and they've become a massive problem. But Garrett Lima and Yusef Orest came up with a clever solution, and an even more clever catch phrase (in Cassidy's opinion).
"If ya can't beat 'em, eat 'em!"
Words to live by.
Tune in as Cassidy chats with Garrett Lima, co-owner of Northern Waters Crayfish LLC. It's a hoot!
Super Special Guest:
Garrett Lima
Co-founder and owner of Northern Waters Crayfish LLC
(no website at this time)
Super Special Music:
The Freezer Bees
Want to learn about something we haven't covered? Shoot us an email about it at msufoodfix@gmail.com!
You sleep in a storage container. You poop in a bucket. You pick weeds under the hot sun for six hours a day. You live on a mountain and wait for food to be delivered every week, and when it gets there, you hide all the chocolate from your roommates. And you're not paid. BUT... you're in Hawaii. How long could you last?
Workaway programs like WWOOF have a long list of benefits, but they've got their downfalls too. How can we improve them so folks will keep working-away far into the future? This week we talk to a real-life WWOOFer about a real-life WWOOFing disaster to get an insider's perspective on the matter. But it's not all bad, because it changed Helen's life for the better.
Get ready to chuckle as we hear about Helen Josephson's whacky WWOOFing experience.
Super Special Guest:
Helen Josephson
Get her book of poem's below:
https://a.co/d/iEtK2CX
Super Special Music:
The Freezer Bee's
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=ONEF34g0Q_asWt-NmhhbdQ
Thanks for reading this far! Hey while you're here, why don't you shoot Cassidy an email at msufoodfix@gmail.com. If you've got anything you want to learn about, we can make it happen.
Picture this: a world where you're surrounded by free food. The only catch is if you eat the wrong thing you'll drop dead... or at least, get really sick.
Well that world is Earth- you just probably don't see it that way. But Gabrielle sure does. In warm months, 80 percent of her diet is made up of food she just finds outside. And no, she's not raiding your garden.
It's called foraging, and it's getting people to go outside, eat healthy and care about the environment. This week we talk to Gabrielle Cerberville about why you should take up foraging and how not to die in the process.
BUT WAIT, there's more.
Sick of Cassidy's voice? So is she. Gets real boring in that studio all alone, too. This week Cassidy is joined by fellow Knight Center reporter Nico Bradford! Come listen and pretend like you're hanging out with us.
Super Special Guest:
Gabrielle Serberville
Link in Bio – Chaotic Forager
Find them on TikTok @chaoticforager or at the link below
https://www.tiktok.com/@chaoticforager?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Super Special Music:
The Freezer Bees
This week I switched it up and used their song "Someone." It's been stuck in my head ever since editing. Check them out wherever you get your music.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=yLENCSOJSbCv4hK3NEnpfQ
Email episode ideas at msufoodfix@gmail.com!
Want a taste of farming without committing to a career of it? Want to hear Cassidy reminisce on her farm days? Want to learn about abandoned reindeer? Well, we don't really cover that last question, but the words "abandoned reindeer" are actually spoken in this episode and that should be enough to get you hooked.
Here's the deal:
- Farmers are old
- Farmers are cool
- Farmers can teach you important stuff
- Farmers will let you crash at their place
Kapeesh? Any further questions will be answered by Tori Fetrow, superstar/Outreach and Marketing Manager of WWOOF USA. Including the definition of the crazy acronym WWOOF.
Superstar Guest:
Tori Fetrow
Live and Learn on Organic Farms - WWOOF USA
Rockstar Music:
The Freezer Bees
Email me episode ideas please. Or maybe you could just say hi? Let's be friends.
msufoodfix@gmail.com
PERENNIAL GRAINS BABY!
What if our crops grew back every year like your lawn does every spring?
I know what you're thinking. "Cassidy, you're off your rocker. Everyone knows that almost all food plants are grown as annuals, and that's why we need farmers to replant them every year. It's genetically impossible to create perennial crops in our lifetime."
I know, naive of me to even pose the question. But... what if I told you... it were possible?
Hope you're ready to learn, because this week Cassidy is walking you through the past, present and future of agriculture all in an action packed 14 minutes! But mostly, Michael Palmgren talks to us about the very exciting future of sustainable agriculture. Spoiler alert: it involves gene editing. BUT DO NOT FEAR! Cassidy breaks down the fancy stuff for you. That's right, today might finally be the day you learn what CRISPR is all about.
Special Guest:
Michael Palmgren
University of Copenhagen Denmark
Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges - PMC (nih.gov)
Music:
The Freezer Bees
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=k1EmnfwWTP-kaFCji0wyzg
Email Cassidy episode ideas! Seriously! Help. SOS.
Why are the hippies always screaming about "saving the bees?" Well because the hippies are smart. Don't disrespect the hippies.
Bees make the world go round! Bees make plants grow and plants make food grow. And now that urban agriculture is gaining traction, we need bees in the city.
This week Cassidy interviews Brian Peterson-Roest, one of the founders of Bees in the D, a non-profit that's working to bring bees to the city of Detroit. And in case you're skeptical, in the six years Bees in the D has been around, they've helped increase production on urban farms by tenfold.
Yeah, bees are that good.
Tune in so you too can start yelling at people to "save the bees!"
Super Special Guest:
Brian Peterson-Roest
Founder of Bees in the D
Bees in the D
Super Special Music: (save The Freezer Bees!)
The Freezer Bees
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=CbJ6E1A1Qwm6UEtQ-yy32A
If you've got a story idea, email us at msufoodfix@gmail.com.
Remember at the peak of COVID when there was a meat shortage across the Unites States? Long story short, that issue stemmed back to our heavy reliance on a few major meat packaging factories. If we had more ways of obtaining out meat, that probably wouldn't have happened.
This was the example Greg Shweser gave when talking about the goal of deep winter greenhouses.
Imagine if places like Alaska, Canada and the Midwest could grow food through the snow all winter long. If cold places could provide food for themselves year-round, they could avoid a potential food shortage if tragedy disrupts the food system elsewhere. It's called localizing the food system baby.
In this episode, Cassidy talks to Greg Schweser from the University of Minnesota about the new ways in which he's making winter farming possible. But it comes at a price... tag... of like $40,000. Stay tuned for this extra creative episode of the podcast.
Special Guest:
Greg Schweser
University of Minnesota Extension
More information about deep winter greenhouses:
Deep Winter Greenhouses | UMN Extension
Got a story? Shoot us an email:
msufoodfix@gmail.com
In this episode, Cassidy finally reveals that she's vegan, and then spends a few minutes yelling about it. But if you can get past her tone, you'll learn that meat consumption is huge source of fossil fuel emissions in the western world. Plant-based meats have become a valuable tool in addressing this issue, but that didn't sound like nearly as fun of an episode. People all across the world eat bugs, so why don't we? Listen as Cassidy interviews Laura Shine about the introduction of insects to western plates.
Super Special Guest:
Laura Shine
Laura Shine – Concordia University Food Studies
Read more about this topic:
Perspective: Eating Insects – Food Studies: Matter, Meaning, Movement (pressbooks.pub)
Super Special Music:
The Freezer Bees- Still Alive
Give them a listen!
Got a story idea? Shoot us an email:
msufoodfix@gmail.com
Not so fun fact about the Earth- our population is growing and our land is not. We've got a lot of people to feed and not a lot of space to do it. But what if there were a way to grow more food on less land? Oh wait, there is! This week host Cassidy Hough interviews Connor Culbertson, a real-life permaculture farmer from Piedmont, Virginia. Take a listen to learn about how frontloading farm labor could result in a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Special Guest: Connor Culbertson Permaculture Farmer PIEDMONT PERMACULTURE – Sustainable local agriculture Instagram: @piedmontpermaculture
Fabulous Music: The Freezer Bees- Still Alive https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=SewcqIysQ--sZXn0AI9Fpg
Email us to talk food systems stories! msufoodfix@gmail.com
Not so fun fact about the Earth- our population is growing and our land is not. We've got a lot of people to feed and not a lot of space to do it. But what if there were a way to grow more food on less land? Oh wait, there is! This week host Cassidy Hough interviews Connor Culbertson, a real-life permaculture farmer from Piedmont, Virginia. Take a listen to learn about how frontloading farm labor could result in a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Special Guest: Connor Culbertson Permaculture Farmer PIEDMONT PERMACULTURE – Sustainable local agriculture Instagram: @piedmontpermaculture
Fabulous Music: The Freezer Bees- Still Alive https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=SewcqIysQ--sZXn0AI9Fpg
Email us to talk food systems stories! msufoodfix@gmail.com
The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agriculture products in the world- behind the United States. To decrease the environmental toll that standard fertilizers have on the planet, the Dutch are toying with the idea of using human waste instead. But is it effective? Would people buy that food? Dr. Marijn Poortvliet surveyed around to find out.
