Ongoing Coverage:

CoMo Explained

Abbie Fentress Swanson

Reporter

Abbie Fentress Swanson joined Harvest Public Media in 2012 and is based at KBIA Radio in Columbia, Missouri. Before that, she covered arts and culture for WNYC Radio in New York. There she was part of a team that won an Online News Association award in 2012 and an Associated Press award in 2010 for outstanding digital news coverage. In 2011, she won the Garden State Journalists Association "Best Radio Feature" award for "Music Therapy Helps Vets Control Symptoms of PTSD." Reporting fellowships prior to WNYC took her to Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, India, Germany, the Czech Republic and Belgium. Abbie's travels led to multimedia stories on a wide range of subjects -- from the World Cup in South Africa, to the gay rights movement in India, to San Francisco's immigration court. She's filed stories for The New York Times, The Patriot Ledger, KALW Public Radio, The World, and Virginia Quarterly Review. Abbie holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in Italian studies from the College of William & Mary. Check her out on twitter @dearabbie.

swansonaf@missouri.edu | Twitter

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Agriculture

3:29 pm

Fri March 15, 2013

Field Notes: Missouri farmer lands starring role

Credit Photo courtesy of USFRA

Chris Chinn, of Clarence, Mo., was chosen as one of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance's 'Faces of Farmers and Ranchers.'

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes, in which reporters talk to newsmakers and experts about important issues related to food production.

Missouri farmer Chris Chinn is taking on a high-profile role as one of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance’s “Faces of Farming and Ranching.”

Agriculture

9:00 am

Mon March 4, 2013

Exploring our global food system at the Natural History Museum

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Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

“Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture,” on view now at the American Museum of Natural History, explores how our food is produced, distributed and eaten.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

We learn that chili peppers got their spiciness ratings from the Scoville Heat Unit scale, which was created in 1912.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

In Japan, farmers have transformed the spherical look of a watermelon by growing them in square glass boxes.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

The show takes visitors back to a 16th century Aztec market and the staples of that cuisine -- like chocolate and tomatoes -- now so ingrained in our diets.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

A towering sculpture of trash is meant to represent the staggering amount of food an American consumer throws out each year: 414 pounds.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

Part of the exhibit includes an interactive cookbook in which recipes for West African groundnut, or peanut, soup are offered up.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

Smelling stations waft sweet scents of popcorn and lavender to your nose with a touch of a button.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan ate flower dumplings, steamed mutton, fish and green onions back in the day.

Credit Mansoor Khan for Harvest Public Media

Ices made from damsom plums, currants, caramel, cream and sugar were eaten by the writer Jane Austen at home in Kent.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Can a watermelon be grown in the shape of a square? What do Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps eat for breakfast? Which island nation produces the most lamb in the world? Consumers interested in pulling back the curtain on our food system will get these and many other questions answered at “Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture.” The exhibition, on view now at the American Museum of Natural History, explores how our food is produced, distributed and eaten.

True/False: Conversations

12:00 pm

Wed February 20, 2013

'The Moo Man' casts light on challenges facing small dairies

Credit Courtesy of Trufflepig Films

A still from 'The Moo Man,' showing Steve Hook and some of the Holstein-Friesian cows in his herd.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year’s True/False Festival. Find the rest of them here or download the podcast on iTunes.

Agriculture

4:19 pm

Mon February 18, 2013

What does Europe’s horsemeat scandal mean for the US?

Credit artizone/Flickr

The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service tests the meat that ends up on dinner tables all over the country.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Consumers in Europe are still shocked and paralyzed after learning that ready-made meals advertised as beef products – lasagna, hamburger, salami – actually contained horsemeat. Authorities are still unpacking the extent of the deception, but the case has already touched at least a dozen countries.

Agriculture

4:26 pm

Mon February 11, 2013

Safety concerns threaten growing market for raw milk cheese

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Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Some consumers consider raw milk cheese more nutritious because pasteurization hasn’t killed living beneficial organisms in the milk. But not pasteurizing milk can also allow harmful bacteria to live. Raw milk cheese has sickened more than 500 people in t

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Kathy Lane, a regular at Clover’s Natural Market in Columbia, Mo., looks over the store's cheese case. When asked if she would give raw milk cheese a try, she is uncertain: “I would try it, but I’m not sure.”

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Noah Earle, the grocery manager at Clover’s Natural Market in Columbia, Mo., says over the last five years he's seen an increasing interest in raw milk, with a corresponding interest in raw milk cheese.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Raw milk cheese — which is made from unpasteurized milk — has gathered a small but fervent following for its taste, nutritional benefits and freshness.

Agriculture

10:36 am

Mon February 4, 2013

Small Farmers Aren't Cashing In With Wal-Mart

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Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson / Harvest Public Media

Wal-Mart claims that 11 percent of the produce in its stores now comes from local farms.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson / Harvest Public Media

Produce broker Herman Farris, outside a Wal-Mart in Columbia, Mo., was heading to St. Louis to pick up a shipment of bananas for Wal-Mart.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 7:21 am

When Wal-Mart calls, Herman Farris always finds whatever the retailer wants, even if it's yucca root in the dead of winter. Farris is a produce broker in Columbia, Mo., who has been buying for Wal-Mart from auctions and farms since the company began carrying fruits and vegetables in the early 1990s.

During the summer and fall, nearly everything Farris delivers is grown in Missouri. That's Wal-Mart's definition of "local" — produce grown and sold in the same state. In winter, it's a bit tougher to source locally.

Agriculture

1:05 pm

Fri February 1, 2013

Field Notes: How Wal-Mart's local foods push is playing out in the Midwest

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

A customer shops for produce at a Wal-Mart in Columbia, Mo. The retailer claims 11 percent of its produce sold in its stores nationally comes from local farms.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

This is the latest installment of Harvest Public Media’s Field Notes, in which reporters talk to newsmakers and experts about important issues related to food production.

Agriculture

7:56 am

Fri February 1, 2013

Missouri ethanol plant to be idled due to high corn prices

Credit Photo courtesy of Poet Biorefining / KBIA

Poet Biorefining's ethanol plant in Macon, Mo., looked greener back in April 2010. This file photo was taken the day President Barack Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the plant.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Seventeen ethanol plants nationwide have been idled since last June because of a scarcity of affordable corn due to the drought and a weak market for the corn-based fuel. On Friday, a plant in Macon, Mo., took the hit — and brought the number to 18.

The northeast Missouri plant is temporarily halting operations as corn prices top $7 a bushel. It's one of 27 plants that Poet Biorefining owns nationwide, and was the first ethanol plant opened in Missouri in 2000. It has been producing 46 million gallons of ethanol per year since 2003.

Agriculture

4:00 am

Mon January 28, 2013

Missouri next battleground state for GMO labeling

Credit Timothy Valentine/flickr

A 'No GMOs' label.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

When legislation mandating genetically-modified food labels was proposed in California, Oregon and Washington, I wasn't necessarily surprised. But the recent news that GMO labeling is being considered in Missouri was a little bit of a shock. The bill, Senate Bill 155, was sponsored by a Democratic senator from St. Louis named Jamilah Nasheed. If passed, it would go into effect on Sept.

Agriculture

4:00 pm

Wed January 23, 2013

Farm bill extension doesn’t sit well with many organic farmers

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Liz Graznak, who runs Happy Hollow Farm in Jamestown, Mo., is one of many farmers who may not re-certify her operation organic without federal support.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Shoppers looking for organic food may have to look a bit harder this year.

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