USDA updates plant hardiness map

Posted at 1:50 PM on January 25, 2012 by Dan Gunderson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms, Food

source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Gardeners who are perusing the new seed catalogs and dreaming of warm spring days might want to check out the new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say this is the first update to the plan hardiness zone map since 1990.

The just-released map uses temperatures from a more recent period, and over a longer time span, according to a USDA press release.

"This is the most sophisticated Plant Hardiness Zone Map yet for the United States," said Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "The increases in accuracy and detail that this map represents will be extremely useful for gardeners and researchers."

USDA officials say the new map is also more detailed geographically, taking into account features like a valley or higher ground.

Perhaps that's why it appears Minnesota communities like Isabella and Aitkin are hot spots in a generally colder region.

The new map also allows for searches by zip code, and you can zoom in for greater detail.

Do you find the USDA zone map useful or is experience the best predictor of gardening success?

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New local food college offered in northwest Minnesota

Posted at 1:02 PM on January 20, 2012 by Dan Gunderson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Farms, Food, Northwest Minnesota

MPR file photo

The University of Minnesota is responding to a growing interest in local food production by offering a Local Food College for interested farmers starting January 24th.

The program will include seven classes over three months, offered at eight locations across northwest Minnesota via interactive television.
The sessions cover topics from soil preparation to crop production and marketing.

The most recent USDA Agricultural Census done in 2007 found about 4,300 Minnesota farms selling some type of food product direct to consumers.

A local food study done in Minnesota in 2011 said:

"The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Minnesota Grown program has increased the number of farmers listed in its directory every year for the past 20 years and now includes more than 1,000 farms that market their products locally."

The same study pointed out an increase in small farms which are more likely to produce food for sale to consumers.

"Although the small number of very large farms in Minnesota continues to increase and medium sized operations (which make up slightly more than half of Minnesota farms) diminish, small farms seem to be more prevalent than in previous years. According to the USDA, between 1997 and 2007 farms between 1 and 99 acres increased faster than any other segment from 32.8 to 40.4 percent of Minnesota farms. As these farms are more likely to grow food for local consumption, this pattern may reflect the growth of the local food movement in Minnesota."

Minnesota Public Radio's Ground Level project examined the issue of local food in depth in this series of reports.

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Fargo Moorhead flooding less likely in 2012

Posted at 1:35 PM on December 23, 2011 by Dan Gunderson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Food, Weather

MPR photo Dan Gunderson

The first long range flood outlook for the Red River shows little chance a scene like this one from a Moorhead neighborhood in 2009 will be seen in 2012.

For Fargo Moorhead the outlook gives a 10% chance the Red River will reach a 32.5 foot stage. That's about 8 feet lower than than the record 40.8 foot level in 2009.

At a 32 foot river stage, the river would have little effect on Fargo or Moorhead.

As the National Weather Service points out, this is a very long range probabilistic outlook. The NWS started issuing these early outlooks as flooding became an annual event over the past few years.

Fargo Moorhead has experienced major flooding three years in a row, and five of the top ten floods in history happened in the past decade.

Many factors can still influence spring flooding: How much snow falls through the rest of the winter, how much water is in that snow, how quickly the snow melts in the spring and how much rain falls during that spring melt.

The positive factors at this point are that there is little or no snow on the ground across the Red River Valley and the extremely dry fall gave saturated soils a chance to dry out.

Compare the snow water equivalent map from this week with the same time last year. In 2010 much of the Red River Valley already had 2-4 inches of water in the snow on the ground. This year of course,there's nothing on the map, or on the ground.

Map from NOAA Dec 23, 2010

Map from NOAA Dec 23, 2011

There's still a long way to go before 2012 can be declared flood free, but this early prediction is an encouraging sign for those who live near the banks of the Red River.

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Minnesota group sues FDA over regulation of nano materials

Posted at 12:03 PM on December 23, 2011 by Dan Gunderson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Food, Government

Minneapolis based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is one of a half dozen groups that sued the Food and Drug Administration this week over regulation of nanotechnology.

In the complaint, the groups allege the FDA failed to respond to a 2006 petition for regulation of nanotechnology.
The lawsuit asks the Federal District court to order the FDA to move forward with developing regulatory rule making for nanotechnology.