And oh yeah, did we mention we had a new host? And a new style? And new music? Strap in for this season with Cassidy Hough.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Dr. Marijn Poortvliet Associate Professor Risk Communication Wageningen University
For more information: 531274 (wur.nl) Music: The Freezer Bees! Check them out wherever you get your music. The song used in this episode is "Still Alive" from their new album "Self Titled."
In Taylor's last episode as podcast host she covers a study that found eating at least two servings of avocado a week might lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Avocado Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in US Adults Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay Additional music: Inspiring Acoustic Guitar by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In today's episode our host, Taylor Haelterman, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about her work covering food innovation and research.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information (in order of mention): USDA Food Security Information Research and innovation as a catalyst for food system transformation Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay Additional music: Smooth Waters by SergePavkinMusic on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode, two researchers discuss their work collecting pumpkin seeds from farmers in Egypt with the goals of conservation and fighting food insecurity. The seeds were analyzed to see if the local varieties can be used to grow future pumpkins that are well adapted to the environment and nutritious.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Genetic variation among pumpkin landraces based on seed qualities and molecular markers Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay Additional music: Morning Garden - Acoustic Chill by Olexy from Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
Did you know that over 90% of the wild-caught fish used to feed farmed salmon are food-grade, meaning they could be consumed by humans? So why aren't they fed to humans? And can salmon be farmed more efficiently? Today's guest, David WIller, is a zoology research fellow at the University of Cambridge, and he has the answers.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Dr. David Willer For more information:Maximising sustainable nutrient production from coupled fisheries-aquaculture systems David’s Twitter Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In the first in-person interview episode since the re-launch, Taylor speaks to a PhD candidate at Wageningen University about using waste from insect production (as in insects used for food and feed) to create sustainable crops by promoting plant growth, health, pollination and resilience.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Insect frass and exuviae to promote plant growth and health Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
Today Jessica Bayes joins the podcast to discuss her study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It found that young men who switched from a poor diet to a healthy mediterranean diet saw improvements in their depression symptoms. For some, it was improvement enough to go from a medium to severe depression symptoms classification to classified as no longer depressed. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:The effect of a Mediterranean diet on the symptoms of depression in young males Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
Today the president of the Baltimore Orchard Project, Deborah Howard, joins the podcast to talk about how the volunteer run non-profit plants fruit trees across the city. The team has planted over 2,000 fruit trees across Baltimore, Maryland, since 2012 and has harvested over 16,000 pounds of fruit. Much of which is given to non-profits and food banks to help those in need.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Baltimore Orchard Project Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
As the human population increases and finding more protein options becomes critical, seaweed growers may be able to use leftover water from the food industry as a fertilizer to make the plant grow faster and contain more protein. Kristoffer Stedt, a PhD Student in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg and lead author of the study that found these results explains in today's episode. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Cultivation of seaweeds in food production process waters: Evaluation of growth and crude protein content Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
This week Péter Batáry joins the podcast to talk about how effective different agricultural methods are at supporting wild bee populations. It turns out the answers are more complicated than the data shows.
Batáry is the founder of the Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology Research Group at the Center for Ecological Research in Hungary.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Organic farming or flower strips: Which is better for bees?Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology Research Group Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
What motivates consumers' to eat meat alternatives like tofu, chickpeas and plant based meats? Is it health concerns, animal welfare, environmental concerns, or a combination of factors? Researcher Nick Marcus answers those questions in today's episode with the results of a study he co-authored that surveyed German consumers about their incentive for choosing alternative options. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information: Exploring factors determining German consumers’ intention to eat meat alternatives Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode, guest reporter Caroline Miller talks to the owner of Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan about a storage innovation that extends the life of their produce. These new storage bins come from the French company, Janny MT.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information: Janny MTCountry Mill Farms Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode, guest reporter Jonus Cottrell talks to the owners of Nutcase VeganMeats about the benefits of eating plant-based food. These physicians-turned-entrepreneursfound themselves dissatisfied with the meat-replacement market and decided to createtheir own product that is better for people and the planet. For more information:Nutcase Vegan Meats Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
This episode features the founder of the Michigan Seed Library Network, Bevin Cohen. He travels the state to establish community seed libraries that distribute parcels of seeds so individuals can learn to grow their own produce. Patrons return the seeds from produce they grow to the library. Seed libraries struggle with a low rate of returns and “bad seeds,” but educational programs are attempting to change that.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Bevin Cohen - Michigan Seed Library Network Founder
For more information: Michigan Seed Library Network Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode reporter Genevieve Fox covers a non-profit organization in Detroit working to relieve food insecurity and waste with mobile pantries. Forgotten Harvest's Marketing and Communications Director, Christopher Ivey, talks to her about the data tracking used to find neighborhoods with food insecurity and the limitations with mobile pantries.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. For more information:Forgotten Harvest Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode our host, Taylor Haelterman, expresses her frustration with slimy salad greens and learns about a Detroit-based company looking to solve that problem. Planted Detroit's Leader of Plant Health & Employee Success, Kelly Sharpe, explains why greens get slimy so fast and how the company is tackling the issue by growing and distributing their crops differently.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Kelly Sharpe - Leader of Plant Health & Employee Success at Planted Detroit
For more information: Planted Detroit Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode Lars Fadness, professor of global public health and primary care at the University of Bergen, explains his research on a dietary change that can add over a decade to your life expectancy. He also talks about the tool he and his team created to help estimate the impacts of your dietary choices. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Lars Fadnes - Professor in the University of Bergen Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care For more information: Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study Food For Healthy Life Calculator
Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
This episode features Josh Rosenstein the owner and founder of Edible Eden Baltimore Foodscapes. He talks about how his company designs, installs, and maintains edible gardens and ecological landscaping for homeowners, businesses and schools in Baltimore, Maryland, and how he struggles to balance a triple bottom line of sustainability, community, and profit.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Josh Rosenstein - owner and founder of Edible Eden Baltimore Foodscapes For more information: Edible Eden Baltimore Foodscapes Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode of the Food Fix, our host, Taylor Haelterman, speaks to Diego Rose, professor of nutrition and food security at Tulane University, about his recent study that found swapping out "high-impact" foods, like choosing to eat poultry or pork instead of beef, can lower your carbon and water scarcity footprints. The study shows that making environment-friendly food choices can be easier than you think!
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Diego Rose - Professor of nutrition and food security at Tulane University in New Orleans
For more information: “Single-item substitutions can substantially reduce the carbon and water scarcity footprints of US diets” Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode our host, Taylor Haelterman, dives into food waste consequences and solutions with Katy Hart, operations director of the non-profit organization ReFED. The majority of America’s food is intended for consumption, but much of it doesn’t end up being consumed. The people at ReFED are working to make sure food ends up where it’s intended to be - in people’s bellies.
Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Katy Hart - ReFED Operations Director For more information: ReFED Website Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode of the Food Fix our host, Taylor Haelterman, and journalist, Sheldon Krause, break down the impacts of the warming climate on Michigan crops and how it might affect what farmers can grow in the future. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Sheldon Krause - Student Journalist at Michigan State University For more information: Farmers chase migrating crops in a warming climate Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode of the Food Fix we're covering coffee. Our host, Taylor Haelterman, talks with Paul Katzeff about his mission to brew "not just a cup, but a just cup" and how he's bettering the world through his company, Thanksgiving Coffee. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Paul Katzeff - Owner and Co-Founder of Thanksgiving Coffee
For more information: Thanksgiving Coffee website Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In this episode of the Food Fix our host, Taylor Haelterman, dives into five things preventing Dutch dairy farmers from adopting more sustainable and environmentally-conscious farming practices with Niko Wojtynia, a PhD candidate in the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Niko Wojtynia - PhD candidate at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University
For more information: “Five mechanisms blocking the transition towards ‘nature-inclusive’ agriculture: A systemic analysis of Dutch dairy farming” Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
In the first episode of the Food Fix relaunch our host, Taylor Haelterman, talks to Great Lakes Echo reporter, Kayla Nelsen, about communities fighting food insecurity, waste and cultural stigmas with functional fridges on the sidewalk. Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter. Featured guest: Kayla Nelsen - Great Lakes Echo reporter For more information: Community fridges: Radical solutions to food insecurity, waste and cultural stigmas Theme music: Upbeat Acoustic by Lesfm on Pixabay About the podcast: The Food Fix focuses on researchers and innovators better feeding the world. It’s a production from the Michigan State University Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, an organization that teaches student and professional journalists how to report on the world's most important beat. About the host:Taylor Haelterman is pursuing a master’s degree in environment, science and health journalism at Michigan State University. As a volunteer, intern, podcast producer, editor and host, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of audio production and live radio. She plans to continue combining her passion for audio with her love of storytelling for the rest of her career.
This week we talk with Dr. Rufus Isaacs from Michigan State University. Dr. Isaacs focuses on managing pests to berry crops in Michigan. Collaborating with farmers throughout the state, his work helps to determine which pests are impacting farms. Farmers provide insight into ongoing issues and Dr. Isaacs works to figure out the best solutions to assist them. Check out what he has to say about his work and the work being done across Michigan.
Vanessa Garcia Polanco works with different organizations to help new immigrants from all over the world settle in Michigan. With her work, she is able to assist with helping these people grow their own food, which often includes giving them access to culturally-appropriate foods they wouldn't have access to in Michigan.
Yuko Frazier spearheads the Ypsilanti-based Project Mow, which uses sheep to tend to large plots of lands overgrown with unwanted vegetation. Project Mow’s concerns lie in reducing the use of fossil fuels to take care of tasks like plant removal, but also in a sustainable way of keeping the sheep fed. Much of the efforts made involve re-using materials that would otherwise be thrown out but can make a healthy snack for sheep.
By Gloria Nzeka
Dr. Emmanuel Kaunda, professor at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources in Malawi, and Dr. Steven Cooke, professor in the department of Biology at Carleton University in Canada discuss their research in inland fisheries.
They recently visited Michigan State University as part of the Robin Welcomme Fellowship Program, an initiative that recognizes scientists who have been working to promote responsible Inland Fisheries.
By Gloria Nzeka
A team of researchers in the department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University work to improve the quality of beans. In this episode of the Food Fix, they discuss a variety of healthy ways through which beans can be consumed. Their experimental research include coming up with different flavors of beans, and milling methods to create bean flour that can used to make products such as pasta, bread etc.
By Gloria Nzeka
Dr. Helen Veit, an Associate Professor in the department of history at Michigan State University discusses a project focusing on the history of what America ate during the Great Depression. Going across the country, Dr. Veit with her colleagues collected historical documents containing food recipes from the 1930s and digitized them.
The project revealed that American food was as diverse back then as it is today.
You can find food recipes and more about the 'What America Ate' project by visiting the website whatamericaate.org.
By Gloria Nzeka
Dr. Felicia Wu, a distinguished professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University talks about the important role science communication can play in helping consumers better understand the science behind genetically modified foods.
By Quinn Zimmerman
In the second part of this series on sustainability in the Michigan dairy industry, Quinn Zimmerman continues her discussion with Brooke Wilke, the farm manager and Howard Straub, the dairy manager at Michigan State’s Kellogg Biological station pasture dairy center. Today, they discuss the advantages of robotic milking and some of the difficulties that come with the use of this technology.
By Quinn Zimmerman
In this two part series on sustainability in the Michigan dairy industry, Quinn Zimmerman talks with the Kellogg Biological Station -Pasture Dairy Center farm and dairy managers, Brooke Wilke and Howard Straub. In today's episode, the focus is on economic and social challenges for Michigan dairy farmers. They also discuss ways that consumers can better connect with their local food system.
By Gloria Nzeka
Could a multifaceted education in agriculture be the missing link in solving food insecurity in Africa? Blessing Iveren Agada, professor in the department of Soil Science at the Federal University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Nigeria, proposes a model for interdisciplinary education that would ensure the sustainability of agricultural policies.
By Gloria Nzeka
The MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources launched a series of science-based community conversations around food, called “Our Table”.
The aim is to help consumers make informed choices as far food and nutrition is concerned. The first discussion focused on the science behind GMOs, and how food labeled as “non-GMO” are not always indicators of healthy food.
On the panel were: • Alison Bernstein, assistant professor, MSU College of Human Medicine, and founder, Science Moms • Jennifer Carter-Johnson, associate professor, MSU College of Law • Paul Thompson, MSU W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics • Felicia Wu, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor, MSU Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, and MSU Department of Food Science
On the final episode for our series, 'What does healthy eating look like?', Michigan State University Nutritionist Anne Buffington shares how people can gain control from falling for diet traps by corporations, and ways to tune out the negative messages in social media.
For the second part of the series, 'What does Healthy Eating Look Like?', reporter Naina Rao explores the relationship between body weight and our health.
She talks to Anne Buffington, the nutrition program coordinator at Michigan State University, on whether weight gain is a good predictor of our health and how the messages and ideas of a healthy lifestyle, have de-regulated the way we control our food consumption.
By Gloria Nzeka
A team of researchers in the department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University work to improve the quality of beans and introduce a variety of healthy ways through which beans can be consumed.
There are lots of ideas out there telling you what to eat and what not to eat. Social media has helped distribute messages about food, nutrition, and weight in a much larger platform. Should I eat gluten? Should I ban bread? Are carbs good for me, or do they make me look 'fat'?
The answers to these questions are usually 'junk science' according to Anne Buffington. She's the nutrition program coordinator at MSU and is a registered dietitian. And she believes that our bodies know what's best for us, not twitter or Pinterest.
Reporter Naina Rao talks to Buffington on what healthy eating looks like when messages like these are ignored.
By Gloria Nzeka
Julia Bella-Bravo and Barry Pittendrigh, researchers in the Feed the Future Innovation Lab - which focuses on improving grain legumes, including beans in Central America and cowpea in West Africa - discuss their project called Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), an initiative that uses mobile technology to help farmers improve their work.
Julia Bella-Bravo and Barry Pittendrigh, researchers in the Feed the Future Innovation Lab - which focuses on improving grain legumes, including beans in Central America and cowpea in West Africa - discuss their project called Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), an initiative that uses mobile technology to help farmers improve their work.
Julia Primavera Kuntz is the engagement manager of Western Michigan University. This means that she deals with a lot of the fundraising and other things related to that for the institution.
But one day in 2014 led her to create a food bank that is dedicated to providing important necessities for students.
Listen to how Julia and her co-workers made that happen.
By Gloria Nzeka
Hunger is on the rise. The number of undernourished people in the world has increased in the last three years, according to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization.
The situation is worse in most regions of Africa where 21 percent of the continent’s population do not get enough food to eat.
Agricultural Economist and Researcher from Nigeria, Wellington Osawe, discusses how implementing the right agricultural policies can help alleviate hunger in Africa.
By Lizzy Lafave
As we've previously covered on the Food Fix, migrant workers make up a large portion of the labor pool for dairy farms across the state.
Dr. Reuben Martinez is a Professor Sociology at Michigan State Univeristy. Martinez spoke about the impact these workers have on the state's food and economy.
By Evan Kutz
In part our series on the intersections of food and race, The Food Fix spoke with Shane Bernardo, a long-life Detroiter and community organizer working in Detroit’s grass roots food movement to bring culturally relevant foods to minority communities.
Shane grew up working in his family's small, ethnic grocery store in Westside Detroit, where they worked to cultivate a safe, nurturing environment for the Asian, African and Afro-Caribbean community to purchase culturally relevant foods and share recipes, traditions and rituals linked to these foods.
As a result, Shane developed a heightened awareness of social and economic conditions within a racially, ethnically and culturally stratified Detroit.
