Environment

Should Farm Kids Be Allowed To Drive A Tractor? Some Say It's Too Dangerous

By editor • Nov 2, 2011

For a lot of farm kids, "learning to drive" means learning to drive a tractor before ever driving a car.

The Other Side of the Food Label

By Jessica Naudziunas • Oct 31, 2011

Photo by Boris Mann (bmann) / Flickr.com

A free-range chicken isn’t a free-agent. It may only spend a portion of its day in the great outdoors. The rest of the time? Anywhere but a cage. Though, that information is not something you'll find spelled out for you on a package of chicken breast. On this week's Field Notes: really listening to what food labels say, or don't say.

Chefs Say Variety Meats, Or Offal, Aren't Just For Halloween

By editor • Oct 31, 2011

On the surface, it's easy to dismiss this menu as a mere Halloween stunt: duck hearts, cow tongues, lamb kidneys, pig ears and even testicles.

But chef Daniel O'Brien, who runs the Seasonal Pantry supper club in Washington, D.C., and hosted a "Scary Bits" dinner this weekend, is one of a growing number of innovative American chefs who are incorporating "variety meats," or offal, into everyday menus.

Bison in North Missouri

Some of the rarest of all North American Bison have now arrived at their new home in north Missouri.

Army Corps Recieving Criticism on May Flood

At the fourth in a series of public input sessions Thursday night in Jefferson City, farmers and representatives of lawmakers shared opinions and criticism on how the corps handled the historic flooding last May, June and July.

When Forgettable Salads Cause A Deadly Outbreak

By editor • Oct 28, 2011

Consider the last time you ordered a salad at a restaurant. What, precisely, was in it? Chances are you'll remember the biggest, brightest ingredients, like the lettuce, the tomato, maybe the grilled chicken.

But will you remember the little bits — the nuts, berries or toppings? In an age when salads increasingly aspire to be confetti-like piles of artistic greatness, you'd be pardoned if you didn't take note every morsel.

MO Department of Agriculture Awards Grant to Local Businesses

The Missouri Department of Agriculture has awarded more than $1 million in grants to local agricultural businesses. The funding will help businesses conduct studies to find the best way to turn by-products into more valuable end-products.

Crash Leaves 5,000 Chickens On Northern Calif. Highway

By editor • Oct 20, 2011

Commuters on Northern California's I-80, which connects the Bay Area to Sacramento, saw something unexpected early this morning. Two rigs collided and about 5,000 chickens spilled onto the highway near Vacaville.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Destemmed, crushed, fermented and aged

By Jessica Naudziunas • Oct 14, 2011

Missouri is home to almost 400 vineyards that employ thousands of agricultural workers who pick, crush and nurture grapes like the Norton, the official state grape. Around $60 million worth of Missouri wine is sold each year. Today on Field Notes, we ask an expert to taste a little of that wine.

Mo Prisioners Find Way to Harvest for Food Pantry

Missouri inmates have a green thumb when it comes to growing fruits and vegetables.
By Laura Davidson (Columbia, Mo.)

Tending to a rambunctious garden

By Jessica Naudziunas • Sep 23, 2011

Jessica Naudziunas / Harvest Public Media

Think of the most natural, pristine place you've ever visited. You might envision a national forest or state park. These locales provide a landscape of solace, peace and quiet. We relate to these getaways as pure, real nature that's managed to stay untouched through centuries of human intervention. Now imagine your favorite hiking path or placid lake as a construction of wildlife: an outdoors reality based on someone else's idea of an anti-urban, off-the-beaten-path wilderness. On this episode of Field Notes, we explore nature conservation with environmental journalist Emma Marris.

The USDA’s beef with E. coli

The US Department of Agriculture this week announced it will test for more deadly strains of E. coli in ground beef beginning March 2012.

Missouri Farmers Eligible for Flood Disaster Funds

Floods plagued Missouri farmers in 2011 – but now they are getting some relief.

By Matt Noonan (Columbia, Mo.)

More than a little dry: widespread drought in Missouri and Kansas

The second warmest summer on record is coming to a close, but states like Texas and Kansas are still gripped by high temperatures and extremely low rainfall.

More than a little dry

By Jessica Naudziunas • Sep 11, 2011

The second warmest summer on record is coming to a close, but states like Texas and Kansas are still gripped by high temperatures and extremely low rainfall. Now, the drought has spread north to southwestern Missouri where farmers in the parched Ozark foothills haven't seen real moisture since May.

Columbia Recieves Urban Ag Grant

A $20 thousand grant will be used in an effort to advance urban agriculture and healthy food systems in Columbia.By Mychaela Bruner (Columbia, Mo.)

Young farmers peddle vegetables on the street

By Jessica Naudziunas • Aug 26, 2011

When it comes to selling produce, farmers have a few options. There are grocery stores, then there are farmers markets. In Kansas City, mobile markets are even cropping up. Check out that story, here. Now, we bring you barebones farmers on wheels. Road bikes are the preferred form of travel and mode of commerce for the operators of Quail Bone Farm in Columbia, Mo.

For the love of food and foodies

By Jessica Naudziunas • Aug 19, 2011

Farm Aid’s “Homegrown Village” is a sort of cheesy title for something that’s really simple, and from what I saw and heard, rare.

We hear it for Farm Aid

Farm Aid, the music festival to benefit American family farmers, is in its 26th year. With this year’s concert scheduled for Aug. 13 in Kansas City, Kan., it’s a good time to review the event’s relevancy. What began as a response to a farm crisis has changed over time, but the goal is the same: Support farmers who are struggling.

Under the Microscope: November 11, 2010

Thousand Cankers Disease could create a $850 million problem for the state of Missouri. MU’s John Faaborg uses tail feathers to track migrating birds on “Call of the Wild.”

Hosted By Rebecca Wolfson (Columbia, MO)

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