The lawsuit, filed in a California Federal Court, says consumer products like cosmetics and sunscreen containing nano particles are already widely used by consumers, but FDA has failed to address risks from the nano materials.

IATP Policy Analyst Steve Suppan says FDA should also regulate the developing use of nano particles in food packaging. Reporter Andrew Schneider, in a series done for AOL news last year, documented produce shipped to the U.S. from other countries with nano material coatings applied to prolong shelf life. But IATP analyst Steve Suppan says since FDA doesn't regulate the nano material, there is no product labeling.

Suppan says consumers should be able to count on scientific proof the nano materials are safe.

"Otherwise, there will be no basis for consumer confidence except for the agencies and companies ' just say trust us we know what we're doing.' There's obviously lots of instances where they've said that before which did not prove to protect consumers."

Suppan says the goal of the lawsuit is to force FDA to begin the process of regulating nano materials used in consumer products which it has authority to regulate.

An FDA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Nano materials are made by engineering common materials like silver or titanium dioxide at the molecular level. The tiny particles change the properties of the material as explained in this story I reported last year.

Scientists appear to be somewhat divided over the potential effects of these nano materials.

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Seniors underreport struggles with food

Posted at 3:52 PM on August 3, 2011 by Julie Siple (0 Comments)
Filed under: Food

To understand senior hunger in Minnesota, it helps to meet 94-year-old Earl Komis.

Komis is part of a generation that knows hunger. He lived on a farm in western Minnesota during the Great Depression. When drought struck, he and his family didn't have enough food.

"There was nothing to eat, nowhere," recalled Komis. "There was no money coming in. For six years, we didn't have any crops. We didn't have rain."

When his parents couldn't afford to feed everyone, then 15-year-old Komis left home and walked to a nearby city, where he hoped to find work. He spent a day and a half without food.

"It felt like your stomach was growed to your backbone," he said. "You didn't have any pain or anything, you just got weak. If I would have kept on going, why I'd have just faded away."

Today, Komis lives in Ortonville, a small town in Big Stone County, on Minnesota's western border. He gets by on a small Social Security check and receives a monthly box of commodity food from the federal Nutrition Assistance Program for Seniors. But he has enough food. And he said nothing compares to the hardship of the Great Depression.

Nationwide, 7.5 percent of households with seniors report that they struggle to consistently obtain enough nutritious food. But researchers suspect the number is higher.

"They experienced real hardship earlier in their life, so when they're responding to questions about how it is for them now, they're answering in a sense relative to the worst that they've experienced in the past," said Edward Frongillo, Professor at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.

Still, it's important to pay attention to senior hunger, Frongillo said, in part because seniors who have trouble getting enough nutritious food are significantly more likely to be in poor health. They're also more vulnerable to the effects of hunger, because many are already dealing with health concerns.

"We know that in general as people age they're a little bit less able to deal with crisis as they come along, both socially and biologically," Frongillo said. "Nutrition is important in helping to maintain their resilience to things that might come to them."

Today on All Things Considered, we'll feature a story about seniors in Big Stone County, one of the counties in Minnesota with the highest percentage of people over the age of 65.

For more hunger coverage, visit our Ground Level blog.

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Scientists unravel fungus that threatens wheat crops

Posted at 3:29 PM on May 13, 2011 by Dan Gunderson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Farms, Food

Photo courtesy of APHIS, USDA

A U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher in St. Paul played a key role in sequencing the genome of a fungus that threatens wheat production world wide.

Les Szabo, a research geneticist at the Cereal Disease Lab led the research project the unraveled the genetic code of the wheat stem rust pathogen (Puccinia graminis).

The six-year project is expected to lead researchers to develop new ways to control the fungus.

A wheat fungus called Ug99 has spread across Africa and into Central Asia, with devastating effect.The fungus has been able to destroy most of the stem-rust-resistant wheat varieties developed over the past 50 years.

Researchers believe it's only a matter of time before the deadly fungus reaches North America, as noted in this MPR story from 2008.

There are more than 6,000 rust fungus species, and this project represents the first genome-wide characterization of any rust fungus according to Szabo.

The gene sequence data is being made available to scientists trying to fight the spread of the fungus.