Now, Shane works for a number of grass roots organizations, such as Detroit Food Justice Task Force, Uprooting Racism: Planting Justice, The People’s Platform Detroit and Equitable Detroit Coalition.
Recently, Shane’s been speaking at different public forums, focusing on how important food is for health, healing and spirituality.
As the son of first generation Filipino immigrants, Shane speaks about the cultural and spiritual connection with food that his family and many other immigrant families have lost.
By Lauren Caramagno.
Lina Yamashita is a doctoral candidate at the University of California Davis. As part of her research, Yamashita is teaching consumers where their food comes from and how to spend their dollars on sustainable and fair food practices.
We caught up with Yamashita to talk about this work, and how to teach consumers the politics of their food.
By Hannah Holliday
In 2012, the Good Food Purchasing Program in Los Angeles began to transform how public institutions bought food.
It focused on improving local economies, environmental sustainability, workforce, animal welfare and nutrition.
We spoke with Joann Lo who chaired the Los Angeles Food Policy Council which created the program. It now has campaigns in major cities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois.
By Gloria Nzeka
In an expanding global food market farmers need every edge they can get, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Regis Chikowo from Michigan State University is trying to use fertilizer sparingly based on rainfall trends across the continent.
Because of their cost, farmers that save on fertilizers might be able to feed more people.
The jackfruit is a large tree borne fruit that has been cultivated in southeast Asia for centuries.
However, in the past few years jackfruit has caught on in western markets. The fruit’s texture and ability to be take on almost any flavor has made it a hit with vegetarians.
Upton’s Naturals is a food outlet based in Chicago. They sell jackfruit in a variety of recipes and flavors, from Barbeque to Thai curry.
Nicole Sopko is the Vice President at Upton’s Naturals. We talked about jackfruit, vegetarian markets and much more.
By Gloria Nzeka
In The Gambia in West Africa, there’s a non-profit that is teaching young people the agricultural and entrepreneurial skills to be successful farmers.
Reporter Gloria Nzeka caught up with Ebrima Nije from Startup Incubator Gambia to talk about their work.
By Max Johnston
Farms across the Midwestern United States are being forced to shut down and in some cases leave crops rotting in the field because farmers can’t fill open jobs.
According to one story, asparagus growers in Michigan lost over a million pounds of product in 2013 alone, due to labor shortages.
Stephanie Mercier is a principal at Agricultural Perspectives, a Washington DC-based consulting firm. She says that immigration laws are preventing Midwestern farmers from filling jobs, and that’s keeping food off the table.
In the immigration debate, voices from southern states like California, Nevada and Texas are often the loudest. But Midwestern farmers also rely on immigrant labor and have entirely different labor needs.
The problem? No one seems to be listening.
We talked about Midwestern crops, President Trump’s immigration plan and much more.
By Gloria Nzeka
In countries like Sierra Leone in Africa, there are essentially two seasons: the wet season and the dry season.
This makes farming difficult. But something called ‘Inland Valley Swamp Farming’ may help.
Reporter Gloria Nzeka caught up with Sahr Joseph Kaifineh from Sierra Leone's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security to talk about IVS Farming.
By Gloria Nzeka
Most know Stevia as a sweetener for their coffee or tea, but there is a complex agricultural operation behind the tiny packets.
Michigan State University just received a 3 million dollar grant to improve the taste of Stevia and help farmers produce it in the US.
Reporter Gloria Nzeka caught up with Ryan Warner, a professor in The Department of Horticulture at MSU, to talk about Stevia and the University’s research.
Some critics argue that structural racism exists in many pillars of American society like the criminal justice system, politics and education.
Dr. Rich Pirog, the director of The Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University, says that The US Food System has structural racism as well.
For the past two years Pirog and his colleagues have collected articles, studies and journals for an annotated bibliography on structural racism present in the US food system, now on the fifth edition.
Pirog talked about the origins of this structural racism, new efforts to address it and much more.
By Max Johnston
To some, like myself, fried food is a delicacy. While frying some chicken in fat is delicious, it can harm our atmosphere.
The oil used in deep frying emits aerosols, small particles of solids and liquids, into the air. In London 10 percent of all airborne aerosols come from deep fryers alone.
And that frying could be affecting our weather.
These aerosols are all around us. They’re emitted by everything from hairspray to inhalers. For a long time it’s been thought that aerosols are bad for the environment. They erode the earth’s ozone layer and contribute to climate change.
But researchers out of The University of Bath in the United Kingdom looked at the aerosols emitted from deep fryers. They say it’s a bit more complicated than that.
By Max Johnston
When looking at the fight between crops and bacteria, it might help to think of it as a battle.
Attack and Defense. Bacteria tries to penetrate a plant’s armor and take it over. Plants build up their armor, and parry with acids and chemicals.
Researchers at Michigan State University have looked into this battle, and the role heat plays in the fight.
Bethany Huot is the lead author of a study out of MSU’s plant research laboratory. Her team's research focuses on how heat factors into this ‘bio-warfare.’
We talked about the battle between plants and pathogens and much more.
By Gloria Nzeka
A non-profit organization in Pittsburgh is trying to feed hungry families, and decrease food waste through social media and networking.
412 Food Rescue works to bridge the disconnect between food waste, hunger and environmental sustainability.
We caught up with Co-Founder and CEO Leah Lizarando to talk about the program.
By Gloria Nzeka
Eating healthy often appears to come with a high price tag or require a lot of effort and time. This is where creativity and Innovation in the food sector is needed.
One organization in Pittsburgh has successfully established an effective way to make healthy food accessible to the community.
"So we started this project where we go into the community and build vegetables gardens in people’s backyards."
In this episode of the Food Fix, we spoke to Mr. Richard Piacentini, CEO of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh about Homegrown, a project that was inspired by former US first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Program.
Homegrown began as an initiative to encourage healthy eating habits in the Pittsburgh community.
By Max Johnston
This story is the second and final segment in our series on Childhood Hunger. Check out part I, here.
In the first part of our story, Susan Popkin from The Urban Institute talked about ‘food insecurity.’ Popkin said that food may be so hard to come by, that it may be leading children to crime.
“Hearing just, how matter of fact the kids were about ‘oh yeah, everybody runs out, nobody gets enough,’ that kids steal." Popkin said. "That they have to live with that everyday.”
Popkin and her team found that after-school programs, like the Harvest Share they started in Portland, Oregon, could address Childhood Hunger and the stigma around it.
Project Manager Micaela Lipman says that once kids were in these programs, they were eager to involve other people their age.
“They really, really, really wanted to work with other teenagers in other communities and learn what other folks were doing around the same issue," Lipman said. "So connecting with other teenage led groups in the area.”
Reporter Max Johnston takes you to a program in Lansing that's tackling childhood hunger.
By Max Johnston
This story is the first segment in a two-part story on childhood hunger.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, over 15 million households in the United States suffer from ‘food insecurity.’
Living in a food insecure household means that there isn’t easy access to high quality food. In fact, good food may be so hard to come by that it drives some kids and young adults to crime.
Susan Popkin is a Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute, a Washington DC-based thinktank.
She says food insecure households don’t have high-quality food, but they make do with what they have.
“They’re buying ramen noodles or something else that’s not perishable that they can keep around and is filling,” Popkin says. “It means a lot of times the adults in the house will go hungry or skip meals so that the kids can eat.”
Popkin and her team researched food insecurity in children and young adults from 10 communities across the country.
One of the many things that they found is that food insecure households are often located in so-called ‘food deserts.’ Areas, typically in cities, where grocery stores are few and far between.
“So instead they might have access to a bodega or a corner store where the prices are marked way up and the food quality is poor.” Popkin says. “They have to travel a long way to the full-service grocery store.”
Popkin says that most food insecure households qualify for some form of government assistance, but a lot of that money is used to just get them to a grocery store.
“I’ve talked to people that have spent an hour and half getting to the grocery store because they have to take two or three buses,” Popkin says.
Food insecurity trickles down to children and young adults, who often have a difficult decision to make. Some turn to crime to feed themselves and their families.
