|  | | | Faculty in the News - May 2007 | |
Are
organic tomatoes more nutritious?
Food and
Drink Europe - France, May 7, 2007
The
new study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,
reports that tomatoes grown organically contained higher levels of
quercetin and kaempferol aglycones than their conventionally grown
counterparts. ... Alyson Mitchell from the University of
California-Davis, and researchers from University of Minnesota studied
the levels of quercetin and kaempferol aglycones in dried tomato
samples (Lycopersicon esculentum L. cv. Halley 3155) between 1994 and
2004. | | |
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Who's served by food producers' tough stance?
American Public Media Marketplace, May 10, 2007
U.S. food producers say they are all in favor of taking a tougher
tone with their foreign counterparts... Jean Kinsey of the University
of Minnesota's Food Industry Center says calls for a crackdown are hard
to ignore, because the extent of problems abroad remains a question
mark. |
Gas
and food, like two peas in a pod?
KARE 11, May 22, 2007
Ballooning
gas prices cut a wide path across the economy. ... University of
Minnesota Applied Economics Professor Jerry Fruin says the fuel crunch
is driving ethanol demand. | | |
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Chopped
trees leave residents stumped
Rochester Post-Bulletin, May 24, 2007
If
a tree is cut down in the middle of a community, the noise may be more
like an uproar. ... Gary Johnson, extension professor of urban and
community forestry for the University of Minnesota Department of Forest
Resources, said such disputes involving trees are more common today
than 20 years ago. |
Does This Device Make Me Look Fat?
Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2007
Aiming
for a more precise reading of their fitness level (or at least a second
opinion), the weight-conscious increasingly are turning to body-fat
measurement devices rather than relying on their Body Mass Index
number. ... Our DXA test was done as part of market research for the
Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota, for which they
paid our tester $50.
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Researchers warn time is running out for
seafood stocks
Napa Valley Register, May 22, 2007
If
commercial fisheries maintain business-as-usual catches on the high
seas, the world’s major seafood stocks will collapse by the middle of
the 21st century. ... Anne Kapuscinski, professor of fisheries and
conservation biology at the University of Minnesota, indicated the
ocean’s fish species “have an incredible ability to rebound. We just
need to set aside protected areas so it can happen.” |
A little humor for the climatologist
Minnesota Public Radio, May 23, 2007
University
of Minnesota climatologist Mark Seeley says that reading has been a big
part of his life since he was a child, when he read everything from
Doctor Doolittle to Mark Twain. | | |
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Cargill
seeks sweet deal
Pioneer Press, May 31, 2007
If
Coca-Cola and Cargill are right, someday Diet Coke and diet foods won't
contain artificial sweeteners. ... Ted Labuza, professor of food
science and engineering at the University of Minnesota, is confident
that Coca-Cola and Cargill have done their homework before making such
a big public splash. |
Crop
planting season was a good one
Albert Lea Tribune, May 19, 2007
For
the most part, the season for farmers to plant crops is over, but
experts are saying it was a good one. “It went better than average,”
said Mark Seeley, climatologist with the University of Minnesota
Extension Service in the Twin Cities. | | |
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Most private owners show little interest
in timber harvests
International Falls Daily Journal, May 31, 2007
A
recent survey of private forest owners in Minnesota reveal some
interesting facts. ... The survey conducted by Dr. Mike Kilgore of the
University of Minnesota Forest Resources Department was sent to 1,000
woodland owners not enrolled in the SFIA. |
Land
prices flat? Go figure
Pioneer Press, May 30, 2007
After
years of big gains, were Minnesota's farmland prices flat in 2006? New
statewide numbers suggest the answer is yes even if the coffee-shop
chatter says no way. ... Steve Taff, a University of Minnesota
economist who compiles the annual report, has some theories: A cooling
housing market eased urban development pressures on farmland. | | |
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Fires illuminate need for change in
northern tourism
Business North, May 29, 2007
After
last year’s Cavity Lake fire, a state-sponsored sustainable development
Tourism Resource Team studied how the fire affected the Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness region and how local businesses could adapt. ...
Many in the hospitality industry don’t realize the extent of the market
demand, said Ingrid Schneider, director of the University of Minnesota
Tourism Center. |
Arctic char steals the show
Toronto Star, May 30, 2007
Toronto
chef Keith Froggett picks up a knife and prepares to fillet a fish in a
kitchen at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "Beautiful," he says, examining a
3-pound, amber-coloured Arctic char. "And beautifully fresh." ... Fish
farming, also known as aquaculture, is expanding worldwide, but some
farms cause environmental damage, says University of Minnesota
biologist Anne Kapuscinski, who spoke at the Monterey conference. | | |
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Why the corn boom could hurt the Gulf of
Mexico
Minnesota Public Radio, May 29, 2007
Researchers
say more corn in the Midwest this year for the ethanol industry could
mean more problems for the Gulf of Mexico this summer. ... University
of Minnesota soil scientist Gyles Randall was part of the first
national research team to study the dead zone in the late 1990s. |
E.
coli Bacteria on the Beach?