A release from the USDA Agricultural Research Service says the group also successfully mapped the genetic code of a fungus that attacks poplar trees which are commonly grown as a source of biomass fuel.

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Sponsors needed to feed children during summer

Posted at 10:33 AM on February 2, 2011 by Julie Siple (1 Comments)
Filed under: Food, Hunger

Some Minnesota families who rely on free or reduced-price lunch during the school year struggle to feed their children -- or find enough nutritious food -- when their kids aren't in school.

To help meet the need, the Minnesota Department of Education is looking for help feeding low-income kids during the summer. Department officials have put out a call for organizations willing to sponsor the 2011 Summer Food Service Program.

The United States Department of Agriculture funds the summer program, which in 2010 provided over 1.7 million free meals in Minnesota, with 107 sponsors and 475 sites.

"It's hard to learn and play on an empty stomach," state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. "The Summer Food Service Program guarantees our low-income children will not lose access to the nutritious meals they receive during the regular school year."

Cassellius encouraged schools, park and recreation programs, faith-based organizations, and other nonprofit organizations that provide educational and recreational activities for children during the summer to offer meals through the program. The food program reimburses the sponsors, and provides them with training and technical assistance.

State education officials say there are many underserved areas in need of a sponsor, particularly in greater Minnesota.

Interested schools and nonprofit organizations can learn more on the MDE website, as well as fill out an interest survey. Education officials are holding a 2011 Summer Meals information Meeting on Thursday, February 24, from 1 - 3 p.m. at the MDE in Roseville.

Julie Siple reports on hunger and related issues for Minnesota Public Radio News. MPR is a partner in the Hunger-Free Minnesota project, which helps fund her reporting.

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Hormel fights global hunger with 'Spammy' meat spread

Posted at 9:04 AM on February 1, 2011 by Michael Olson (0 Comments)
Filed under: Food, Southeast Minnesota

Fresh off of a plum 2010 and reported sales of more than $7.2 billion Austin-based Hormel announced plans to expand its corporate headquarters in southern Minnesota and a new global anti-hunger campaign.

The Austin Daily Herald reports that Hormel launched a new product -- a "high-protein meat spread" called "Spammy."

The Herald explains that Spammy, "only intended for the use of the anti-hunger program, is a turkey-based spread, fortified with vitamins and minerals. The high protein composition of the treat was specifically created to provide nourishment to those experiences [sic] the effects of malnourishment."

Hormel will have local support in Guatemala with its Spammy initiative from the non-profit organization Caritas. Food for the Poor is also providing assistance.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a "state of public calamity" in 2009 as part of an effort to attract international assistance and attention to the country's food shortages.

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New guidelines urge diet of more fruits and vegetables

Posted at 3:30 PM on January 31, 2011 by Julie Siple (0 Comments)
Filed under: Food, Hunger

The U.S. government is advising Americans to drastically reduce their salt intake and consume fewer calories. Federal officials also suggest people eat more "nutrient-dense" foods: fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

The Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which issue dietary guidelines every five years, released their new recommendations this morning.

The guidelines, hard for many Americans to follow, can be even more difficult for low-income families who have limited resources or live in areas where fresh produce isn't easy to find.

"People can't eat it if it's not available," says Mary Story, a dietician at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. "Even if it's available, if it's priced so high, people aren't going to buy it."

Story says the nation needs to take a look at the food available in low-income communities.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack conceded as much in today's announcement. Speaking with reporters, Vilsack said the Obama administration is experimenting with ways to provide low-income families with more options.

"We're really aggressively addressing the issue of food deserts," he said, referring to areas that lack a traditional grocery store.

Vilsack also cited an experiment in Massachusetts, where people using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits long known as food stamps receive a discount on fruits and vegetables. Federal officials are watching to see whether the program changes which foods people buy.

But Vilsack insists that the foods the government is recommending are not always more expensive. Beans, for example, are a good source of protein - and Vilsack says there are affordable ways to buy fruits and vegetables. The U.S.D.A. website offers suggestions for stretching food dollars, to help families follow today's new recommendations with limited resources.

Julie Siple reports on hunger and related issues for Minnesota Public Radio News. MPR is a partner in the Hunger-Free Minnesota project, which helps fund her reporting.

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