“Kids getting involved with stealing or even with feeling like they had to get involved with doing things for a gang and for girls getting involved with, they called it dating older guys,” Popkin says. “You know, they’re doing it because they don’t know what else to do.”
Popkin and her team at the Urban Institute found that being introduced to even small-scale crime at a young age had lasting effects on children and young adults. There were people from numerous communities that reported flunking out of school or seeing jail time.
The Urban Institute wanted to tackle food insecurity early on so they worked with a group of students near Portland, Oregon to design an after-school food program tailored to children and young adults.
“They came up with this idea that they would like to do a harvest share for their community. And that the kids would actually run the harvest share day. They set it up and checked everybody in and give everybody their grocery bag,” Popkin says.
Popkin says that having programs designed by and catered to children and teens got them access to food and brought in more people their age to the program.
A similar program has been operating in Lansing for the past decade. We’ll take a look at that program in part II of our series on childhood hunger.
Sera Gondwe is a faculty member at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
In November of 2016, Sera and her team launched a 6 months experiential learning program with graduates from LUANAR’s Agribusiness Management bachelors program.
In this interview, Sera tells us more about the pilot.
The country of Venezuela has been embroiled in political turmoil for most of the 21st century.
Economic mismanagement and political instability has led to food shortages for some of Venezuela’s most vulnerable populations.
Geoff Ramsey is the Associate for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America. We talked about Venezuelan food shortages, the economy, and much more.
By Max Johnston
Here in the states we like our sweet potatoes fried, sweetened and tater-totted. But the nutritious sweet potato is more than just a side dish.
Sweet potato is also a cheap and resilient crop. While it’s a popular food here, it can be a livelihood for low-income farmers. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
But there’s a small problem, or should I say a big problem in a small package.
We may enjoy sweet potatoes, but so does the weevil--a small brown beetle that resembles an ant.
Brooke Bissinger is an entomologist at AgBiome, a biotech company in North Carolina. She says the weevil loves the taste of sweet potato.
“Weevil is the most devastating pest to the sweet potato worldwide,” Bissinger said.
Bissinger says the weevil likes to eat and live in sweet potatoes. But in the process, they ruin them for everyone else.
“The insect lays its eggs in the sweet potato itself and then the larvae or the immature weevils, feeds on the potato,” Bissinger said. “It also causes the potato to make chemicals that are both bad tasting and toxic to people and animals.”
Weevils can be especially devastating to African farmers because sweet potato is a ‘low value’ crop that doesn’t fetch much cash in the open market.
Here in the states farmers spray pesticides to kill weevils. While that’s effective here it’s not really an option for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
“It’s a very low-value crop they’re growing to feed their families,” Bissinger said. “So the cost for them to use insecticides in these African countries is much more than the crop itself.”
Because there are so many farmers in the region it’s very easy for weevils to spread and devastate other crops.
There are certain cultural practices to stop the spread of weevils, like rotating your crops and burning infested sweet potatoes. But those require a lot of work and time that those farmers might not have.
So Bissinger and her team at AgBiome are looking for cheap and effective ways to protect the sweet potato from weevils. They’re doing this by studying micro-organisms and bacteria that are already present in the sweet potato and the surrounding soil that can fight off the pest.
This isn’t an entirely new concept. There’s good bacteria all over the place. There’s good bacteria in your stomach to help with digestion. Even yogurt is made from healthy bacteria that ferments milk.
“So there are good bacteria that can control bad bacteria, or even other organisms. So there are good bacteria that can control insects,” Bissinger said.
Using good bacteria to fight pests has been done before. Bt, short for Bacillus thuringiensis, is a common bacteria in soil that kills insects.
“It’s super commonly used in agriculture and insect control, but Bt isn’t the only microbe that’s out there,” Bissinger said. “So we’re really interested in looking around sweet potatoes to see if there are other bacteria that are beneficial that could kill the weevil.”
If AgBiome finds bacteria that fight weevils in sweet potatoes and their soil, it could be used to give African farmers cheap and easy access to an effective weevil pesticide.
For the next three years AgBiome, with a grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be identifying microbes and bacteria in sweet potatoes and soil from sub-Saharan Africa.
“Hopefully once we find something, we’ll go over to Africa and test it against the species they’ve got and work with partners over there to get it out to the growers,” Bissinger said.
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism’s two-continent, three-country training tour, we’re sharing stories that we’ve received through our global partnerships.
This story on the communicating research to the public was produced by Bernadetta Chiwanda from FM 101 Power Radio.
Chiwanda interviewed Dave Poulson, the Senior Director of The Knight Center.
Poulson says research is no good if no one knows about it.
FM 101 Power Radio is Malawi’s first independent radio station and covers all three regions of the country.
For more information on The Knight Center’s tour and partnerships, read more here: https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism's two-continent, three-country training tour, we're sharing stories that we've received through our global partnerships.
This story on the relationship between Malawi's researchers and farmers was produced by Bernadetta Chiwanda from FM 101 Power Radio.
Emmanuel Kaunda is the out-going Acting Vice Chancellor at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Fisheries.
He says poor communication between scientists and farmers cost Malawi billions of Kwachas, Malawi's currency.
FM 101 Power Radio is Malawi's first independent radio station and covers all three regions of the country.
For more information on The Knight Center's tour and partnerships, read more here:
https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism's two-continent, three-country training tour, we're sharing stories that we've received through our global partnerships.
Stanley Kadzuwa from The Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) FM Radio interviewed David Poulson, Senior Associate Director of The Knight Center and Professor of Journalism at Michigan State University.
Poulson talked about communicating research through journalism, the differences between Malawi and Michigan, and some stories from the training tour.
MIJ FM Radio has operated for over 15 years and airs programs throughout Malawi's three regions.
For more information on The Knight Center's tour and partnerships, read more here:
https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism's two-continent, three-country training tour, we're sharing stories that we've received through our global partnerships.
This story on publishing research from Malawian scientists was produced by Rhoda Msiska from the Voice of Livingstonia.
Scientists in Malawi are coordinating with the media to spread the word of their research.
Some say research findings haven't been put to full use due to poor communication.
Voice of Livingstonia is a radio station operated in the Northern Region of Malawi, and reaches over 4 million listeners.
For more information on The Knight Center's tour and partnerships, check out our Wordpress:
https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism's two-continent, three-country training tour, we're sharing stories that we've received through our global partnerships.
This story on increasing the population of goats in Malawi was produced by Rhoda Msiska from the Voice of Livingstonia.
Researchers in Malawi are trying to make healthier goats.
Innovations in goat productivity could potentially boost goat populations from 8 million to 50 million in Malawi alone.
Voice of Livingstonia is a radio station operated in the Northern Region of Malawi, and reaches over 4 million listeners.
For more information on The Knight Center's tour and partnerships, check out our Wordpress:
https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
As part of The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism's two-continent, three-country training tour, we're sharing stories that we've received through our global partnerships.
This story on biodiversity in Malawian crops was produced by Rhoda Msiska from the Voice of Livingstonia.
Malawi is producing more cassava and sweet potato, which could boost dietary diversity in households.
In order to do that researchers are looking into making those crops more resilient to pests and crop failure.
Voice of Livingstonia is a radio station operated in the Northern Region of Malawi, and reaches over 4 million listeners.
For more information on The Knight Center's tour and partnerships, check out our Wordpress:
https://msufoodfix.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/bridging-food-scientists-and-journalists-with-communications-training/#more-1596
Today’s idea to make the world less hungry is to regulate and standardize the date labels on our food.
If you wander through your local grocery store, you’re likely to see a lot of labels with dates preceded by a warning.
“Best if used by,” this date, “sell by,” that date, “use by”...this date.
These labels can have different meanings, some are for freshness, others are for quality, but all these labels have one thing in common: they’re confusing.
The nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that 20 percent of food waste that occurs at home, stems from confusion over what these labels mean.
In other words, people are throwing away good food, because they think that if it’s past the “best if used by” date, it’s spoiled. That isn’t the case.
In this episode, you’ll hear why these labels cause food waste, and of legislation to simplify food labels.
Food finances are tricky. For example, funding food production in developing countries has been difficult for a number of reasons, according to Rebecca Toole, a policy expert in economics.