WebMD, May 25, 2007
Beach
sand and surf may harbor E. coli bacteria, and those bacteria could
shut down some beaches, a new study shows. The researchers included
Michael Sadowsky, PhD, a professor in the University of Minnesota's
department of soil, water, and climate. | | |
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More corn acres mean fewer soybean acres
planted in U.S.
Farm and Ranch Guide - North Dakota, May 25, 2007
In
a strange twist of events, good planting weather has taken soybean
prices higher. ... “Corn and soybeans are at opposite ends of the same
deal,” said Ed Usset, University of Minnesota Extension grain marketing
economist. |
Marshall Loeb: The time for leadership
Marketwatch, May 18, 2007
Every
generation or so, a truly historic issue comes along and sweeps up the
whole nation, dividing some of the country into angry parts, uniting
other segments of the population in common cause, but leaving none
untouched or unchanged. ... But this heavy demand for corn-based
ethanol and other biofuels will so greatly kick up their price that the
world's poor people could be starved out. Or so argue University of
Minnesota professors C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer in a
mind-altering article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs. | | |
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The
Case of the Empty Hives
Science Magazine, May 18, 2007
Honey
bees worldwide are abandoning their hives, and scientists aren't sure
whether to blame pathogens, pesticides, or the artificial diets fed to
the bees. ... But others argued that mites shouldn't be ruled out yet.
Marla Spivak of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, cautions that
even if beekeepers eliminate a mite infestation, weakened colonies may
be set to collapse later. |
Mysterious disorder puts S.D. bees at risk
Argus Leader - Sioux Falls, May 15 2007
For
the past four months, Richard Adee's beehives have been following an
itinerary worthy of a rock band. ... Scientists are hard at work but
will not be able to truly pinpoint a cause until they can replicate
colony collapse symptoms experimentally, said Marla Spivak, an
apiculturist at the University of Minnesota. | | |
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Ethanol effect spurs farmers to plant corn
Bradenton Herald - Florida, May 13, 2007
Nationally,
farmers are planting 15 percent more corn than a year ago, a total of
90.5 million acres, the most since the end of World War II. Call it the
ethanol effect. "We're not planting more corn because corn is cool,"
said Ed Usset, an economist with the University of Minnesota Extension
Service. "The economics are there. The ethanol craze is driving this." |
Reheating Vegetable Oil Releases Toxin
Pakistan Tribune, May 15, 2007
High
amounts of a toxin with known connections to heart disease and
neurological disorders accumulate in vegetable-based cooking oils that
are heated or reheated for hours at a time, new research shows. ...
"There's a tremendous literature in biochemistry on HNE, a library of
studies going back 20 years. It's a very toxic compound," said lead
researcher A. Saari Csallany, a professor of food chemistry and
nutritional biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. | | |
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Hot
Fun In The Spring Time, Temps Reach 90s
WCCO-TV, May 14, 2007
Monday
is another day where the temperature reached the 90s in the Twin Cities
and other parts of the state. ... "Yesterday was shocking even for the
meteorologists," said University of Minnesota Climatologist Mark Seeley. |
Oddly,
fire is good for the forest
KARE 11, May 13, 2007
Seeing
the pictures of a wild fire like that burning along the Gunflint Trail
this week, it might seem like we are watching the death of a forest.
... The University of Minnesota's Director of the Center for Hardwood
Ecology Lee Frelich was camping in the BWCA when the fire began. He was
actually trapped by the blaze for two days last weekend. | | |
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A glance at the current issue of Foreign Affairs: Why ethanol mania endangers the poor
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 3, 2007
As ethanol becomes an increasingly popular fuel alternative, the industry's demand for vast reserves of corn threatens to drive up the price of food staples worldwide and therefore the number of people living in poverty, write C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer, both professors of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, where Mr. Runge is director of the university's Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy and Mr. Senauer is a co-director of the university's Food Industry Center.
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Minnesota Basements Causing Big Problems
WCCO-TV, May 3, 2007
Home combined the best of both worlds for Suzanne Judd -- a place where her budding sewing business intertwined with the fabric of her family. ... Researchers at the University of Minnesota found moisture problems not only in older homes, but in hundreds of newer homes constructed in the 1990s.
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When birds and buildings collide, birds lose
Minnesota Public Radio, May 3, 2007
Every spring night tens of thousands of North American migratory birds die from crashing into brightly lit buildings. ... Bob Zink, an ecology professor at the University of Minnesota and curator of birds at the U's Bell Museum of Natural History, is helping coordinate Project Bird Safe.
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Good Question: Will Ethanol Fuel A Food Shortage?
WCCO-TV, May 1, 2007
American farmers are expected to plant 90 million acres of corn this year. ... "It's an ingredient to a lot of foods," said Dr. Brian Buhr, a University of Minnesota professor.
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FDA limits Chinese food additive imports
USA Today, May 1, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration is enforcing a new import alert that greatly expands its curtailment of some food ingredients imported from China, authorizing border inspectors to detain ingredients used in everything from noodles to breakfast bars. ... The new restriction may be what's needed to shore up consumer confidence that the FDA can protect the food supply, said Jean Kinsey, director of the Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota. Without such action, the public's distrust will grow, she said.
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