“Farmers may seem like risky borrowers,” Toole said. “They often don’t have a established credit history, they also might not have stores of capital they could use as collateral for loans.”
Heifer International, a global non-profit, has been using a method called ‘Impact Investing.’ That’s where you have the private sector invest in food production, with a smaller relative return to their investment.
Bill Foreman, spokesman for Heifer International, says the return can then be used for another investment.
“The idea is that you invest capital and you don’t really expect to get the same kind of return,” So we expect to get some capital back and then we use it for another project.”
In this episode of our ongoing series, "10 ideas to make the world less hungry,” we tackle the complicated issue of financing food, and the ideas that are making it possible.
There is a form of hunger afflicting people worldwide that you can’t see.
That’s called ‘hidden hunger’––when people may be eating regularly, but still suffer from deficiencies or malnutrition.
Hugo Campos is the director of research at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru. He says that a process called biofortification may help.
That's when plant breeders grow crops with additional nutrition and vitamins. Biofortified crops are an effective way to tackle hiding hunger, Campos said.
“Someone might have a normal appearance, but [they] might have anemia issues, or [they] might not be receiving the right amount of content that’s really important for his or her health,” he said.
Biofortification has broad benefits.
“You develop varieties which are not only producing value for the farmer,” Campos says. “They produce value for the consumers.”
In this episode of our ongoing series, "10 ideas to make the world less hungry: Campos talks about the role biofortification plays in feeding the world.
Listen above.
There’s an application for buying, selling, dating, driving. How about one for saving food?
Olio is a free app on iPhone and Android that helps people share food. Co-founder Saasha Celestial-One wants Olio to lead the ‘Food Sharing Revolution.’
“We just want to seamlessly connect people everywhere to be able to share things, and that sharing becomes the new normal,” Celestial-One said.
Learn how the app works its inspiration and how the creators are cutting down on household food waste in this Food Fix interview with Celestia-One.
And check back Monday for a new idea in our series on how to make the world less hungry.
As part of our series, "10 ideas to make the world less hungry," Ben Muir talks to Bruno Basso, an ecosystem scientist at Michigan State University, about using legumes as a substitute for fertilizers.
Michigan State gave Basso the ‘innovation of the year award’ in 2016 for his work on crop-plant innovation and crop-plant management. He is now working with the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization on innovative ways to quantify crop production at the end of each growing season.
Basso's idea to make the world less hungry is rooted in agronomy management.
Megan Konar, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois, studies the intersection of water, food and trade.
As part of our series, "10 ideas to make the world less hungry," Konar tells reporter Ben Muir that investing in infrastructure is critical.
In this episode of "10 ideas to make the world less hungry," reporter Ben Muir talks with Ellie Hollander, chief executive officer of Meals on Wheels America. The non-profit organization feeds people through more than 5,000 independent programs across the United States.
The struggle to hamper hunger begins with acknowledging “starvation as a pandemic behind closed doors,” she says. Rather than a new policy or innovation, fixing hunger might mean committing to ideas that already work.
Hollander thinks investing in Meals on Wheels to reach millions of homebound seniors is important.
By Max Johnston
One percent of food sent abroad by USAID is lost to food spoilage and spillage because of failed packaging, according to Mark Brennan, a researcher with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
That may sound insignificant, but it amounts to losing roughly 10,000 metric tons of food and countless dollars that could be invested in feeding hungry people.
In the first installment of the Food Fix's new series “10 ideas to make the world less hungry,” Brennan suggests new methods of packaging to reduce food spoilage.
“As this food kind of moves its way through the supply chain from farm to beneficiary you have instances of the bags breaking," he said. "You have also instances of things getting wet, of insects crawling into bags.”
Listen to his idea here.
And come back every Monday for the next installment of "10 ideas to make the world less hungry."
If you had a magic wand that could make the world less hungry, what would you do? That’s the question that David Kramer, professor of Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics at Michigan State University, is trying to answer. Kramer and his team have made a magic wand of sorts, the MultispeQ, a handheld device that measures a plant’s health.
98 percent of farms are less than ten acres, according to David Kramer, professor of Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics at Michigan State University.
“They don’t have access to these things, and how do we bring these tools to them?” Kramer said.
In this episode Kramer talks about his technology and the importance of getting tools like the MultispeQ in the hands of farmers.
Photos courtesy of Michigan State University’s DOE Plant Research Laboratory.
When geographer Joe Messina first analyzed satellite images of Malawi farm fields, he figured he had made a mistake.
Almost everywhere he looked he found maize harvest declines in the East African nation over the previous decade. But this was the site of the Malawi Miracle, a fertilizer subsidy program so successful that it was lauded by researchers in scientific journals and by writers in the New York Times and The Economist.
It became a model program used to justify similar enormous investments by the international community in other African nations.
“I assumed I was wrong,” said Messina, a researcher at Michigan State University’s Global Center for Food Systems Innovation.
And so began a detective story recently published in the journal Nature Plants. It is a story that doesn’t prove Messina wrong. Rather, it reveals a series of missteps, assumptions, faulty data and a desire to confirm success that led other researchers astray.
In Uganda, farmers in rain-fed agricultural communities depend on irrigation. Without irrigation, they battle with fluctuating and unpredictable weather conditions, droughts and flooding. Crops don't do well and yields are low.
Researcher Abraham Salomon, of the University of California-Davis, is working in eastern Uganda, collaborating with local farmers, social advocates, and engineers on flexible and community-managed irrigation interventions. They’ve been installing and maintaining adaptable irrigation systems that allows tomatoes, cabbage, beans and other vegetables to thrive in the dry seasons and the unpredictable rainy seasons.
Decomposing human and animal waste has the power to change lives. While it might sound – and smell – funny, the power of poop lies in biogas, a renewable energy source produced during the breakdown of waste. The process yields a gas of about 60 percent methane that can be used for cooking, refrigeration, and other basic needs. The waste itself can also be processed and applied to fields to enrich the soil and improve crop production.
That's what waste engineer, Rebecca Larson, assistant professor professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been doing. She's partnered with Vianney Tumwesige, CEO of Green Heat, a Ugandan energy company, teamed up on a host of projects in Kampala, Uganda that demonstrate new ways to transform waste to resource.
This episode is our interview with Prof. Larson
Coconut is the largest stone fruit in the world. Sold in the food and beverage industry, harvested for construction purposes, used in cosmetics, and transformed into decorative objects, the coconut has many applications. While a quarter of the world’s coconut production stems from the Philippines, the country’s coconut farmers are the poorest around the world. Farmers earn about $2 a day. Climate hazards, pests and unfavorable market market conditions impede the overall production.
To improve the viability of coconut farming in the Philippines, researcher Ana Herrera won a grant from the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation to implement FarmerLink, a Grameen Foundation project that connects farmers with agents who teach them how to operate a successful coconut farm. It’s called FarmerLink. And it’s key component is an Early Warning System which alerts farmers to potential hazards from natural shifts in the environment.
The onion has been a part of the human diet for more than 7,000 years. But it’s not just for eating. Onions have been used as currency and even exchanged as a gift!
Bacterial diseases are the most significant threat to their production. Despite considerable effort to control these diseases with chemicals, farmers still lose a lot of onions.
Kim Eang Tho, a doctoral student in the department of plant, soil and microbial science at Michigan State University, is studying the source of bacterial pathogens in onions to find strategies to better manage diseases. He spoke with Ali Hussain, a reporter for The Food Fix.
As Southern Africa struggles to recover from its worst drought in decades, farmers are seeing their crops destroyed due to El Nino weather changes. Famine afflicts millions of people. Without crops, farmers can’t eat. Without money, they can’t buy farming supplies.
To help them find low-cost pesticides and fertilizers, Mphatso Simbao, a 19-year-old from Lusaka, Zambia, has found a way to produce fertilizer and pesticide from unwanted plant material, ash, mud, water and heat.
Mphatso says his technique cuts fertilizer costs in half and saves farmers up to 80 percent of the cost of pesticides. The project won a national award at the 2016 Google Science Fair engineering competition.
We spoke with Mphatso on phone from Lusaka, Zambia.
Every year a trillion dollars of milk is sold worldwide.
Small farmers in many developing countries face problems with low milk production.
But an electrical engineer and innovator from Pakistan hopes to help them with a fitbit for cows. It’s called the Cowlar, a collar for cows that is equipped with sensors to monitor their health, production and even if someone is stealing them.
Umer Adnan, a graduate of electrical engineering from Arizona State University now living in Memphis, Tennessee, says his invention texts such critical information directly to farmers. The result is reduced costs, more milk and more profits.
The world’s population grows by more than two hundred thousand daily. That’s tens of millions of people annually. To feed them, food productivity must nearly double by 2050. That’s a task. Doing that in the face of climate change and the scarcity of land and water presents one of the world’s greatest challenges. Plants are stressed by drought, disease and non-native competitors. But people need to eat, no matter where they are. In this episode Michigan State University researcher Brad Day describes the tools he is creating to unlocking the secrets of plants to better feed the world. They could produce more resilient, stress-tolerant crops that use water and nutrients more efficiently.
French fries, hash browns and crispy chips come to mind when we think about potatoes. Potatoes are the most widely consumed crops in the United States, and the world's fourth-largest food crop, after maize, wheat, and rice.
Potatoes grow on almost every continent. They adapt well to climate and are a good source of potassium, vitamin C and carbohydrates.
Their greatest enemy is soil borne diseases. Currently, those diseases are controlled by fumigating the soil with chemicals. That’s expensive both economically and environmentally. And it kills beneficial organisms!
Luke Steere, a doctoral student in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, says potatoes have chosen him. Why? He talks to Ali Hussain about his research of molecular techniques and how it could reduce fumigation and improve production of potatoes.
Sorghum is a cereal grain that grows tall like corn. It originated in Africa, where it has grown for 10,000 years. Bread and porridge are the most common foods prepared from sorghum. It is the main source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals for millions of people.
Sorghum’s biggest advantage is that it resists heat and drought. It survives extreme conditions with little water. Still, it’s not as popular as wheat or corn because of its complex protein structure that makes it hard to digest. That’s a hard crop to crack right?
Well, Nana Baah Pepra-Ameyaw, a doctoral student in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University, studies how to process Sorghum to make it easier to digest. His research could improve food security by making sorghum easier to process and eat in food-scarce regions of the world. He spoke to Ali Hussain, a reporter for The Food Fix
Photo: Nana Baah
Every minute people flood supermarkets and grocery stores to buy food. We often do not think about how the brands we consume leave from seeding companies, to the farm, to green processors, to distributors and retailers. There are powerful actors who decide what we eat, and how much gets to us.
According to Philip Howard, 40% or more of the market, at every key stage in the food system in the U.S. is controlled by four firms. That has implications for harming the environment, human health and vulnerable sections of society, such as poor people, recent immigrants, and minorities.
Philip Howard is an associate professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, and a member of the International Panel for Experts on Sustainable Food Systems. In this episode, we talk about his new book: Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls what we eat?
In the African country of Cameroon, the lack of readily available water during the dry season can hurt a farmer’s ability to grow crops all year.
Ndeta Beuma'a, a master's student in power systems engineering, faculty of engineering and technology at the University of Buea in Cameroon, has developed a solar powered irrigation system that automatically brings water to crops when they need them.
His system may let farmers irrigate their crops during the dry season and in dry soils, allowing the crops to grow throughout the year.
Photo: Pechulano Ali
Every month millions of poor people in India visit fair price shops to buy wheat, rice, sugar or oil at a reduced price.
A network of more than 400,000 of these shops have provided government subsidized food to more than 600 million citizens.
It is the largest distribution network in the world, yet there are concerns about its efficiency.
Prashant Rajan, an assistant professor at Iowa State University, studies how sales people feel about using debit card-like smartcards to track fair price purchases in India's Chhattisgarh province.
His research could help provide higher quality food at a lower cost.
For some people anything is good if it's made of chocolate. But many people don’t know how chocolate is made or where it comes from.
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans found in West Africa. As the world’s demand for chocolate rises, many cocoa farmers struggle with low yields and low incomes. More than 90 percent of cocoa farmers in Ghana, the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, live on less than a dollar a day per person.
Researchers are studying if certifying farmers as trained cocoa producers can benefit their businesses.
Ebenezer Offei Ansah, a masters student in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, interviewed cocoa farmers and producers in Ghana to find out how certification programs work. His research could identify problems in cocoa production in Ghana and other cocoa producing countries.
Photo: Ebenezer Offei Ansah
Plastic is used for food packaging because it is widely available and cheap. However some plastics are not recyclable and those plastics contaminate the environment. This has led to a push for the creation of food packaging that can break down safely and naturally. These packages keep food fresh, protect the environment, and can be used as fertilizer. Chris Wilson, a masters student in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University, studies how to make food packaging safe and more environmentally friendly. His research could impact food security around the globe.
Typically, air conditioners are not seen as a way to keep food cold enough to safely eat. But a new technology lets air conditioners provide safe and inexpensive cold food storage.
Ron Khosla, a small farmer in upstate New York, created a technology called CoolBot that turns almost any window air conditioner into a food storage machine for about an eighth of the cost of a walk-in refrigeration unit.
His innovation could help reduce food waste and post harvest losses.
Photo: Ron Khosla
In some urban areas of Malawi, 42 percent of households spend at least 30 minutes a day collecting drinking water. Almost all of the people collecting this water are women and children.
But this water may not always be safe to drink. Many people suffer from waterborne diseases caused by drinking contaminated water.
Ellis Adams, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geography at Michigan State University, examined how people get their water in poorer places in Malawi. He looked at water safety issues in urban and semi-urban areas of Blantyre and Lilongwe. His research could help identify gender dynamics and power structures around water supplies in Malawi.
Photo: Ellis Adams
In the African country of Malawi there is not a lot of vegetation, and organic matter in the soil is quickly broken down.
The poor soil means many farmers in Malawi have to adopt innovative methods to increase production on their small farms.
Chiwimbo Gwenambira, a doctoral student in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, studies how to grow pigeon pea at the same time and place as ground nuts, soybean and maize. She is working with farmers in projects called mother and baby trials, where multiple farmers observe an original test field, and then adopt the practices they think could work well for them.
Her research could improve food production, especially for small farmers in developing countries.
Photo: Chiwimbo Gwenambira
Think of a kitchen sink, with taps that supply water and drains that remove it. What happens when the drain stops working? The sink gets clogged.
The same happens with the earth. The world’s population is expected to touch 8.5 billion in the next 15 years. Reduced rainfall and overuse of natural resources are hindering the planet’s ability to meet food demands.
Princess Adeji, a doctoral student in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, studies how to grow multiple crops on the same land. Her research could increase crop production, especially for small farmers in developing countries.
Photo: Princess Adeji
Farmers use insecticides to keep insects away from their crops. But insecticides can be expensive and toxic, posing a risk to the environment and human health.
An alternative is to use natural repellents made from plants. These repellents have a smell that insects don’t like, so the insects stay away from things with that smell.
Elizabeth Bandason, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, is interested in figuring out what’s going on in the brains and nervous systems of insects when they smell a repellent. Her research has the potential to provide a safe and affordable way to protect plants while keeping the environment safe from toxic insecticides.
Photo: Elizabeth Bandason
A tiny piece of technology may be a simple way to reduce food waste.
Radio-Frequency-Identification tags are as small as a grain of rice, and are used to identify objects as they come closer to a radio frequency scanner. These tags are used to get into some buildings, to rent DVDs, and tracking food from where it is produced, to where it is stored, and finally to where it is sold. These tags can also keep track of temperature and humidity.
Keith Vorst, an associate professor in the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at Iowa State University, studies how these tags can track food during transportation and distribution. He follows food from the field to the retailer and monitors the food’s safe temperature range. His research may help make food delivery safer and healthier, with minimal food loss.
In developing countries, more than 40 percent of food is lost between harvest and the market. This is a particular problem in countries with high heat and humidity where microbes thrive.
Argus Neto, a doctoral student from Brazil, is a visiting researcher in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.
Neto is trying to use the gases that plants make to fight microbes that make food spoil.
Wheat is the second most widely grown cereal grain in the world. Wheat Farmers could be more productive if new varieties of wheat withstand more stressors, like pests, disease, heat and drought. But these breeds still need to taste good, and work well for cooking and baking.
Sarah Battenfield is a post-doctoral researcher at Kansas State University. She works on breeding high-quality wheat using a process called "genomic selection," which could help speed up the breeding process.
Photo: Sarah Battenfield
Barb Barton harvests and sells wild food such as wild rice, wild mushrooms, maple sugar, wild fruit jellies, and wild nut butters at her business, Where the Wild Foods Grow, located in Lansing, Michigan. Reporter Kelly van Frankenhuyzen spoke with her about traditional rice harvesting and the importance of wild food.
Photo: Barb Barton, taken by Rob Curtner.
For more information on native wild rice, visit: http://www.nativewildricecoalition.com
Urban farming is often celebrated for bringing fresh, homegrown food into the city. Community gardens provide easy, affordable access to organically grown produce for an entire neighborhood.
But cities pose challenges for would-be farmers. Planting a garden on land contaminated with lead or arsenic risks health problems for garden workers and produce consumers. And green lots with good soil can cost a pretty penny.
Jenny Bongiorno is an urban farmer and the founder of Our Fresh Local, a Grand Rapids, Michigan, company that builds community gardens and teaches people about local food.
Visit the webpage for Our Fresh Local here: http://www.ourfreshlocal.com
Photo: Jenny Bongiorno
A group called Scientific Animations Without Borders is creating animated videos to help educate people around the world about agriculture, women’s empowerment, and disease.
The videos cover a wide range of topics, from tuberculosis to food storage to drip irrigation. Volunteers translate the videos into many languages, so people from China to Mali can understand them.
Julia Bello Bravo is the co-director and co-founder of Scientific Animations Without Borders, she talked about how these videos are making an impact on food systems around the globe.
Audio from some of the animated videos was used in this podcast. If you want to watch these animations and more, go to http://sawbo-illinois4.org/videos
Photo: Julia Bello Bravo. Taken by Cheyna Roth
How can plants grow in the boiling waters near volcanoes? How do they survive in deserts? How do they survive a flood? The answer is that trillions of partners help them survive. These partners are microbes!
Microbes are microscopic creatures like bacteria and fungi. They interact with plants to ensure the availability of nutrients, enhance root growth, battle toxic substances and improve plants’ resistance to disease, flood, heat and drought.
James Kramer is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University. He studies how microbes help plants to become more resilient to environmental hazards. The research has implications to improve food production across the globe.
Photo: James Kramer
The Food Fix went to ArtPrize in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, to talk to people who are taking a more artistic route to better feeding the world.
Art Prize is an independent, international art competition that takes over three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids from September 23rd to October 11th. Anyone over the age of 18 can enter ArtPrize and compete for the public vote and juried prizes.
Exhibitors Kathleen Hodges and Elaine Harlow are raising awareness about abandoned farms and child hunger in Michigan through their art.
Hodges was struck by the number of abandoned farms across the United States and what that meant for food prices and availability. Hodges’ exhibit is in the Monarchs Club Corner Tap & Grill.
Harlow uses 31 paintings of various bowls, only 19 with food inside, to demonstrate the hunger that takes place in her own neighborhood in Plainwell, Michigan. Harlow believes that many people fail to see the problems right in front them, and this is her way of making them aware of hunger. Harlow’s exhibit is in the Grand Rapids Downtown Market.
You can check out both exhibits from now until ArtPize is over October 11th.
Photo: Cheyna Roth
The Food Fix went to ArtPrize in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, to talk to people who are taking a more artistic route to better feeding the world.
Art Prize is an independent, international art competition that takes over three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids from September 23rd to October 11th. Anyone over the age of 18 can enter ArtPrize and compete for the public vote and juried prizes.
Emeka Ikebude is from Nigeria, but he currently calls Texas home. His installation at ArtPrize, The Stream, is a 3-D sculpture made of twine, bronze dust, wood and water. With this project, Ikebude wants to “engender a rethinking of the problems of global water scarcity.”
Costa Rica is a relatively developed country in Central America, but some of its indigenous citizens have been left behind. The Shuabb people in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica have limited running water, electricity and waste management.
Nicole Kruse and Gina Masell are undergraduate students in Michigan State University’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. They are exploring ways to use waste treatment to bring ecotourism to the region.
Researchers are exploring growing plants for bio fuels in a low-quality type of soil called marginal land.
Aaron Garoutte is researching the impact bacteria may have on the growth of plants in these areas.
Photo: Aaron Garoutte
Understanding fish and water resources is vital for the food system in Ghana. Illegal mining is causing water pollution in Ghana, which can harm people who eat fish.
Doctor Rose Emma Entsua-Mensah, who goes by Mamma, is the Deputy Director General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Ghana. She discussed the importance of aquatic life in Ghana.
A couple weeks ago we talked to Jodie Zhu and Kevin Mills before they headed off to Lilongwe, Malawi as part of a pilot program called the Frugal Innovation Practicum. The group worked with students at LUANAR university in Malawi on solutions to food-based issues that could be put in place without needing a lot of money to work.
They talked about their experience, and shared some of the results of the practicum.
About one third of all the food that is produced is wasted, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
This summer researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comprehensive Initiative on Technology Evaluation MIT site program studied the harvest storage methods of small scale farmers in Uganda.
Mark Brennan is a site research assistant and Master student in the Technology and Policy program at MIT's Engineering Services Division. He talked about preventing large amounts of food waste in small scale farms.
Photo: Mark Brennan
There are many reasons community gardens are created. However few of those reasons involve martial arts. In Flint, Michigan, you can find a unique union of organic urban farming, and training in karate.
Jacky King, the executive director and grand master of King Karate Youth Karate-Ka, and Harvesting Earth Educational Farm, hopes to expand the business.
A group of Michigan State University students and faculty working with the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation went to Malawi recently to start two weeks of research and education.
The Frugal Innovations Program, brought the MSU students together with students from LUANAR University in Malawi to study food system problems in that southeastern African country.
The students represent a variety of disciplines, and will be searching for solutions to issues in Malawi that can be implemented frugally.
We caught up with two of the MSU students, Kevin Mills and Jodie Zhu, before they headed out.
Photo: Kevin Mills
They say one person’s trash is another person’s treasure...but what about one farmer’s animal’s...poop! Could we turn that into a renewable energy source? Could we turn something so dirty...and smelly into clean energy used to feed people?
Biogas research and technology does just that. By turning animal manure into clean, renewable energy, researchers working in rural Kenya are helping farmers improve their quality of life.
Taisha Venort is a masters student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University. She is here today to talk about finding energy in unique places.
Photo: Taisha Venort
A bitter-tasting plant that looks like a cucumber with warts growing all over it might help treat the symptoms of diabetes. The bitter melon, or bitter gourd, is popularly used to treat diabetes in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
According to World Health Organization, an estimated 1.5 million deaths were caused by diabetes in 2012.
The cost of treating diabetes can add up over a lifetime, and fruits and vegetables with medicinal properties could be treatment options in low-and-middle income countries with poor access to health care.
Jose Perez researches the potential of bitter melon to treat diabetes. Jose is currently a doctoral student at the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center in the department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
Photo: Jose Perez
Researchers who are figuring out how to better feed the world need to know something before they can start: how well is the world being fed right now? That is, they need to be able to measure and quantify people’s access to affordable and nutritious food. That access to good food is called food security.
But it can be logistically challenging and expensive to measure food security, especially if you want to get repeated measurements to monitor changes over time. Photography could be a powerful and inexpensive tool that captures information about food security that is hard to get through interviews and focus groups.
Chris Bielecki used photography in his research to measure how people’s access to healthy food is changing over time in Guatemala.
Photo: Chris Bielecki
It takes a lot of work to start a new business, especially when that business involves food. Licensing, health concerns, finding suppliers, and even finding a kitchen that has the proper equipment to prepare the food are all things that have to figured out by people who want to start their own food businesses.
Joan Nelson is the executive director at the Allen Neighborhood Center. She spoke with the Food Fix about the Center’s Incubator Kitchen program that is giving local farmers a place to expand into new areas, and is letting small businesses get off the ground.
Photo: Joan Nelson